Description

Dr. Ennico provides an overview of the LCROSS mission, a secondary payload that hitch-hiked aboard an Atlas V rocket with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on June 18th, 2009. LCROSS was a fast-paced mission concept that embraced risk and utilized off-the-shelf components, to meet a rigorous budget and schedule profile. Scientifically, LCROSS is looking to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permamently shadowed region on the moon. The impact location is a crater on the lunar south pole, where LCROSS will meet its spectacular end on Oct 9th, 2009. Dr. Ennico shares what she has learned on this very hands-on and engaging project and how this type of mission concept is an excellent training experience for spacecraft engineers. Dr. Ennico also touches on how we at NASA Ames have been expanding the concept of “participatory exploration,” with LCROSS as an example.