LADEE Project Manager Update: Initial Checkout Complete

After a spectacular launch, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft was placed by the Minotaur V launch vehicle into an elliptic orbit around Earth, as the start of our journey to the moon.  After adjusting some fault protection settings to enable the reaction wheels, mission controllers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., successfully completed the initial systems checkout phase, and everything looks good so far. This checkout included spacecraft acquisition, tracking, and ranging by all the ground stations. The propulsion system also was activated to do a momentum dump, which means that the spacecraft spin and the reaction wheel spins were reduced together to a nominal state.

LADEE is doing fine and its trajectory to the moon is good. The LADEE spacecraft is currently in an elliptical orbit around Earth, about 162,000 miles (260,000 Km) in altitude. Mission controllers are now performing an extended checkout phase including guidance, navigation and control characterization, reaction control system tests, and on-board controller tuning.

The spacecraft was at the highest point in the current orbit (apogee) at 9:30 a.m. PDT, Tuesday Sept. 10. Then it will drop back down to a closest approach to Earth (perigee) at 9:38 a.m. PDT on Friday, Sept. 13, where we will perform an engine burn to boost its orbit.

LADEE will continue with two more of these elliptical orbits until it is captured around the moon to do its initial Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI-1) burn on Sunday Oct. 6th. After that we are in lunar orbit. This LOI burn is one of the most critical phases of the mission, because without it working we do not get into lunar orbit.

Lunar Mission: Testing a Multi-Use Spacecraft Design

LADEE is the first spacecraft designed, developed, built, integrated and tested at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Using a Modular Common Spacecraft Bus architecture, also developed by Ames, LADEE will demonstrate how to build a first class spacecraft at reduced cost. The LADEE spacecraft makes use of general purpose spacecraft modules that allow for a plug-and-play approach to manufacturing and assembly. This approach along with commercial off-the-shelf products allows mission designers to develop, assemble and test multiple spacecraft modules at the same time – essentially giving them the versatility to get the biggest bang for NASA's buck.

“LADEE’s common bus is an innovative concept that brings NASA a step closer to multi-use designs and assembly line production, while moving away from custom design,” said Ames Director S. Pete Worden. "This mission will put the common bus design to the test. This same common bus can be used on future missions to explore other destinations, including voyages to orbit and land on the moon, low-Earth orbit, and near-Earth objects."

The space agency has adopted a “more with less” approach to robotic missions. It also is about using NASA’s small satellite missions to test cutting-edge space technologies for rapid development. These technology demonstrations allow NASA the opportunities to test in space emerging science and engineering technologies, and economical commercial off-the-shelf technologies on a smaller scale. These demonstrations also help researchers better understand how hardware will survive the harsh radiation, temperature and vacuum conditions encountered in space. All while being faster, more efficient and less expensive than traditional missions.

Findings could reap untold benefits for science and industry here on Earth. Rapid technology developments will allow future NASA missions to pursue bolder and more sophisticated science, enable safe and rewarding human missions beyond low-Earth orbit and enable entirely new approaches to U.S. space operations.

“NASA is looking for affordable ways to launch often and inexpensively,” said David Korsmeyer, Director of Engineering at NASA Ames.  “We can use off-the-shelf components because customized components are expensive to continually develop and improve. If these systems work successfully, NASA will be looking for other commercial technologies to use for space exploration.”
Instead of building increasingly large and complex exploratory missions, these low-cost accelerated missions could open the door for creativity, clever problem solving, and inspired missions with simple goals. Mission planners expect the next decade could see amazing developments as NASA continues to fund missions using this innovative concept.

“Simplicity was not a necessary aspect of this mission, but is clearly a driver for successful missions,” said Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames. “The important thing is to maximize the success per dollar.”

NASA's TRMM Sees Heavy Rain Over Taiwan from Tropical Storm Kong-Rey

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite flew directly above western Taiwan on August 28, 2013 at 2108 UTC when Tropical Storm Kong-Rey was dropping enormous amounts of rain. Kong-Rey is expected to affect Japan over the next several days while moving parallel to its western coastline.

Flooding from torrential rainfall with totals of over 500 mm (~19.7 inches) have been reported in western Taiwan. A rainfall analysis from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments revealed that precipitation was falling was at a rate of over 205mm/8 inches per hour in intense bands of rain over southwestern Taiwan.

TRMM data was used to create a 3-D image looking from the east, showed the extremely high storms located on the western side of Taiwan. TRMM showed that the tops of those powerful thunderstorms were often reaching heights above 16.5 km (~10.3 miles).

On Aug. 30 at 1500 UTC/11 a.m. EDT, Kong-Rey had weakened to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds near 30 knots/34.5 mph/55.5 kph. It had passed Taiwan and was centered near 31.7 north and 126.6 east, about 251 nautical miles/288 miles/465 km west-southwest of Sasebo, Japan. Kong-Rey was moving northeastward at 13 knots/15 mph/20.9 kph.

Tropical Depression Kong-Rey is now predicted to move to the north then northeast and remain just off the western coast of Japan until it makes a brief landfall near Misawa in the north on Sept. 1. Resident along western Japan can expect showers, gusty winds and rough surf over the next several days.