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Transport and Use of a Centaur Second Stage in SpaceAs nations continue to explore space, the desire to reduce costs will continue to grow. As a method of cost reduction, transporting and/or use of launch system components as integral components of missions may become more commonplace in the future. There have been numerous scenarios written for using launch vehicle components (primarily space shuttle used external tanks) as part of flight missions or future habitats. Future studies for possible uses of launch vehicle upper stages might include asteroid diverter using gravity orbital perturbation, orbiting station component, raw material at an outpost, and kinetic impactor. The LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) mission was conceived as a low-cost means of determining whether water exists at the polar regions of the moon. Manifested as a secondary payload with the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) spacecraft aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle, LCROSS guided its spent Centaur Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS) into the lunar crater Cabeu's, as a kinetic impactor. This paper describes some of the challenges that the LCROSS project encountered in planning, designing, launching with and carrying the Centaur upper stage to the moon.
Document ID
20100028911
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Strong, James M. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Morgowicz, Bernard (Northrop Grumman Corp. Redondo Beach, CA, United States)
Drucker, Eric (Northrop Grumman Corp. Redondo Beach, CA, United States)
Tompkins, Paul D. (Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc. (SGT, Inc.) Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Kennedy, Brian (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Barber, Robert D, (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Luzod, Louie T. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Kennedy, Brian Michael (California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Luzod, Louie T. (NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
April 25, 2010
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN1526
ARC-E-DAA-TN1211
ARC-E-DAA-TN1307
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 342556.05.20
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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