PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3 RECORD_TYPE = STREAM LABEL_REVISION_NOTE = " 2007-04-05 LRO:scott Original; 2007-11-16 GEO:slavney Reformatted; 2010-01-20 GEO:slavney Revised mission phase names; updated tense; 2010-01-29 GEO:slavney Revised Mini-RF personnel; 2010-02-19 GEO:slavney Revised MISSION_START_DATE." OBJECT = MISSION MISSION_NAME = "LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER" OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION MISSION_START_DATE = 2009-06-18 MISSION_STOP_DATE = NULL MISSION_ALIAS_NAME = "LRO" MISSION_OBJECTIVES_SUMMARY = " The primary objective of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission is to conduct investigations that support future human exploration of the Moon. Specific LRO mission objectives are: 1. Characterize the lunar radiation environment, biological impacts, and potential mitigation. Key aspects of this objective include determining the global radiation environment, investigating the capabilities of potential shielding materials, and validating deep space radiation prototype hardware and software. 2. Develop a high-resolution global, three-dimensional geodetic grid of the Moon and provide the topography necessary for selecting future landing sites. 3. Assess in detail the resources and environments of the Moon's Polar Regions. 4. Provide high spatial resolution assessment of the Moon's surface addressing elemental composition, mineralogy, and regolith characteristics. " MISSION_DESC = " The majority of the text in this file was extracted and/or modified from: 1. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Mission Concept of Operations, R. Saylor, 431-OPS-000042, 2006. [SAYLOR2006A] 2. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Mission Design Handbook, R. Saylor, 431-HDBK-000486, 2006. [SAYLOR2006B] 3. Exploration and Science, presentation from LOLA Delta-PDR held on October 6, 2005 4. Theory of LEND Science and Observations, presentation from LEND PDR held on September 21-23, 2005 5. Investigation Overview, presentation from LROC PDR held on September 8, 2005. LRO was launched on June 18, 2009 on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). The EELV inserted the orbiter into a direct trajectory to the Moon. The orbiter used the on-board propulsion system to enter into lunar orbit. After orbiter commissioning, the orbiter entered the nominal mission orbit of 50 km. LRO will perform routine measurement operations for one year. After one year, LRO may continue operations as part of an extended mission operations phase. The duration of extended mission is dependent on the orbit. After LRO uses all of the onboard fuel, LRO's orbit will degrade and eventually impact the surface of the Moon. The orbiter carried a secondary payload, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which operated as a separate mission to observe the impact of a spent Centaur rocket released over the Moon's south pole. (Data from the LCROSS mission are archived separately in PDS.) Once LRO was in the final mission orbit, the six instruments began to collect measurement data for the mission. A description of these instruments follows: 1. Cosmic Ray Telescope for Effects of Radiation (CRaTER): Harlan Spence leads the CRaTER measurement investigation from Boston University (BU). The CRaTER instrument measures cosmic ray sources from two different directions (looking nadir and zenith). The instrument telescope contains a series of five detectors spaced apart that measure the different cosmic rays. CRaTER measurement goals are to: a. Measure and characterize the deep space radiation environment and spectra of galactic and solar cosmic rays. b. Characterize the biological impacts from the radiation environment. CRaTER measures the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectra behind tissue equivalent material. LET spectra are the missing link connecting both Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) to potential damage to tissue. CRaTER measures low LET from 200 keV to 100 MeV and high LET from 2 MeV to 1 GeV. The CRaTER instrument has both a nadir and zenith field of view. The zenith field of view measures the primary sources of GCRs and SEPs. The nadir field of view measures sources of radiation from the lunar surface. The instrument operates continuously during the entire orbit and operates autonomously. CRaTER nominally generates ~0.5 kbps of data but when solar flares are detected, the data rate can increase to ~90 kbps. 2. Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE): David Paige leads the Diviner measurement investigation from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Diviner includes a 9-channel radiometer with a wavelength range from 0.3 to 200 microns. DLRE makes precise radiometric temperature measurements of the lunar surface with the following measurement goals: a. Map global day/night surface temperatures. b. Characterize thermal environments for habitability. c. Determine rock abundances at landing sites. d. Identify potential polar ice reservoirs. e. Search for near-surface and exposed ice deposits. DLRE is a 9-channel radiometer that measures wavelengths from 0.3 to 200 micron. Measurements have a spatial resolution of less than 500 m at the 50 km altitude. DLRE operates continuously during the entire orbit. During most of the orbit, the instrument looks at nadir, but the instrument has two gimbals which allows it to rotate about both axes. Periodically throughout the orbit, the instrument rotates to perform two types of calibration activities. The first is a deep space/internal black body calibration. The instrument rotates to either deep space or the internal black body target for approximately 32 seconds. The deep space/black body calibration is performed approximately 12 times per orbit. The second calibration activity is the solar calibration activity. The instrument has a solar calibration target located just below the main instrument drum. During each orbit, the instrument rotates so that the solar target is illuminated by the Sun. The solar and the deep space/internal black body calibrations are both triggered by onboard event tables. The event tables are uplinked periodically throughout each month. DLRE collects approximately 3.5 Gbits of data each day. Besides the periodic uplink of new event tables, the instrument operates autonomously throughout the orbit. There may be a possibility of interference with LROC imaging if a DLRE calibration sequence occurs during LROC NAC imaging. DLRE can execute a freeze command that will prevent a calibration sequence from occurring. The freeze command is inserted just prior to the LROC image commands as part of the spacecraft daily command load. 3. Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP): Alan Stern leads the LAMP measurement investigation from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The LAMP instrument includes high and low power supplies and a double delay line detector. The LAMP instrument measurement goals are to: a. Provide landform mapping from Lyman-alpha albedos at sub-km resolution in and around the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface. b. Identify and localize exposed water frost. c. Demonstrate the feasibility of using starlight and sky-glow for future surface mission applications. LAMP measurements provide additional characteristics on landing sites as well as aid in the search for localized exposed water ice. The LAMP instrument's sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) absorption near 1600 angstrom allows detection of water frost. LAMP also provides images of permanently shadowed regions at ~500 m resolution. The LAMP instrument is powered during the entire lunar orbit, but only collects measurement data over the night portion of the orbit. The LAMP instrument incorporates a Lunar Terminator Sensor (LTS) that detect the terminator line. The LTS contains two sensor channels with each channel offset from the LAMP boresight by +/- 1.5 degrees in a plane that contains the spacecraft 'in-track' motion (i.e. parallel to the LAMP entrance slit width). When the instrument is approaching the terminator line, the instrument high voltages are reduced when passing from dark to light to prevent the detector from saturating during the dayside portion of the orbit. The LTS also signals the instrument when the terminator (light to dark) is passed and the high voltages are then increased for measurement data collection. In case of an LTS failure, the ground generates a terminator prediction product that will be used to trigger the high voltage operations from the daily command load. The LAMP main door has a small hole which allows it to operate over the sunlit portion of the orbit. In this mode, the LTS provides the software with the signal to open and close the door. When LAMP operates over the entire orbit, the data volume per day is doubled to approximately 2.14 Gbits. LAMP routinely collects approximately 1 Gbit of data per day and operates autonomously throughout the orbit without any daily operations input. 4. Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND): The LEND measurement investigation is led by Igor Mitrofanov from the Russian Institute for Space Research. The LEND instrument includes a collimated sensor and sensors to detect thermal, epithermal, and high-energy neutrons. LEND objectives include: a. Creation of high-resolution hydrogen distribution maps with sensitivity of about 100 ppm of hydrogen weight and horizontal spatial resolution of 5 km. b. Characterization of surface distribution and column density of possible near-surface water ice deposits at the Moon's polar cold traps. c. Creation of a global model of neutron component of space radiation at an altitude of 30-50 km above the surface with spatial resolution of 20-50 km at the spectral range from thermal energies up to 15 MeV. LEND sensors STN1, STN2, STN3, and SETN detect thermal neutrons and epithermal neutrons to characterize the lunar radiation environment. Sensors STN1 and STN3 operate as a Doppler filter for thermal neutrons from the front side and back side of the instrument. Sensors SETN and STN2 have open fields of view. Sensor SHEN detects high energy neutrons at 16 energy channels from 300 keV to more than 15 MeV to characterize the lunar radiation environment. The SHEN sensor has a narrow field of view of about 20-30 degrees. LEND collimated sensors CSETN1-4 detect epithermal neutrons with high angular resolution to characterize spatial variations of lunar neutron albedo, which depend on content of hydrogen in 1-2 m of the regolith. LEND collimated sensors CSETN1-4 and SHEN detect epithermal neutrons and high energy neutrons with high angular resolution to test water ice deposits on the lunar surface. LEND measurements include: a. Measurement of thermal neutrons with flux variation greater than 1% and altitude-dependent spatial resolution about 50km. b. Measurement of epithermal neutrons greater than 0.4 electron Volts (eV) with flux variation about 2% (pole) and 10% (equator). c. Measurement of high-energy neutrons 0.3 - 15.0 Mega-electron Volts (MeV) with flux variations 4% (pole) and 10% (equator). LEND operates autonomously, collecting data throughout the lunar orbit. LEND generates approximately 0.26 Gbits of measurement data per day. In order to perform early calibration measurements, LEND became active shortly after the first mid course correction (MCC) burn. Operationally, LEND is simple and has only three instrument modes: MEASUREMENTS, STAND-BY, and OFF. While in MEASUREMENTS mode, instrument electronics and detector high voltage are both 'on' and the instrument generates measurement and housekeeping data. In STAND-BY mode, instrument electronics are 'on', detector high voltage is 'off', and only housekeeping data are generated. While in OFF mode, the instrument is 'off', the instrument external heater is 'on', and only external temperature data are generated. 5. Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA): David Smith leads the LOLA measurement investigation from GSFC. LOLA uses a 1064 nanometer (nm) laser that expands to provide a five spot pattern on the Moon's surface. A telescope receives the reflected light where the Electronics processes the return. The primary LOLA objectives are: a. Produce a high-resolution global topographic model and global geodetic framework that enables precise targeting, safe landing, and safe mobility on the Moon's surface. LOLA determines the topography of the Moon to geodetic quality from global to landing-site relevant scales. b. Characterize the polar illumination environment at relevant temporal scales, and image permanently shadowed regions of the Moon on landform scales to identify possible locations of surface ice crystals in shadowed polar craters. c. Identify the locations of appreciable surface water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon's polar cold traps. d. Assess meter and smaller-scale features to facilitate safety analysis of potential future lunar landing sites. LOLA has two secondary objectives: a. Establish a global geodetic reference system for the Moon. b. Improve the model of the lunar gravity field to facilitate precision navigation and landing. LOLA has the following capabilities. It measures the distance between the spacecraft and the surface which, along with the spacecraft position, will allow precise measurements of the lunar shape. The instrument lays down a laser spot pattern that provides altimetry measurements along- and across-track to enable the surface slope to be derived for safe landing. It measures the distribution of elevation within the laser footprint for estimation of surface roughness (rock size). LOLA also identifies regions of enhanced surface reflectance that might indicate the presence of water ice on the surface. LOLA achieves its measurement objectives as follows: a. LOLA provides 5 profiles in a 70-meter swath. b. The instrument provides full spatial sampling after one year: i. ~ 1.2 km average spacing at equator ii. ~ 25 m average spacing above 86 degrees north and south c. The LOLA ground software performs cross-over analysis of LOLA data- topography, slopes, and roughness are the same on both tracks. d. LOLA data provide precision information about the orbiter's location- S-band tracking data are augmented by Earth-based laser ranges. e. LOLA data improve the lunar gravity field model via cross-over analysis. LOLA Mapping Data Products include the following: a. Topography with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 1.2 km at equator and of 25 m at latitudes greater than 86 degrees, with accuracies