14 DAY TRIAL // The next mission to the Moon is going to be NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is scheduled for launch, if all goes well, in about half a year, on April 24, 2009, aboard an Atlas V rocket. Currently, it is subject to tests that replicate the conditions it will face while orbiting the Moon. The one that has just begun sees the spacecraft introduced into a thermal vacuum chamber (Thermal Vac) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The 4-story room will expose the LRO to the harsh temperature and pressure conditions of the outer space, allowing technicians to observe whether it is fit for the mission, and to monitor its behavior as they operate it during the 5-week long test series. The activity will also implicate the training and simulations for the mission's team that will control the orbiter.
According to the LRO deputy project manager at Goddard, Cathy Peddie, “This is an exciting time for our project. Thermal vacuum testing is one of our major milestones. Not only are we checking out LRO in a test facility that most closely matches its final destination, but we are getting more 'hands-on' time operating LRO as we will see it next year at the moon.”
After the tests are successfully passed, the orbiter will be carried to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final preparations.
The spacecraft will be provided with 7 instruments that will offer more detailed maps of the surface of the Moon, more comprehensive data on lunar mineral composition, natural resources, topography, conditions of lighting and radiation threats during moonwalks, as well as better knowledge on more appropriate sites for landing or possible outposts.
The LRO will share the space inside the Atlas V rocket with a water ice-seeking mission called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.