LRO Enters Orbit Around the Moon

While I was away watching a grandson get married, we went to the Moon. :-)

After all these years of waiting, it happens.
- LRK -

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http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/

LRO Enters Orbit Around the Moon
June 23 - After a successful insertion rocket burn on the morning of June
23, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's orbit was established shortly before
6:30 a.m. EDT.

Rocket burns initiated by controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md., have helped the moon capture LRO, which arrived after a
five-day journey.

Now LRO begins its primary mission of mapping the lunar surface to find
future landing sites and searching for resources that would make possible a
permanent human presence on the moon.

Over the next several days, LRO's instruments will be turned on and its
final orbit around the moon will be reached.
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and along for the ride is LCROSS
- LRK -

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http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

On Tuesday, June 23,
LCROSS executed a swingby of the Moon.

LCROSS reached periselene, its closest approach, at 10:30:33 UT, with the
spacecraft passing 1,988 miles (3200 km) from the Moon. The flyby resulted
in a gravity assist from the Moon which put LCROSS into its cruise Lunar
Gravity Assist Lunar Return Orbit (LGALRO).

The swingby also provided mission scientists with an opportunity for
instrument calibration and the return of images from the far side of the
Moon.
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How long had we waited for the Japanese mission SELENE to go to the Moon and
it too has now finished.
http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/en/communication/KAGUYA_Lunar_Impact_e.htm

I guess you don't dare blink or events will pass you by.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=28543
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully produced stereo
movies (3 dimensional movies) of the Moon's surface by using stereoscopic
images obtained with the Terrain Camera (TC) onboard the KAGUYA just prior
to its controlled impact to the Moon on June 11, 2009 (JST). The KAGUYA was
launched by JAXA on September 14, 2007. The movie was composed using TC
cameras that respectively face slightly diagonally forward and aft of the
satellite about 12 minutes prior to the KAGUYA's controlled impact on the
Moon. Because the KAGUYA was in a very lower altitude orbit, the spatial
resolution of 3D images taken this time was higher than previously captured
data. Thus we can see the very precious features on the Moon's surface
thanks to this low altitude observation.

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http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/en/communication/KAGUYA_Lunar_Impact_e.htm
KAGUYA impact point
The Japan's lunar explorer "KAGUYA", which was in the extended operational
phase, has been carrying out observations of the Moon from lower altitude
since February 1, 2009, to continued observations in more detail.
The "KAGUYA" concluded its scientific mission to the Moon through a
controlled impact on the lunar surface.
Impact date
18:25, June 10, 2009 (GMT) Near side, night time area
Impact location
E80.4, S65.5
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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