Lunar Legacy
Launched in September 2011, the twin GRAIL spacecraft - Ebb and Flow - generated the highest-resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The map will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved. After a successful extended mission, the probes intentionally were sent into the lunar surface in December 2012 because they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations.
Key Dates:
Launched: Sept. 10, 2011
Lunar Orbit Insertion: Dec. 31, 2011 (Ebb) and Jan.1, 2012 (Flow)
Science Mission: March - December 2012
Impact: Dec. 17, 2012
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Headlines
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05/14/2013 NASA Honors Sally Ride With a National Tribute at Kennedy Center >
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03/19/2013 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Sees GRAIL's Explosive Farewell >
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03/15/2013 Moon, Mars Science Conference Events to Be Streamed >
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Welcome to the GRAIL website from its Principal Investigator, MIT Professor Maria Zuber
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Download the free iPhone App
The app has information about the science and purpose of the mission, news updates, videos and images of the spacecraft during assembly and testing.
MoonKAM
The two GRAIL spacecraft will also serve as eyes on the moon for Earth's students through MoonKAM, an exciting program for middle-school kids. Teachers can register for MoonKAM and give their students the opportunity to take their own pictures of the moon.
Visit the MoonKAM website: https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/
Sally Ride, you will be missed.
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If you're in grades 5 through 8, view a message recorded by the late astronaut, America's first woman in space.
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