API VERSION: 1.2 API SOURCE: NASA/JPL Horizons API ******************************************************************************* Revised: Jul 30, 2013 LCROSS Shepherd (spacecraft) -18 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/overview/index.html https://blogs.nasa.gov/lcrossfdblog/tag/general/ NOTES (2021-Feb-02): Comments updated Centaur final approach-trajectory Oct 9 is available as body -18900 MISSION DESCRIPTION Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite. LCROSS was co-launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. After launch, the LCROSS shepherding spacecraft and the Atlas V's Centaur upper stage rocket executed a fly-by of the moon and entered into an elongated Earth orbit to position LCROSS for impact in Cabeus crater near the lunar south pole. On final approach, the shepherding spacecraft and Centaur separated. The Centaur, acting as a heavy impactor, created a 27-m diameter surface crater 5-m deep, ejecting ~350 metric tons into a debris plume rising above the lunar surface (generally staying below 10 km altitude). Following four minutes behind, the shepherding spacecraft flew through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before also impacting the lunar surface, creating a 18x3 m crater and second debris plume containing ~150 metric tons of material. The goal was to assess the ejected material for water-ice, hydrocarbons, or organic chemicals. The debris plumes was expected to be visible from Earth- and space-based telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger, but no ground-base plume sightings were obtained. On November 13, 2009, NASA reported evidence water was detected after the Centaur impact. Selected events: * Launched : 2009-Jun-18 21:32:01 UTC * Centaur blow-down : 2009-Jun-18 22:41:40.8 and 22:45:10.8 UTC * Polar Earth orbit : 2009-Jun-23 (37-day period) * TCM-5a : 2009-Jul-21 13:00 UTC * Shepherd/Centaur sep.: 2009-Oct-09 01:50 UTC * Shepherd impact : 2009-Oct-09 11:35:36.116 UTC 310.39 deg. E. longitude, -84.719 deg. S. latitude, -3809 m alt. (766 m from target location, 2.803 km sw of Centaur location) LCROSS SCIENCE PAYLOAD: 2 near-infrared spectrometers 1 visible light spectrometer 2 mid-infrared cameras 2 near-infrared cameras 1 visible-light camera 1 visible-light radiometer SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORY (JPL NAV): Trajectory name Start Stop ----------------------------- ----------- ----------- Cycle3_20090618_P30_p0sig_v01 2009-Jun-18 2009-Jun-23 pre-launch planning lx090707a 2009-Jun-23 2009-Jun-30 data:Jun 23 - Jul 7 lx090722a_postTCM5a 2009-Jun-30 2009-Jul-20 data:to Jul 22 lx090726a_postTCM5a 2009-Jul-20 2009-Aug-25 data:to Jul 26 lx090904a_TCM6_od 2009-Aug-25 2009-Sep-02 data:to Sep 03 18_lx090925b_TCM8_drm 2009-Sep-02 2009-Oct-01 data:to ~Sep 28 18_lx091007a_TCM9_recon_final 2009-Oct-01 2009-Oct-06 data:to ~Oct 6 18_lx091009d_final_SSC_impact 2009-Oct-06 2009-Oct-09 data:to end-of-mission *******************************************************************************