Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission Overview
- Paper number
IAC-08.A3.2.A10
- Author
Dr. Jennifer Heldmann, NASA, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Kimberly Ennico, NASA Ames Research Center, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Anthony Colaprete, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Luke Sollitt, Northrop-Grumman Corporation, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is scheduled for launch in late 2008. LCROSS seeks to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s south pole. Interest in the possible presence of water ice on the Moon has both scientific and exploration foundations. It is thought that water has been delivered to the Moon over its history from multiple impacts of comets, meteorites and other objects. The water molecules migrate in the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere though ballistic trajectories and can be caught in permanently shadowed polar cold traps that are cold enough to hold the water for billions of years. Verification of its actual existence would help science constrain models of the impact history of the lunar surface and the effects of meteorite gardening, photo-dissociation, and solar wind sputtering. Measurements of the ice distribution and concentrations would provide a quantitative basis for studies of the Moon’s history. LCROSS uses a 2000 kg kinetic impactor with more than 200 times the energy of the Lunar Prospector (LP) impact to excavate more than 250 metric tons of lunar regolith. The resulting ejecta cloud will be observed from a number of space- and Earth-based assets. The impact is achieved by steering the launch vehicle’s spent Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS) into a permanently shadowed polar region. The EDUS is guided to its target by a Shepherding Spacecraft Spacecraft (S-S/C), which after release of the EDUS, flies toward the impact plume, sending real-time data and characterizing the morphology, evolution and composition of the plume with a suite of cameras and spectrometers. The S-S/C then becomes a 700 kg impactor itself, to provide a second opportunity to study the nature of the lunar regolith. LCROSS provides a critical ground-truth for Lunar Prospector and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter neutron and radar maps, making it possible to assess the total lunar water inventory, as well as provide significant insight into the processes that delivered the hydrogen to the lunar poles in the first place. This paper will overview the rationale and goals for the mission, impact expectations and the mission design. We will also provide updates on site selection activities and progress on the coordination of the ground- and space-based observation campaign. LCROSS is being run out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California in cooperation with its spacecraft and integration partner, Northrup-Grumman.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)