GRAIL: New DISCOVERY mission to the moon |
GRAIL: New DISCOVERY mission to the moon |
Dec 11 2007, 10:02 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 544 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
According to Space.com, the final selection has been made for the next DISCOVERY mission.
It will be the GRAIL lunar gravity mapping mission. Space.com article Edit: Just noticed that Norm Hartnett posted an official link earlier on the KAGUYA topic: NASA |
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Sep 21 2012, 11:34 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 102 Joined: 8-August 12 Member No.: 6511 |
So, decommissioning GRAIL. The mission will end in December 2012. Spaceflight 101 describes it as follows:
"When the science phase has ended, the final mission phase will begin. During a 5- to 7-day period, a Ka-Band calibration is made and GRAIL continue to provide science results as sunlight and power allows. Early in December, 2012, the GRAIL Mission ends. About 20 days after the end of this phase, the GRAIL Orbiters will impact the lunar surface because their orbits will not have been maintained. No special area has been targeted for impact." Earlier this year, Spaceflight Now said: "Mission planners are formulating ideas for the impact scenario, evaluating the possibility of aiming the crashes so they are within the field-of-view of instruments on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter." So, we're getting pretty close now -- December 2012 is just three months away. Has anyone heard anything about the decommissioning? Have impact sites been chosen? Doug M. |
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