1998-001A
Lunar Prospector was selected in Mar 1995 as part of the Discovery program. It will be built and operated by Lockheed Missiles and Space Co/Sunnyvale; NASA oversight of the project is managed by NASA-Ames which also controls the probe.
The spacecraft is a spin stabilized solar-panel-covered cylinder 1.4m dia, 1.22m high surrounding a triangular inner structure based on the Iridium satellite, and has a hydrazine propulsion system with six Olin MR-106E 22N thrusters with total mission impulse of at least 239 kNs. Three booms unfold to carry the experiments, a magnetometer boom 3.8m long and two instrument booms 2.5m long. Mass is 158 kg dry, 296 kg fuelled. The spacecraft carried a special Celestis capsule with some of the ashes of lunar scientist Gene Shoemaker, who died in a car accident the previous year.
Launch was Jan 1998 by LMA Athena-2 with a Model 92 fairing (92 inch diameter) from Cape Canaveral's Florida Spaceport Authority LC46. It will be inserted in a 100 x 100 km, 118 min lunar polar orbit. The Athena-2 has two Castor 120 stages, an Orbus 21D Equipment Section Boost Motor, and an Orbit Adjust Module.
As well as the LP payload, Athena-2 carries a TLI stage. The TLI stage is built around a Thiokol Star 37FM (TE-M-783-7) solid motor and a Thiokol graphite interstage adapter. The TLI Stage is 0.17m long and 0.21m in diameter with a fueled mass of 1227 kg and an empty mass of 212 kg. (The Star 37FM has thrust 45.8 kN, impulse 2894 kNs and burn time 63s, with diameter 0.94m and length 1.68m). The TLI stage also has spinup motors which fire prior to LP separation to spin-stabilize the LP.
Launch mass of S/C + TLI stage is 1523 kg.
The neutron spectrometer will help in the search for hydrogen and water ice; the alpha particle spectrometer will detect outgassing events.
In 1998 preliminary evidence was reported for substantial amounts of ice at the lunar poles.
End of mission in 1999 will have impact at 42E 87.7S.
According to Alan Binder's book on LP the TLI stage reentered over the Indian Ocean 'several days after launch'. First perigee may have been around 2030 UTC Jan 15.
| LP | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Jan 7 | 0228:44 | Launch by LMLV-2 | SPFL LC46 |
| T+01:29 Stage 1 (Castor 120) sep, 18 km | |||
| T+01:29 Stage 2 burn | |||
| T+03:00 Stage 2 (Castor 120) sep, 95 km | |||
| T+03:52 Fairing sep, 132 km | |||
| T+03:57 Stage 3 (Orbus 21D) burn, 134 km | |||
| 0235:15 | T+06:31 Stage 3 sep, 156 km | ||
| 0235:15 | T+06:31 OAM burn 418s | ||
| 0242:13 | T+13:29 OAM cutoff, injection 156 km | ||
| Parking orbit | 153 x 202 x 29.2 | ||
| OAM orient for TLI | |||
| 0323:57 | T+55:13, U+0:00 OAM sep | 141 x 198 x 29.3 | |
| 0323:58 | U+0:01 TLI stage spinup | ||
| 0324:17 | U+0:20 TLI burn | ||
| 0325:20 | U+1:23 TLI burnout - MET 0 | ||
