Moon Probe Is Readied For This Year’s Mission

11 2,008

By Robert H. Williams

A spacecraft that is intended to find ice and water-bearing compounds on the moon this year is moving rapidly through its pre-launch trials.

An official for Northrop Grumman Corp. of Redondo Beach, Calif., says testing on NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LACROSS, is several months ahead of schedule.

LACROSS recently underwent the rigors of a nearly two-week thermal testing ordeal that measured the satellite’s flight worthiness, say officials, who explain it was subjected to thermal cycles ranging from 230 degrees Fahrenheit to a low of -40 degrees while in simulated launch, on-orbit turn-on and the cruise phase to impact on the moon.

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