Astronomy Magazine News Article – Released:1/3/2012
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NASA’s twin GRAIL spacecraft reunite in lunar orbit
First GRAIL Twin Enters Lunar Orbit – NASA’s New Year’s Gift to Science
GRAIL-A spacecraft achieved Lunar Orbit Insertion on New Year’s Eve.
Artists concept shows twin GRAIL spacecraft orbiting the Moon. The twin GRAIL spacecraft will fly in tandem to map the moon’s gravity field with unprecedented precision to unlock hidden secrets about the moons interior composition, determine if it possesses an inner core, and yield a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. Credit: NASA
See JPL Mission Control photos below
Cheers erupted after the first of NASA’s twin $ 496 Million Moon Mapping probes entered orbit on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31) upon completion of the 40 minute main engine burn essential for insertion into lunar orbit. The small GRAIL spacecraft will map the lunar interior with unprecedented precision to deduce the Moon’s hidden interior composition.
“Engines stopped. It’s in a great initial orbit!!!! ”
- NASA’s Jim Green told Universe Today, just moments after verification of a successful engine burn and injection of the GRAIL-A spacecraft into an initial eliptical orbit. Green is the Director of Planetary Science at NASA HQ and was stationed inside Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Ca (see photos below).
“Pop the bubbly & toast the moon! NASA’s GRAIL-A spacecraft is in lunar orbit,” NASA tweeted (…)
Read the rest of First GRAIL Twin Enters Lunar Orbit – NASA’s New Year’s Gift to Science (870 words)
© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2012. |
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NASA’s twin spacecraft on final approach for Moon orbit
Astronomy Magazine News Article – Released:12/29/2011
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Faraway Eris is Pluto’s twin
Astronomy Magazine News Article – Released:10/27/2011
Astronomy.com News – Presented by Astronomy Magazine
NASA launches Twin Lunar Probes to Unravel Moons Core
Blastoff of Delta II Heavy rocket and twin GRAIL A and B spacecraft on Sept. 10 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer
NASA renewed its focus on ground breaking science today with the thunderous blastoff of a pair of lunar bound spacecraft that will map the moons interior with unparalled precision and which will fundamentally alter our understanding of how the moon and other rocky bodies in our solar system – including Earth – formed and evolved over 4.5 Billion years.
Today’s (Sept. 10) launch of the twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft atop a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:08 a.m. EDT was a nail biter to the end, coming after a two day weather delay due to excessively high upper level winds that scrubbed the first launch attempt on Sept. 8, and nearly forced a repeat cancellation this morning.(…)
Read the rest of NASA launches Twin Lunar Probes to Unravel Moons Core (692 words)
© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2011. |
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Twin GRAIL spacecraft to map the Moon’s gravity
Astronomy Magazine News Article – Released:9/6/2011
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Twin ARTEMIS probes to study Moon in 3-D
Astronomy Magazine News Article – Released:7/15/2011
Astronomy.com News – Presented by Astronomy Magazine