Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 08-079a
NASA SELECTS SCIENTISTS AND INVESTIGATIONS FOR ROBOTIC MOON MISSION
The URL given for viewing the list of selected scientists announced in
this press release was incorrect. The release should read: For a
complete list of the selected scientists and their investigations,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/216482main_LRO_Participating_Scientists.pdfWASHINGTON - NASA has selected 24 scientists to initiate new
investigations and assist with planned measurements to be conducted
by the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Scheduled for
launch later this year, LRO represents NASA's first step toward
returning humans to the moon.
The orbiter will conduct a one-year primary mission exploring the
moon, taking measurements to identify future robotic and human
landing sites. In addition, it will study lunar resources and how the
moon's environment will affect humans. The mission also will involve
a spacecraft called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing
Satellite (LCROSS), which will impact the lunar south pole to search
for evidence of polar water frost.
"LRO is a phenomenal mission for NASA. It has dual use, both for
exploration and for science," said Alan Stern, associate
administrator, NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. "With
the selection of these new investigators the LRO science team is
bulked up and ready for flight, and interest in lunar science is
building again at a rapid pace."
A German and a Canadian researcher are among the newly selected
scientists that will work with orbiter instrument teams to define the
science goals for the extended science phase of the mission, during
its second year. In addition to achieving its exploration objectives,
the spacecraft is expected to return high quality scientific data,
such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high
resolution color imaging and detailed global topography that will
greatly expand our understanding of the moon.
NASA received a total of 55 proposals in response to a NASA Research
Announcement released in 2007. A peer review panel and NASA Planetary
Science Division Research and Analysis Program scientists evaluated
the proposals. Selection criteria included intrinsic merit,
relevance, responsiveness to planetary science goals and objectives,
as well as cost.
Scientists will be fully or partially funded depending on their
research work and scope of activities. NASA will provide funding to
U.S. scientists for up to three years depending on satisfactory
progress, continued relevance to NASA objectives and availability of
funds. Funding levels are being evaluated.
The orbiter and the sensing satellite will launch together aboard an
Atlas V rocket in late 2008. The orbiter's trip to the moon will take
approximately four days. Once in its final orbit, a circular polar
orbit approximately 31 miles above the moon, spacecraft instruments
will map the moon's surface at high resolution, study its radiation
field and map its gravity field.
The LCROSS will take several months to reach the moon. That mission
will search for water astronauts could use at a future lunar outpost.
The sensing spacecraft will impact the moon near its south pole early
in 2009. NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., manages
the mission.
In a study published in 2007, the National Academy of Sciences
concluded that the science conducted on the moon is of high value.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate will help coordinate and expand a
number of in-depth research efforts in lunar science and other fields
that can benefit from human and robotic missions to the moon. The
lunar orbiter's science mission phase is one of the science
directorate's many activities that support moon exploration
activities.
The LRO spacecraft is being built and tested at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and includes six instruments and a
technology demonstration.
For a complete list of the selected scientists and their
investigations, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/216482main_LRO_Participating_Scientists.pdfFor more information about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:
http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov
