Robot explorer hits snag as it heads toward moon
NASA’s newest robotic explorer rocketed into space in an unprecedented moon shot from Virginia that dazzled sky watchers along the East Coast.
But the LADEE spacecraft quickly ran into equipment trouble, and while NASA assured everyone early Saturday that the lunar probe was safe and on a perfect track for the moon, officials acknowledged the problem needs to be resolved in the next two to three weeks.
S. Peter Worden, director of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, which developed the spacecraft, told reporters he’s confident everything will be working properly in the next few days.
LADEE’s reaction wheels were turned on to orient and stabilize the spacecraft, which was spinning too fast after it separated from the final rocket stage following the launch late Friday, Worden said. But the computer automatically shut the wheels down, apparently because of excess current. He speculated the wheels may have been running a little fast.
Worden stressed there is no rush to “get these bugs ironed out.”
The LADEE spacecraft, which is charged with studying the lunar atmosphere and dust, soared aboard an unmanned Minotaur rocket a little before midnight from NASA’S Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
It was a change of venue for NASA, which normally launches moon missions from Cape Canaveral. But it provided a rare light show along the East Coast for those blessed with clear skies.
LADEE, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, is taking a roundabout path to the moon, making three huge laps around Earth before getting close enough to pop into lunar orbit.
Unlike the quick three-day Apollo flights to the moon, LADEE will need a full month to reach Earth’s closest neighbor.
LADEE, which is the size of a small car, is expected to reach the moon on Oct. 6.
The $280 million moon-orbiting mission will last six months and end with a suicide plunge into the moon for LADEE.
The 844-pound spacecraft has three science instruments as well as laser communication test equipment that could revolutionize data relay. NASA hopes to eventually replace its traditional radio systems with laser communications, which would mean faster bandwidth using significantly less power and smaller devices.
“There’s no question that as we send humans farther out into the solar system, certainly to Mars,” that laser communications will be needed to send high-definition and 3-D video, said NASA’s science mission chief, John Grunsfeld.