| 0325:26 | U+1:29 TLI stage sep | ||
| 0524 | TLI sep confirmed | ||
| 197 x 352645 x 29.20 | |||
| 1998 Jan 7 | 0630 | Mag boom deploy | |
| 0709 | Booms deploy | ||
| 0730 | Booms extended | ||
| 0920? | OAM reentered? | ||
| 76 x 381571 x 29.3 | |||
| 1155 | MCM-1 burn 13.0m/s axial, 49m/s tgtl. | ||
| 1840 | Pass EL1:4 | ||
| 1851 | TLI stage pass EL1:4? | ||
| 1998 Jan 8 | 0825 | MCC-2, 8.4m/s | |
| -267 x 379973 x 29.3 | |||
| 1998 Jan 10 | 1812 | Enter L sphere | 73 x -17841 x 89.7 |
| 1998 Jan 11 | 0156 | Equigravisphere | |
| 1998 Jan 11 | 1145 | LOI burn, 32 min | |
| 1998 Jan 11 | 1217 | LOI, 12 hr orbit | 84 x 8470 x 89.72 |
| 1740 | Capture correction | ||
| 1998 Jan 12 | 1058 | LOI-2, 27 min to 3.5 hr period | 87 x 1861 x 89.9 |
| 1125 | End of burn | ||
| 1998 Jan 13 | 1206 | LOI-3, 118 min op orbit | 120.01 92 x 153 x 90.0 |
| 1998 Jan 15 | 2144 | 76s trim | 92 x 100 x 90.1 |
| 2206 | 16s trim | 99 x 100 x 90.1 | |
| 2357 | Move to mapping attitude | ||
| 1998 Jan 16 | 117.88 99 x 101 x 90.6 | ||
| 1998 Jan 22 | 0000 | 118.0 80 x 120 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Jan 24 | 0000 | 118.0 90 x 110 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Jan 27 | 0000 | 118.0 88 x 112 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Jan 30 | 0000 | 118.0 86 x 114 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Feb 2 | 1800 | 118.0 96 x 104 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Feb 10 | 0000 | 118.0 92 x 109 x 90.1 | |
| 1998 Feb 19 | 0000 | 118.0 85 x 115 x 90.3 | |
| 1998 Mar 6 | 0000 | 118.0 82 x 117 x 90.0 | |
| 1998 Mar 8 | 0349 | OTM-1a periselene raise | |
| 1998 Mar 8 | 0453 | OTM-1b aposelene lower | |
| 1998 Mar 12 | 0000 | 118.0 94 x 106 x 90.7 | |
| 1998 Mar 19 | 0000 | 118.0 84 x 115 x 90.4 | |
| 1998 Apr 2 | 0000 | 118.0 93 x 105 x 90.2 | |
| 1998 Apr 16 | 0000 | 118.0 87 x 110 x 90.0 | |
| 1998 Apr 23 | 0000 | 118.0 82 x 118 x 90? | |
| 1998 May 1 | 118.0 85 x 114 x 90? | ||
| 1998 May 1 | 1550 | Circ burn 38s | 118.0 112 x 114 x 90 |
| 1998 May 1 | 1654 | Circ burn, exchange peri 37s | 88 x 112 x 90 |
| 1998 May 5 | 0000 | 118.0 88 x 112 x 90.9 | |
| 1998 May 15 | 0000 | 118.0 86 x 114 x 90? | |
| 1998 Jun 25 | 83 x 118 x 90 | ||
| 1998 Jun 25 | 2142 | MOC periapsis raise | 109 x 118 x 90 |
| 2246 | MOC apo lower | 90 x 109 x 90 | |
| 1998 Jun 26 | 0000 | 118.0 90 x 110 x 89.8 | |
| 1998 Jul 10 | 0000 | 118.0 90.2 x 108.6 x 89.9 | |
| 1998 Nov 13 | 1800 | 118.0 93 x 106 x 90.0 | |
| 1998 Dec 4 | 1800 | 118.0 91 x 109 x 90 | |
| 1998 Dec 19 | 1740 | 77 x 122 x 90 | |
| 1998 Dec 19 | 1811 | Lower orbit, 47s | 50 x 77 x 90 |
| 1998 Dec 19 | 1911 | Lower orbit, 150s | 112.0 25 x 55 x 90 |
