NASA News: NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views Of Apollo Landing Sites

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured
the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17
landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made
when the astronauts explored the lunar surface.

At the Apollo 17 site, the tracks laid down by the lunar rover are
clearly visible, along with the last foot trails left on the moon.
The images also show where the astronauts placed some of the
scientific instruments that provided the first insight into the
moon's environment and interior.

"We can retrace the astronauts' steps with greater clarity to see
where they took lunar samples," said Noah Petro, a lunar geologist at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., who is a member
of the LRO project science team.

All three images show distinct trails left in the moon's thin soil
when the astronauts exited the lunar modules and explored on foot. In
the Apollo 17 image, the foot trails, including the last path made on
the moon by humans, are easily distinguished from the dual tracks
left by the lunar rover, which remains parked east of the lander.

"The new low-altitude Narrow Angle Camera images sharpen our view of
the moon's surface," said Arizona State University researcher Mark
Robinson, principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Camera (LROC). "A great example is the sharpness of the rover tracks
at the Apollo 17 site. In previous images the rover tracks were
visible, but now they are sharp parallel lines on the surface."
At each site, trails also run to the west of the landers, where the
astronauts placed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package
(ALSEP) to monitor the moon's environment and interior. This
equipment was a key part of every Apollo mission.

It provided the first insights into the moon's internal structure,
measurements of the lunar surface pressure and the composition of its
atmosphere. Apollo 11 carried a simpler version of the science package.

One of the details that shows up is a bright L-shape in the Apollo 12
image. It marks the locations of cables running from ALSEP's central
station to two of its instruments. Although the cables are much too
small for direct viewing, they show up because they reflect light very well.

The higher resolution of these images is possible because of
adjustments made to LRO's orbit, which is slightly oval-shaped or
elliptical. "Without changing the average altitude, we made the orbit
more elliptical, so the lowest part of the orbit is on the sunlit
side of the moon," said Goddard's John Keller, deputy LRO project
scientist. "This put LRO in a perfect position to take these new
pictures of the surface."

The maneuver lowered LRO from its usual altitude of approximately 31
miles (50 kilometers) to an altitude that dipped as low as nearly 13
miles (21 kilometers) as it passed over the moon's surface. The
spacecraft has remained in this orbit for 28 days, long enough for
the moon to completely rotate. This allows full coverage of the
surface by LROC's Wide Angle Camera. The cycle ends today when the
spacecraft will be returned to its 31-mile orbit.

"These images remind us of our fantastic Apollo history and beckon us
to continue to move forward in exploration of our solar system," said
Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA
Headquarters in Washington.

LRO was built and managed by Goddard. Initial research was funded by
the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. In
September 2010, after a one-year successful exploration mission, the
mission turned its attention from exploration objectives to
scientific research in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

To learn more about LRO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/lro

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NASA Hosting First West Coast Launch Tweetup for Earth-Observing Satellite

WASHINGTON -- NASA will invite 25 of its U.S. Twitter followers to a
Tweetup expected to culminate in the launch of the first of a new
generation of Earth-observing satellites from Vandenberg Air Force
Base (VAFB) in California.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on Monday, Oct.
24. NASA's NPP satellite is scheduled to launch aboard a United
Launch Alliance Delta II rocket between 2:48 and 2:57 a.m. on
Tuesday, Oct. 25.

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
Preparatory Project (NPP) will observe many facets of our changing
Earth. It will collect critical data on long-term climate change and
short-term weather conditions. With NPP, NASA continues many key data
records initiated by the agency's Earth Observing System satellites,
monitoring changes in the atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, ice and solid Earth.

During Tweetup activities on Oct. 24, participants will tour
Vandenberg's launch facilities; speak with agency and NPP mission
scientists and managers; and interact with each other and NASA's
social media team. For the early-morning rocket launch, participants
will watch from a special viewing section that will include a
pre-launch concert by "Mobility" from the United States Air Force
Band of the Golden West.

Vandenberg is headquarters for the 30th Space Wing, which manages
space and missile testing for the Department of Defense and places
satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast using expendable boosters.

Registration opens at noon EDT (9 a.m. PDT) on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and
closes at 5 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. PDT) on Thursday, Sept. 15. NASA will
randomly select 25 participants and create a waiting list. Because
this event takes place on an Air Force base with restricted areas,
registration is limited to U.S. citizens.

Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's
Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

For more information about the Tweetup and to register, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/connect

For information about the NPP mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/npp

and

http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov

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NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool To Explore The Solar System

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA is giving the public the power to journey
through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.

The "Eyes on the Solar System" interface combines video game
technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride
along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics
and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use
actual space mission data.

"This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire
solar system and our missions moving together in real-time," said Jim
Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's
Headquarters in Washington. "It demonstrates NASA's continued
commitment to share our science with everyone."

The virtual environment uses the Unity game engine to display models
of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and spacecraft as they move
through our solar system. With keyboard and mouse controls, users
cruise through space to explore anything that catches their interest.
A free browser plug-in, available at the site, is required to run the
Web application.

"You are now free to move about the solar system," said Blaine
Baggett, executive manager in the Office of Communication and
Education at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,
Calif. "See what NASA's spacecraft see -- and where they are right
now -- all without leaving your computer."

Users may experienced missions in real-time, and "Eyes on the Solar
System" also allows them to travel through time. The tool is
populated with NASA data dating back to 1950 and projected to 2050.

The playback rate can be sped up or slowed down. When NASA's Juno
spacecraft launched on Aug. 5, 2011, users could look ahead to see
the mission's five-year journey to Jupiter in a matter of seconds.

Point of view can be switched from faraway to close-up to right "on
board" spacecraft. Location, motion and appearance are based on
predicted and reconstructed mission data. Dozens of controls on a
series of pop-up menus allow users to fully customize what they see,
and video and audio tutorials explain how to use the tool's many
options. Users may choose from 2-D or 3-D modes, with the latter
simply requiring a pair of red-cyan glasses to see.

"By basing our visualization primarily on mission data, this tool will
help both NASA and the public better understand complex space science
missions," said Kevin Hussey, manager of Visualization Technology
Applications and Development at JPL, whose team developed "Eyes on
the Solar System."

"Eyes on the Solar System" is in beta release. It has been
demonstrated at science conferences, in classrooms and at the 2011
South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas.

Designers are updating "Eyes on the Solar System" to include NASA
science missions launching during the coming months, including GRAIL
to the moon and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.

"Eyes on the Solar System" and an introduction video are available at:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes

Updates on new features are available through the tool's Twitter account:

http://twitter.com/NASA_Eyes

Source:

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