The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009. While the science purpose of the LCROSS mission was to determine the presence of water-ice in a permanently-shadowed crater on the moon, the functional purpose was to be a pioneer for future low-cost, risk-tolerant small satellite NASA missions. Recent strategic changes at the Agency level have only furthered the importance of small satellite missions. NASA Ames Research Center and its industry partner, Northrop-Grumman, initiated this spacecraft project two-years after its co-manifest mission had started, with less than one-fifth the budget. With a $79M total cost cap (including operations and reserves) and 31-months until launch, LCROSS needed a game-changing approach to be successful. At the LCROSS Confirmation Review, the ESMD Associate Administrator asked the Project team to keep a close record of lessons learned through the course of the mission and share their findings with the Agency at the end of the mission. This paper summarizes the Project, the mission, its risk position, and some of the more notable lessons learned.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Lcross Lunar Impactor - Lessons Learned from a Small Satellite Mission


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    61st International Astronautical Congress ; 2010 ; Prague, Czech Republic


    Publication date :

    2010-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    LCROSS Lunar Impactor - Lessons Learned From a Small Satellite Mission

    Andrews, D. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010




    Flight Operations for the LCROSS Lunar Impactor Mission

    Tompkins, Paul D. / Hunt, Rusty / D'Ortenzio, Matt D. et al. | NTRS | 2010


    Flight Operations for the LCROSS Lunar Impactor Mission

    Tompkins, Paul / Hunt, Rusty / D'Ortenzio, Matthew et al. | AIAA | 2010