Updates Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: NASA's LADEE lunar orbiter mission

[ADSWNJ]

So - went down to Washington Rock State Park in Warren NJ, and there were ~60 people there. The launch was spectacular - a beautiful orange glow, then stage one burn out and stage 2 launch with a gas trail behind. The angle was higher than I expected - or maybe the viewpoint from the escarpment meant it looked higher, but it was cool anyway.

I only had a snappy camera with me, but I can upload some white blobs (erm no...). There were guys there with 1 ft telephoto lenses. I grabbed this off a monitor screen off a big Canon camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84337094@N02/9688426921/

There was some deliberate long aperture work here, as the arc was not quite this long to the naked eye, but you get a hint of how nice it was.

Bravo NASA - off to the moon again, albeit just for a science scan!

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Damn, that thing had some serious get-up-and-go!

 

[Ripley]

From http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/index.shtml:

Minotaur will boost the LADEE Spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit of 200 km x 278,000 km around the Earth. For approximately 24 days, as LADEE orbits Earth three times, the Moon's gravitational field will increase the perigee of its orbit. The spacecraft will fire its on-board thrusters to alter its trajectory to allow it to enter orbit around the Moon...

I don't think I'm smarter than people at Orbital, but...shouldn't it be apogee instead?
Or is it because it's seen from the Moon's point of view?

 

[Unstung]

From http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/index.shtml:

I don't think I'm smarter than people at Orbital, but...shouldn't it be apogee instead?
Or is it because it's seen from the Moon's point of view?

Fixed link (there was a colon at the end): http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/index.shtml

The terminology is different for other solar system bodies. You're correct but it was just a small mistake made by whoever wrote it.


For those of us who missed watching the launch live online:

I'm glad it didn't end up like the last few Taurus XL launches, but the Minotaur IV is more successful.

 

[Kendo]

Nasa's LADEE Moon probe lifts off

Nasa's LADEE Moon probe lifts off

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23939448

 

[N_Molson]

I'd be curious about the max G force endured by the payload :blink:

 

[SolarLiner]

Wow, the sound on the video; can't even hear the radio guys !
At least it is simple to create a digital sound sample from it :lol:

 

[Unstung]

The spacecraft has developed a minor problem.

USA Today: "NASA robotic explorer runs into trouble after launch"

NASA's newest robotic explorer rocketed into space late Friday in an unprecedented moonshot from Virginia that dazzled sky watchers along the East Coast.

But the LADEE spacecraft quickly ran into equipment trouble, and while NASA assured everyone early Saturday that the lunar probe was safe and on a perfect track for the moon, officials acknowledged the problem needs to be resolved in the next two to three weeks.

S. Peter Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California, which developed the spacecraft, told reporters he's confident everything will be working properly in the next few days.

LADEE's reaction wheels were turned on to orient and stabilize the spacecraft, which was spinning too fast after it separated from the final rocket stage, Worden said. But the computer automatically shut the wheels down, apparently because of excess current. He speculated the wheels may have been running a little fast.
[...]

SPACE.com: "NASA Eyes Glitch With New Moon Probe After Dazzling Launch"

Engineers will work to develop a repair plan over the next few days. But there's not a great deal of time pressure at the moment, Worden said. LADEE will take nearly a month to get to the moon on its long and looping route.

Further, the probe has a backup if there is something seriously wrong with the reaction wheels.

"The nice thing about this is that we have two ways to orient [LADEE]," Worden added. "One is with thrusters, the other is with reaction wheels. So we're pretty confident that we're going to get it in the right state."
[...]

 

[JonnyBGoode]

Stupid question that's probably already been answered but I'm not seeing it: Why is it taking a month to get to the moon, when it only took Apollo 4 days?

 

[tl8]

Stupid question that's probably already been answered but I'm not seeing it: Why is it taking a month to get to the moon, when it only took Apollo 4 days?

They are using a low energy transfer. Basically to use as little propellent as possible and they are able to use a smaller (and cheaper rocket)

The probe doesn't care how long it takes and NASA are a bit strapped for cash.

 

[Kyle]

They are using a low energy transfer. Basically to use as little propellent as possible and they are able to use a smaller (and cheaper rocket)

The probe doesn't care how long it takes and NASA are a bit strapped for cash.

Of which I suck at doing in Orbiter.

 

[ADSWNJ]

They are using a low energy transfer. Basically to use as little propellent as possible and they are able to use a smaller (and cheaper rocket)

The probe doesn't care how long it takes and NASA are a bit strapped for cash.

http://www.spaceflight101.com/ladee-mission-and-trajectory-design.html

Here's the trajectory design. I don't think of it as using a cheaper rocket / strapped for cash, but more that this is an elegant efficient solution for this mission. It would be great to be able to calculate these burns in TransX, wouldn't it?!

 

[Quick_Nick]

http://space.com/22699-nasa-moon-launch-jaw-dropping-photos.html

 

[MaverickSawyer]

http://www.spaceflight101.com/ladee-mission-and-trajectory-design.html

Just looking through the page linked above...
:blink:
No wonder the Minotaur took off like a scalded cat: T/W at liftoff was 2.5:1!!!

 

[ADSWNJ]

Just looking through the page linked above...
:blink:
No wonder the Minotaur took off like a scalded cat: T/W at liftoff was 2.5:1!!!

Yeah - that's what I saw too! It's pretty incredible to think a repurposed ICBM lofted that probe on its way to the moon. What a cool project, and a great light show last night for East Coasters.

 

[Unstung]

The spacecraft has developed a minor problem.

The problem has already been resolved.

SPACE.com: "NASA Fixes Moon Probe Glitch After Amazing Friday Night Launch"

By Saturday afternoon, the glitch had been traced to safety limits programmed into LADEE before launch to protect the reaction wheel system, NASA officials said. Those fault protection limits caused LADEE to switch off its reaction wheels shortly after powering them up, according to a mission status update. Engineers have since disabled the safety limits causing the glitch and taking extra care in restoring the fault-protection protocols.

"Our engineers will determine the appropriate means of managing the reaction wheel fault protection program. Answers will be developed over time and will not hold up checkout activities," NASA's LADEE project manager Butler Hine said in a statement.

"The reaction wheel issue noted soon after launched was resolved a few hours later," added NASA Ames Research Center director Pete Worden. "The LADEE spacecraft is healthy and communicating with mission operators." NASA's Ames center developed and built the LADEE spacecraft, and is overseeing its mission operations.
[...]

 

[ADSWNJ]

I think "fix" in this case is a bit of an overstatement by *the press*!

I.e. there's some unknown behavior that took the spacecraft outside of the safety limits, so the protection code cut in and did it's job. The "fix" is currently to disable the safety code and be extra careful. Seems like fixing the symptom, not the cause!

 

[N_Molson]

Shaped like a bullet, standing 7.7 feet tall and stretching about 4.7 feet in diameter, LADEE's outer skin is covered in power-generating solar panels. That design feature, introduced to add to the mission's simplicity and resiliency, proved wise after the post-launch attitude control glitch. Other missions relying on deployable solar panels must be aimed at the sun to generate electricity, making a sudden loss of attitude control potentially fatal.

Definitively a good idea. A return to the Almighty Probe original design, sort of. First Luna probes had no attitude control at all, so they had to be able to catch enough sunlight from various angles.

 

[Quick_Nick]

The launch was broadcast in Times Square.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vwmang/sets/72157635416735679/show

 

[MaverickSawyer]

It appears that the launch resulted in the death of at least one frog...

*cue Kermit the Frog*