LCROSS
Sign in to saveAlso known as Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft, LCROSS S-S/C, Shepherding Spacecraft, S-S/C
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the Moon. Launched immediately after discovery of lunar water by Chandrayaan-1, the main LCROSS mission objective was to further explore the presence of water in the form of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near a lunar polar region. It was successful in confirming water in the southern lunar crater Cabeus.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- LCROSS
- Spaceflight.image
- LCROSS Centaur 1.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- LCROSS spacecraft, artist's rendering
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Lunar impactor
- Spaceflight.operator
- NASAARC
- Spaceflight.website
- NASA - LCROSS
- Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
- 2009-031B
- Spaceflight.SATCAT
- 35316
- Spaceflight.mission_duration
- Launch to last impact: 3 mo., 20 days, 14 hrs., 5 min.
- Spaceflight.spacecraft_bus
- Eagle-0
- Spaceflight.manufacturer
- Northrop Grumman
- Spaceflight.launch_mass
- Shepherding Spacecraft: Centaur:
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- UTC
- Spaceflight.launch_rocket
- Atlas V 401
- Spaceflight.launch_site
- Cape Canaveral SLC-41
- Spaceflight.launch_contractor
- United Launch Alliance
- Spaceflight.orbit_reference
- Geocentric
- Spaceflight.orbit_regime
- High Earth
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Operator
- Ames Research Center
- Country of origin
- United States
- Duration
- 9727414
- Mass
- 743.4
- Orbital period
- 37
- Manufacturer
- Ames Research Center
- Official website
- nasa.gov/LCROSS
- Image
- LCROSS Centaur 1.jpg
- Height
- 2.0
- Width
- 3.3
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- LCROSS
- UTC date of spacecraft launch
- 2009-06-18
- start point
- Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41
- launch contractor
- United Launch Alliance
- powered by
- lithium-ion battery
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 2009-10-09
- located on astronomical body
- Moon
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
10 sectionsContents
- Mission
- Spacecraft
- Instruments
- Results
- Presence of water
- Imagery
- Awards
- See also
- References
- External resources
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA. The mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining the nature of hydrogen detected at the polar regions of the Moon. Launched immediately after discovery of lunar water by Chandrayaan-1, the main LCROSS mission objective was to further explore the presence of water in the form of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near a lunar polar region. It was successful in confirming water in the southern lunar crater Cabeus.
It was launched together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009, as part of the shared Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, the first American mission to the Moon in over ten years.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “LCROSS” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.