Telescope Reviews: LCROSS Project

Yes, there is a group that was started by the LCROSS Public Outreach Team at:

http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation?lnk=srg

Presently, activity is low but will probably pickup as the June 2009 Sky & Telescope article hits the newstands and the June 2 launch date comes closer.

There are loads of information on the "Pages" section of that observation group site.

There also is a Selenology Today issue, issue no. 13, dedicated to LCROSS at:

http://digilander.libero.it/glrgroup/journal.htm (4megs)

- that is heavy on the science background and background on pre-event imaging practice.

Key info pages at the LCROSS Observation site are:

LCROSS Obs Group (unofficial) FAQ
http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/web/lcross-faq

List of imaging-observing windows for favorable librations for the north and south poles through September:

http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/web/librations-in-latitude-list

Impact candidate finder maps at the poles:

http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/web/finders

Probably next to practice imaging at the poles, the best thing that newsgroup members can do at this point is to email the LCROSS public affairs officer and urge them to work with Goddard Space Flight Operations to release launch path predictions (by RA and Dec) for the outbound LRO-LCROSS booster during the first 10 hours of flight. This would have to be done in real time shortly after launch. See Selenology Today article at 81. It may be possible to image hydrogren fuel dumps and/or track the satellite on its path towards the moon for the first 30 hours of flight. See the Selenology Today article at page 7 and 71-83. A similar outbound imaging event occured with Apollo in 1971.

Jonas Dino
Office of Public Affairs
NASA's Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, Calif.
Jonas.Dino@nasa.gov

Dino is the contact per the official LCROSS NASA Site at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/news/index.html

The major internet points for following the mission are:

The above NASA site
The above google LCROSS observation group

The LCROSS Twitter site
http://twitter.com/LCROSS_NASA

The LCROSS Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LCROSS-Lunar-Impactor-Mission/154478180006?ref=s

Animation-movies giving an overview of the Mission at the LCROSS observation group site:

http://groups.google.com/group/lcross_observation/web/animations

The best of the online animations is a recent 11 minute KQED segment:

http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/nasa-ames-rocket-to-the-moon

- Clear Skies, Kurt