of +/-50 m in horizontal and less than 1 m in vertical. b. Surface slopes with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 50 m with accuracy of less than +/- 0.5 degrees. c. Surface roughness with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 5 m with accuracy of ~30 cm. d. Elevations of permanently shadowed regions with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 25 m with accuracy of ~10 cm. e. Reflectance of permanently shadowed regions with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 50 m with accuracy of +/- 5%. f. Polar illumination with average horizontal resolutions (after one year) of 50 m with accuracy of less than 1 m. g. Landing site surveys (approximately 50). h. Global lunar coordinate system with point-to-point distances with accuracy of +/- 70 m. i. Precision LRO orbits with accuracy of +/- 50 m in horizontal and +/- 1 m in vertical. j. Improved gravity model with a goal of producing a global gravity model that is as good as today's nearside gravity model. 6. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC): Mark Robinson leads LROC measurement investigation from Arizona State University (ASU). LROC consists of two narrow angle cameras (NAC), a wide-angle camera (WAC), and a Sequence and Compression System (SCS). LROC measurement objectives include: a. Landing site identification and certification, with unambiguous identification of meter-scale hazards. b. Unambiguous mapping of permanent shadows and sunlit regions. c. Meter-scale mapping of polar regions with continuous illumination. d. Overlapping observations to enable derivation of meter-scale topography. e. Global multispectral imaging to map ilmenite and other minerals. f. Global morphology base map. g. Characterize regolith properties. h. Determine current impact hazards by re-imaging 1-2m/pixel Apollo images. The NAC operational concept is as follows: a. 25 km downtrack (no summing) b. 50 cm / pixel - 5 km cross track at 50 km c. 10 degree (300 km) 'read-out gap' (less with smaller images) d. Image targets at nadir with favorable lighting conditions e. Build up complete 1 m/pixel maps from 85.5 degrees to pole (N and S) f. Photometric and geometric stereo through repeat coverage. The WAC operational concept is as follows: a. Continuous pole-to-pole 50 km swath mapping in all 7 bands possible b. Repeat BW coverage at poles every orbit 100 km swath width c. Global 100 m/pixel (vis) / 400m/pixel (UV) at 50km and 50-75 degree incidence angle. LROC provides the following capabilities: a. Landing site identification and certification i. Unambiguous identification of 1 m hazards with 0.5 m/pixel and MTF greater than 0.2 at Nyquist, for blocks and small craters ii. 5 km swath with two NACs iii. Topography. b. Polar illumination i. WAC repeat synoptic coverage at high time resolution (every orbit) over full year: 80 degrees to 90 degrees to 88 degrees; full overlap 88 degrees to 90 degrees every orbit; excellent repeat coverage 85 degrees to 90 degrees ii. NAC meter scale mapping of poles: summer mosaics of each pole for morphology and permanent shadow from 85.5 degrees to the pole; winter repeat coverage observations of highly illuminated peaks/ridges, capable of finding smallest usable unit of 'perma-light' c. High resolution topography i. Stereo coverage: point cross track, limited by project constraints and orbit progression, is easy at poles and more difficult at equator; two NACs offset ~50 lines downtrack for correlation and remove spacecraft pointing variation; 5 meter (or better) correlation patch ii. Photometric stereo: three images at different lighting; 1 to 2 m/pixel (bin for SNR); directly supports landing site certification and science analysis d. Multispectral mapping i. WAC uv/visible: 315, 360, 415, 560, 600, 640, 680 nm; global visible map at 100 m/pixel; global UV map at 400 m/pixel; map TiO2 soils (hold H, He); pyroclastic glasses (volatiles); olivine (magmatic processes) ii. Meshes with Clementine 100-200 m/pixel (415, 750, 900, 950, 1000) e. Global morphology: 100 m/pixel global map with 55-75 degree incidence angle - critical for mapping, basemap, crater counts (current best LO 50-600 m/pixel, poorest on farside); key for establishing relative age dates (ultimately absolute); resource assessment; context imaging f. Current impact rates i. Re-image Apollo pan coverage at same lighting (high and low Sun) at 1 m/pixel ii. Rates of impacts from 0.1 m to 10 m bolides poorly known (x100 difference in current models) iii. Should have been 950 craters >10 m/diameter formed since 1972 (crater ~10x impactor) iv. Re-image 1 percent of Moon at 1 m/pixel should find at least 9 craters v. Critical measurement for understanding most dangerous impact hazards on Moon. 7. Miniature-Radio Frequency (Mini-RF): LRO also flies a technology demonstration instrument called the Miniature-Radio Frequency (Mini-RF). Ben Bussey