 LCROSS spacecraft, artist's rendering | |
| Mission type | Lunar impactor |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA / ARC |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-031B |
| SATCAT no. | 35316 |
| Website | NASA - LCROSS |
| Mission duration | Launch to last impact: 3 mo., 20 days, 14 hrs., 5 min. |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | Eagle-0 |
| Manufacturer | Northrop Grumman |
| Launch mass | Shepherding Spacecraft: 621 kilograms (1,369 lb) Centaur: 2,249 kilograms (4,958 lb)[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | June 18, 2009, 21:32:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 401 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | High Earth |
| Period | 37 days |
| Lunar impactor | |
| Impact date | October 9, 2009, 11:37 UTC |
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the Moon.[2] Launched immediately after discovery of lunar water by Chandrayaan-1,[3] the main LCROSS mission objective was to further explore the presence of water in the form of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near a lunar polar region.[4] It was successful in confirming water in the southern lunar crater Cabeus.[5]
It was launched together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009, as part of the shared Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, the first American mission to the Moon in over ten years.
LCROSS was designed to collect and relay data from the impact and debris plume resulting from the launch vehicle's spent Centaur upper stage (and data-collecting Shepherding Spacecraft) striking the crater Cabeus near the south pole of the Moon.
Centaur had nominal impact mass of 2,305 kg (5,081 lb), and an impact velocity of about 9,000 km/h (5,600 mph),[6][7] releasing the kinetic energy equivalent of detonating approximately 2 kilotons of TNT (7.2 TJ).
LCROSS suffered a malfunction on August 22, depleting half of its fuel and leaving very little fuel margin in the spacecraft.[8]
Centaur impacted successfully on October 9, 2009, at 11:31 UTC. The Shepherding Spacecraft descended through Centaur's ejectate plume, collected and relayed data, impacting six minutes later at 11:37 UTC.[9]
Contrary to media reports at the time, neither the impact nor its dust cloud could be seen from Earth, using the naked eye or telescopes.
- ^ "LRO/LCROSS Press Kit v2" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ Tompkins, Paul D.; Hunt, Rusty; D'Ortenzio, Matt D.; Strong, James; Galal, Ken; Bresina, John L.; Foreman, Darin; Barber, Robert; Shirley, Mark; Munger, James; Drucker, Eric (2010-04-25). "Flight Operations for the LCROSS Lunar Impactor Mission" (PDF). NASA. Ames Research Center. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
- ^ "Indian lunar mission finds water on moon". TheGuardian.com. 2009-09-24.
- ^ "NASA - LCROSS: Mission Overview". Nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Dino, Jonas; Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite Team (2009-11-13). "LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon". NASA. Archived from the original on 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Moonstarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "NASA's LCROSS Mission Changes Impact Crater". NASA. 2009-09-29. Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ Stephen Clark (2009-08-25). "Managers mull options after moon mission malfunction". Spaceflight Now.
- ^ TheStar.com, "NASA crashes rocket into moon".