| 1998 Dec 30 | 0000 | 112.0 29 x 52 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jan 8 | 0000 | 112.0 31 x 49 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jan 15 | 1800 | 112.0 30 x 50 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jan 29 | 0655 | 40s burn | 43 x 63 x 90 |
| 0743 | 71s burn | 15 x 45 x 90 | |
| 2359 | 17 x 43 x 90 | ||
| 1999 Feb 3 | 0000 | 111.0 21 x 39 x 90 | |
| 1999 Feb 11 | 0000 | 111.0 26 x 33 x 90 | |
| 1999 Feb 19 | 0000 | 111.0 20 x 40 x 90 | |
| 1999 Feb 25 | 16 x 40 x 90 | ||
| 1999 Feb 25 | 1116 | Orbit raise | 40 x 44 x 90 |
| 1155 | Orbit lower | 15 x 44 x 90 | |
| 1999 Mar 5 | 0000 | 111.0 27 x 32 x 90 | |
| 1999 Mar 12 | 0000 | 111.0 23 x 36 x 90 | |
| 1999 Mar 19 | 0000 | 111.0 15 x 45 x 90 | |
| 1999 Mar 25 | 1730 | Orbit burn EMOC-3 43s | |
| 1810 | Orbit burn EMOC-3 47s | 111.0 15 x 45 x 90 | |
| 1999 Apr 2 | 0000 | 111.0 27 x 32 x 90 | |
| 1999 Apr 9 | 0000 | 111.0 22 x 37 x 90 | |
| 1999 Apr 16 | 0000 | 111.0 12 x 47 x 90 | |
| 1999 Apr 20 | 0132 | Orbit burn EMOC-4 45s, 7m/s | |
| 0214 | Orbit burn EMOC-4 45s, 7m/s | ||
| 1999 Apr 23 | 0000 | 111.0 21 x 38 x 90 | |
| 1999 Apr 30 | 0000 | 111.0 23 x 36 x 90 | |
| 1999 May 5 | 1735 | Orbit burn EMOC-5 25s, 4m/s | |
| 1833 | Orbit burn EMOC-5 26s, 4m/s | ||
| 1999 May 7 | 0000 | 111.0 21 x 38 x 90 | |
| 1999 May 14? | 0000 | 111.0 19 x 41 x 90 | |
| 1999 May 21 | 0000 | 111.0 17 x 43 x 90 | |
| 1999 May 28 | 0000 | 111.0 17 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jun 1 | 2340 | Orbit burn EMOC-6 45s 7m.s | |
| 1999 Jun 2 | 0051 | Orbit burn EMOC-6 45s 7m/s | |
| 1999 Jun 4 | 0000 | 111.0 17 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jun 11 | 0000 | 111.0 17 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jun 18 | 0000 | 111.0 14 x 46 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jun 25 | 0000 | 111.0 18 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jun 29 | 1511 | Orbit burn EMOC-7 47s 7m/s | |
| 1999 Jun 29 | 1622 | Orbit burn EMOC-7 46s 7m/s | |
| 1999 Jul 1 | 0000 | 111.0 17 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jul 9 | 0000 | 111.0 18 x 42 x 90 | |
| 1999 Jul 16 | 0000 | 111.0 19 x 41 x 90.0 | |
| 1999 Jul 23 | 0000 | 111.0 20 x 39 x 90.0 | |
| 1999 Jul 26 | 1401 | Orbit burn 9s, 1.4m/s | |
| 1999 Jul 28 | Lunar eclipse | 111.0 11 x 49 x 90.0 | |
| 1999 Jul 30 | 0815 | Apogee raise 40m/s, 256s | |
| 2200 | 120.0 17 x 234 x 90.0 | ||
| 1999 Jul 31 | 0900 | LOS, to farside | |
| 1999 Jul 31 | 0915:55 | Lower periapsis negative, -44m/s, 4:36 | -163 x 234 x 90 |
| 1999 Jul 31 | 0952:00 | Impact in Mawson 87.7S 42.1E | |
| 1.7 km/s at 6 deg, mass 158 kg | |||
Payload:
- Neutron spectrometer (on mast) (LANL)
- Gamma ray spectrometer (LANL)
- Alpha particle spectrometer (on mast ) (LANL/LM)
- Magnetometer and electron spectrometer (MAG/ER) (UCB)
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