Lunar Prospector (Moonray) Discovers Water Ice On the Moon
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1998--A small spacecraft built at Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space in Sunnyvale, CA has discovered water ice at the lunar poles, and provided the first operational gravity map of the Moon. The presence of large quantities of water would greatly simplify the establishment of lunar research stations and eventual colonies, and an accurate gravity map will facilitate the planning of future orbiting and landing missions.
Lunar Prospector was launched atop a Lockheed Martin Athena II launch vehicle from Pad 46 at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday evening, January 6, 1998. It entered lunar orbit early on the morning of January 11, 1998. Two subsequent orbit adjustments put the spacecraft into a circular 118-minute, 100-kilometer (63 mile), mapping orbit.
As it continues its polar orbiting mission, Lunar Prospector will map the Moon's surface composition, provide additional gravity data, chart lunar magnetic fields, and provide information on volatile release activity. It will also continue to refine today's discovery of water ice at the lunar poles.
''We are extremely pleased with the initial results of Lunar Prospector's scientific investigations and proud to be a part of NASA's exploration of the Moon,'' says Mike Henshaw, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, where the spacecraft was designed and built. ''We put a detailed program in place, met the schedule, and maintained cost control while proceeding from hardware development through spacecraft test in just 22 months. This mission will give NASA more science for the dollar than ever before.''
''Our little spacecraft has been working like a charm,'' says Dr. Alan Binder, Lunar Prospector principal investigator and director of the Lunar Research Institute. ''In addition to the neutron spectrometer observations that have already produced the first definite evidence of water ice at the poles, and the first operational gravity model of the moon, the other experiments are all producing data of much higher quality than we expected. To date this mission has proven to be a complete success and it's clear that by the end of our 18-month mapping mission, Lunar Prospector will have an enormous impact on lunar science and future exploration of the Moon.''
The Lunar Prospector mission is a joint effort of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, NASA Ames Research Center of Moffett Field, CA, and the Lunar Research Institute of Gilroy, CA. Additional important contributions came from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.C. Berkeley Space Science Laboratory, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The Athena II launch vehicle was produced by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, based in Denver, CO.
The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is a spin-stabilized vehicle with a fully-fueled mass of 663 pounds, is 4.6 feet in diameter and 4.1 feet in axial length, with solar cells mounted on its outer surface providing 206 watts of power. If maneuvering fuel is available at the end of the one-year nominal mission, lunar mapping may be extended at lower altitudes over areas of special interest. When the fuel needed for orbital maintenance is depleted, the spacecraft will impact the lunar surface.
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space is a leading supplier of satellites and remote sensing systems to military, civil government and commercial communications organizations around the world. These spacecraft have enhanced communications, provided extensive remote-sensing information, and furnished data for scientists studying our planet and the universe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics designs, develops, tests and manufactures a variety of advanced technology systems for space and defense. Chief products include planetary spacecraft and other space systems, space launch systems and ground systems.
Missiles & Space and Astronautics are operating units of Lockheed Martin's Space & Strategic Missiles Sector headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
LUNAR PROSPECTOR EXPERIMENTS
Five scientific instruments are mounted on three booms to isolate
them from the bus and simplify the spacecraft-instrument interfaces.
The experiments were chosen for their scientific value, ability to be
flown on a simple, spin-stabilized spacecraft, and low mass, power and
data rate requirements.
-- A gamma-ray spectrometer will provide global maps of the
elemental composition of the surface layer of the Moon.
Knowledge of the concentrations of such elements as uranium,
thorium, potassium, iron, titanium, oxygen, silicon,
aluminum, magnesium and calcium will aid in understanding
the composition and evolution of the lunar crust.
-- A neutron spectrometer will have the capability to locate as
little as one cup of water in about a cubic yard of lunar
soil. The discovery of lunar polar ice would mean that
water, necessary for life support and as a source of both
oxygen and hydrogen to produce rocket propellant, would be
available on site for future lunar explorers.
-- An alpha particle spectrometer will measure gas release
events, providing information on the level of tectonic and
volcanic activity on the Moon. The instrument will map the
locations and frequency of radon gas on the Moon, thought to
be tectonically and volcanically dead until the Apollo
series of missions.
-- A magnetometer and electron reflectometer will map local
lunar magnetic fields, that are known to be weak compared to
the global magnetic field of the Earth. This will help
determine the origin of such fields and may provide
information on the size and composition of the lunar core.
-- The Doppler gravity experiment will provide the first
complete gravity map of the Moon -- essential for planning
future lunar missions. It will also provide data on density
differences in the crust, internal densities and the nature
of the core.
So it was you!...here's to old times. Cheers! |
