[meteorite-list] NASA GRAIL Lunar Twins Perform Their Last Burn

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:53:23 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201212172153.qBHLrNwE024934_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-400

NASA GRAIL Lunar Twins Begin Their Last Burn
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
December 17, 2012

The twin spacecraft of NASA's GRAIL mission have completed their final
rocket burns. Their pre-planned lunar impact is expected at about 2:28
p.m. PST (5:28 EST).

Ebb and Flow -- the two twin spacecraft of NASA's Gravity Recovery and
Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission -- have begun their final rocket
burns. They are scheduled to impact the moon at around 2:28 p.m. PST
(5:28 EST).

NASA is providing live commentary of the pre-planned lunar surface
impacts by GRAIL beginning at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17.
The event will be broadcast on NASA Television and streamed on the
agency's website. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink
information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv . The coverage will also be
streamed live on Ustream at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

The two probes will hit a mountain near the lunar north pole, bringing
their successful prime and extended science missions to an end. The two
probes are being sent purposely into the moon because they no longer
have enough altitude or fuel to continue science operations.

Commentary will originate from the GRAIL control room at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Coverage will last about 35
minutes and include live interviews with GRAIL team members. GRAIL's
final resting place on the moon will be in shadow at the time of impact,
so no video documentation of the impacts is expected. GRAIL data are
allowing scientists to learn about the moon's internal structure and
composition in unprecedented detail.

Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #GRAIL.

For the mission's press kit and other information about GRAIL, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/grail . You can follow JPL News on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/nasajpl , and on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/nasajpl .

D.C. Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

2012-400
Received on Mon 17 Dec 2012 04:53:23 PM PST