Lunar Prospector payload uncrated at Astrotech

[KSC-97PC-1760]

  • Photo Number: KSC-97PC-1760

  • Release Date: 09-Dec-1997

  • Keywords: PAYLOAD,prospector
    • Description: KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. --NASA's Lunar Prospector is taken out of its crate at Astrotech, a commercial payload processing facility, in Titusville, Fla. The small robotic spacecraft, to be launched for NASA on an Athena 2 rocket by Lockheed Martin, is designed to provide the first global maps of the Moon's urface compositional elements and its gravitational and magnetic fields. While at Astrotech, Lunar Prospector will be fueled with its attitude control propellant and then mated to a Trans-Lunar Injection Stage which is a solid propellant upper stage motor. The combination will next be spin tested to verify proper balance, then encapsulated into an Athena nose fairing. Then the Lunar Prospector will be transported from Astrotech to Cape Canaveral Air Station and mated to an Athena rocket. The launch of Lunar Prospector is scheduled for Jan. 5, 1998 at 8:31 p.m.

    Resolution Format Width
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    Thumbnail GIF 67 100 10231
    Slide GIF 111 156 25115
    Low GIF 160 240 26670
    Medium JPEG 512 768 79628
    High JPEG 1536 2304 599538

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    Photos By: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (taken by Bionetics)
    Scanned By: Bionetics and NASA/KSC Internet Lab (Dumoulin, Downs)
    Captions: Sherikon Space Systems (Susan Walsh, Chuck Weirauch and Susan Mauer)
    Curator: NASA/KSC Internet Systems Lab (Dumoulin, Downs, Paladino)
    Last Updated: Tuesday August 28 14:48:31 EDT 2001 (J. Dumoulin )

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