LCROSS post-anomaly update
Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 17:49 UTC
A little more than a week has passed since the discovery of the LCROSS' propellant-consuming anomaly and the spacecraft remains under close observation by the LCROSS mission operations team and the Deep Space Network.
The team has not seen any further anomalous trips from the Inertial Reference Unit (IRU) flags since re-booting the unit after the original anomaly. All spacecraft systems and the Attitude Control System (ACS) are currently operating in a nominal state.
The flight team is working around the clock monitoring the spacecraft while concurrently developing and testing the on-board mitigations needed to minimize further fuel loss in the event of an anomalous condition. The team has uploaded new software safeguards to prevent a similar situation to protect the spacecraft's remaining fuel. The team also has implemented a "Prop-Saver mode" to specifically monitor conditions in which excessive propellant might occur, and halt them.
The LCROSS spacecraft has enough fuel to complete its mission to impact a specific target crater at the lunar South Pole on Oct. 9, 2009. The LCROSS team remains optimistic the spacecraft will be able to return to a normal but guarded operational status in the near future.
| Source: NASA Ames Research Center | |
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