 |
|
Moon mission aiming at Mars |
|||||
| NASA’s Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first vehicle in a
new lunar exploration programme. NASA has defined a
series of unmanned moon missions with the long-term objective to develop new technologies supporting manned space exploration of Mars. LRO will be launched from Kennedy Space Center in June this year. For one year, it will collect data from an orbit 30-50 km above the lunar surface. This year may be followed by a further five-year period of observations from a lower orbit. Through its recently acquired subsidiary USN, SSC has been contracted by NASA to provide ground station services to the project. The services include support during the critical launch and early orbit phase and thereafter continuous telemetry, tracking and command services. One ground station for LRO has been established at Esrange and another in Weilheim, Germany, with DLR as subcontractor. LRO will also communicate with USN’s stations on Hawaii and in Australia. |
|
||||
