[meteorite-list] NASA's LCROSS Reveals Target Crater For Lunar South Pole Impacts

[Ron Baalke]

Sept. 11, 2009

Grey Hautaluoma/Ashley Edwards                      
Headquarters, Washington                                
202-358-0668/1756 
grey.hautaluoma-1 at nasa.gov, ashley.edwards-1 at nasa.gov   

Jonas Dino                                                   
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 
650-604-5612 
jonas.dino at nasa.gov   
RELEASE: 09-210

NASA'S LCROSS REVEALS TARGET CRATER FOR LUNAR SOUTH POLE IMPACTS

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA has selected a final destination for its 
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, after a 
journey of nearly 5.6 million miles that included several orbits 
around Earth and the moon. The mission team announced Wednesday that 
Cabeus A will be the target crater for the LCROSS dual impacts 
scheduled for 7:30 a.m. EDT on Oct. 9, 2009. The crater was selected 
after an extensive review as the optimal location for LCROSS' 
evaluation of whether water ice exists at the lunar south pole. 

LCROSS will search for water ice by sending its spent upper-stage 
Centaur rocket to impact the permanently shadowed polar crater. The 
satellite will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and 
measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface. 
The LCROSS team selected Cabeus A based on a set of conditions that 
include proper debris plume illumination for visibility from Earth, a 
high concentration of hydrogen, and mature crater features such as a 
flat floor, gentle slopes and the absence of large boulders. 

"The selection of Cabeus A was a result of a vigorous debate within 
the lunar science community that included review of the latest data 
from Earth-based observatories and our fellow lunar missions Kaguya, 
Chandrayaan-1, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Anthony 
Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principle investigator at 
NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "The team is 
looking forward to the impacts and the wealth of information this 
unique mission will produce." 

A cadre of professional astronomers using many of the Earth's most 
capable observatories is helping maximize the scientific return from 
the LCROSS impacts. These observatories include the Infrared 
Telescope Facility and Keck telescope in Hawaii; the Magdalena Ridge 
and Apache Ridge Observatories in New Mexico and the MMT Observatory 
in Arizona; the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope; and the 
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, among others. 

"These and several other telescopes participating in the LCROSS 
Observation Campaign will provide observations from different vantage 
points using different types of measurement techniques," said 
Jennifer Heldmann, lead for the LCROSS Observation Campaign at Ames. 
"These multiple observations will complement the LCROSS spacecraft 
data to help determine whether or not water ice exists in Cabeus A." 

During a media briefing Sept. 11, Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project 
manager at Ames, provided a mission status update indicating the 
spacecraft is healthy and has enough fuel to successfully accomplish 
all mission objectives. Andrews also announced the dedication of the 
LCROSS mission to the memory of legendary news anchor, Walter 
Cronkite, who provided coverage of NASA's missions from the beginning 
of America's manned space program to the age of the space shuttle. 

"Dad would sure be proud to be part, if just in name, of getting 
humans back up to the moon and beyond," said Chip Cronkite, son of 
the famed news anchor. 

The LCROSS mission was selected in April 2006 as a mission manifested 
with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Both missions launched on June 
18, 2009 on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The LCROSS mission 
and science operations are managed at Ames. 

"The LCROSS team has long been preparing for its final destination on 
the moon, and we're looking forward to October 9," Andrews said. "The 
next 28 days will undoubtedly be very exciting." 

For more information about the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 
Satellite Mission and images of Cabeus A, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/lcross 
	
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