Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Friday, December 14, 2012

NASA TO PROVIDE DEC. 17 COMMENTARY AS TWIN PROBES END LUNAR MISSION


The GRAIL mission is coming to an end with the two orbiters to be de-orbited on December 17, 2012.
The event is to be telecast. 

I can only imagine the emotions for those involved.  I know it was an exciting time for me when Lunar Prospector was crashed into the Moon. You are waiting to see if you pick up a radio signal when the orbiter would appear over the lunar horizon if the rockets didn't fire.  No signal and all was over.
- LRK -

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Dec. 14, 2012

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

D.C. Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Sarah McDonnell
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
617-253-8923
s_mcd@mit.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-240

NASA TO PROVIDE DEC. 17 COMMENTARY AS TWIN PROBES END LUNAR MISSION

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA will provide live commentary of the scheduled
lunar surface impacts of its twin Gravity Recovery and Interior
Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft beginning at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST)
Monday, Dec. 17. The event will be broadcast on NASA Television and
streamed on the agency's website.

The two probes will hit a mountain near the lunar north pole at
approximately 2:28 p.m. Monday, bringing their successful prime and
extended science missions to an end.

Commentary will originate from the control room at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. Coverage will last
about 35 minutes and include live interviews with GRAIL team members.
GRAIL's final resting place on the moon will be in shadow at the time
of impact, so no video documentation of the impacts is expected.

Data from the GRAIL twins are allowing scientists to learn about the
moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail.
The two probes are being sent purposely into the moon because they do
not have enough altitude or fuel to continue science operations.
Media wishing to cover the end of the GRAIL mission at JPL, where they
will have the opportunity to conduct interviews and watch a live feed
from mission control, must contact the JPL Media Relations Office at
818-354-5011 by 11 a.m. Dec. 17. Valid media credentials are
required. Non-U.S. citizens also must present valid passports.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

The coverage will also be streamed live on Ustream at:
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #GRAIL. To
learn more about all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect

For the mission's press kit and other information about GRAIL, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/grail

-end-
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 A Guardian post.

Reuters, Cape Canaveral
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 December 2012 18.36 EST
- LRK -

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Nasa to crash two spacecraft into the moon

Two probes will land on Monday at end of mission to determine what lies beneath lunar surface
Nasa plans to crash a pair of small robotic science probes into the moon next week as part of a yearlong mission to learn what lies beneath the lunar surface, officials said on Thursday.
The twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRaIL) spacecraft will make suicidal plunges on Monday into a mountain near the moon's north pole, a site selected to avoid the chance of hitting any of the Apollo or other lunar relics.
The impacts, which are not expected to be visible from Earth, will take place about 20 seconds apart at 5.28pm EST (10.28pm GMT) on Monday.
"They're going to be completely blown apart," Grail project manager David Lehman, from Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California, told reporters on a conference call.
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JPL post about the last expected moments. 
- LRK -

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NASA to Provide Commentary as Grail Moon Mission Ends

Last Flight for GRAIL's Twin SpacecraftThis still image and animation shows the final flight path for NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission spacecraft, which will impact the moon on Dec. 17, 2012, around 2:28 p.m. PST. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/ASU
› Full image and caption

December 14, 2012
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA will provide live commentary of the scheduled lunar surface impacts of its twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft beginning at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17. The event will be broadcast on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website.

The two probes will hit a mountain near the lunar north pole at approximately 2:28 p.m. PST Monday, bringing their successful prime and extended science missions to an end.

Commentary will originate from the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Coverage will last about 35 minutes and include live interviews with GRAIL team members. GRAIL's final resting place on the moon will be in shadow at the time of impact, so no video documentation of the impacts is expected.

Data from the GRAIL twins are allowing scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. The two probes are being sent purposely into the moon because they do not have enough altitude or fuel to continue science operations.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv . The coverage will also be streamed live on Ustream at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #GRAIL. To learn more about all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect . 
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 GRAIL Mission info at Science NASA
- LRK -

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GRAIL
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission was competitively selected through theDiscovery Program. GRAIL launched on a Delta II launch vehicle and will use high-quality gravity field mapping of the moon to determine the moon's interior structure.

GRAIL’s primary science objectives will be to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the Moon. As a secondary objective, GRAIL will extend knowledge gained from the Moon to the other terrestrial planets.

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AT GRAIL at MIT.
- lrk -

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The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program. It is scheduled to launch in 2011. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in unprecedented detail. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. 

Scientists will use the gravity field information from the two satellites to X-ray the moon from crust to core to reveal the moon's subsurface structures and, indirectly, its thermal history. 
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Thanks for looking with me.
- LRK -
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GRAIL Mission
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The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which uses high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B(Flow)[4] were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10.[2][5][6] GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later. They arrived at their orbits around the Moon 24 hours apart.[7] The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012.[8]
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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