Testing of NASA's LCROSS Beqins Ahead of Schedule

摘要

The lunar-crashing secondary payload that will share an Atlas 5 launcher with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, has entered comprehensive performance testing about a month ahead of schedule. That payload, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), is designed to gather data to help researchers determine how much water-ice might be contained in lunar surface material. Besides promising to put on an impressive show when two separate pieces of hardware plow into one of the Moon's perma-nendy shadowed craters in early 2009 at a speed of more than 9,000 kilometers per hour, the LCROSS mission has been providing a great hands-on training experience for a new generation of engineers.