of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) leads the Mini-RF technology demonstration. JHU/APL is responsible for instrument operations. Mini-RF is a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) that consists of a fixed planar antenna mounted on an external spacecraft surface, and a cable harness between the electronics and the antenna. It operates on a non-interference basis throughout the mission. Mini-RF takes measurements to demonstrate the following technology: a. Imaging from 50km altitude surface areas that have been imaged by Forerunner with the same dual polarization, resolution, and S-band frequency as was used by Forerunner. The Forerunner instrument is on the ISRO Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon. b. Imaging polar areas with both S- and X-band, and at both baseline and zoom resolutions c. Acquiring data in a continuous transmit mode that is applicable for topography generation using post processing techniques d. Conduct a set of experiments to test the usability of Mini-RF hardware as a communications asset. Mini-RF Conops has three different components: a. The communications experiment consists of two 10-minute data takes, approximately 24 hours apart, that occur during the instrument commissioning phase, before the primary mapping phase of the mission. b. SAR Data Acquisition: Mini-RF will acquire one 4-minute SAR data strip every month. Within this strip it is possible to alternate between different SAR modes, e.g. S or X band, baseline or zoom resolution. In addition, twice a year, Mini-RF will acquire four 2-minute strips acquired on four consecutive orbits. c. Continuous Mode Data Acquisition: Mini-RF will acquire one 4-minute SAR data strip every month. Additionally, twice a year, Mini-RF will acquire four 2-minute strips on four consecutive orbits. Mission Phases ============== LAUNCH 2009-06-18 (2009-169) The launch phase began with launch vehicle lift-off and lasted about 90 minutes until payload separation. The payload had achieved the trans-lunar trajectory. ------ CRUISE 2009-06-18 to 2009-06-23 (2009-169 to 2009-174) The early cruise phase began with payload separation and lasted about 90 minutes until observing mode began. The orbiter performed Sun acquisition, ground acquisition, and deployments. Initial planning for a mid-course correction (MCC) occurred during this phase. The mid-cruise phase began with observing mode and lasted about a day until completion of the mid-course correction (MCC). During this phase propulsion checks were performed, final MCC planning was done, and the MCC was executed. The late cruise phase began with completion of the mid-course correction (MCC) and lasted until the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) sequence began. During this phase the CRaTER and LEND instruments performed early activation tasks, the orbiter underwent functional checks, and LOI planning was done. ------ LUNAR ORBIT ACQUISITION 2009-06-23 (2009-174) The lunar orbit acquisition phase began with the start of the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) sequence and lasted until the commissioning orbit was attained. ------ COMMISSIONING 2009-06-23 to 2009-09-14 (2009-174 to 2009-257) The commissioning phase began with attainment of the 30x216 km commissioning orbit and lasted until the mission orbit was achieved. During this phase orbiter and instrument checks and calibrations were performed and the orbit was adjusted to the mission orbit. ------ NOMINAL MISSION 2009-09-15 to 2010-09-14 (2009-258 to 2010-257) The nominal mission phase began with the attainment of the mission orbit and is planned to last for 1 year. During this phase routine operations, non-routine operations, and measurement data processing are performed. ------ SCIENCE MISSION 2010-09-15 to 2012-09-14 (2010-258 to 2012-257) The science mission begins at the completion of one year of nominal operations and lasts at least 2 years or until the orbiter impacts the lunar surface. During this phase, objectives that have not been determined will be realized, and impact planning and prediction will be performed. The beginning of this phase marks the transition of LRO programmatic control from the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) to the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). An Extended Mission phase may follow the Science Mission phase." END_OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION OBJECT = MISSION_HOST INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID = "LRO" OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "MOON" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET END_OBJECT = MISSION_HOST OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "SAYLOR2006A" END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "SAYLOR2006B" END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION END_OBJECT = MISSION END