The NASA Lunar Impact Monitoring Program |
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| Authors: | Robert M Suggs William J Cooke Ronnie J Suggs Wesley R Swift Nicholas Hollon |
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| Institution: | (1) NASA, Space Environments Team, EV13, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA;(2) NASA, Space Environments Team and Meteoroid Environment Office, EV13, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA;(3) Raytheon/MSFC Group, Space Environments Team, EV13, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA;(4) Jacobs Technology/MSFC Group, Space Environments Team, EV13, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, 35812, USA;(5) Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA |
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| Abstract: | NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office has implemented a program to monitor the Moon for meteoroid impacts from the Marshall
Space Flight Center. Using off-the-shelf telescopes and video equipment, the Moon is monitored for as many as 10 nights per
month, depending on weather. Custom software automatically detects flashes which are confirmed by a second telescope, photometrically
calibrated using background stars, and published on a website for correlation with other observations. Hypervelocity impact
tests at the Ames Vertical Gun Range facility have begun to determine the luminous efficiency and ejecta characteristics.
The purpose of this research is to define the impact ejecta environment for use by lunar spacecraft designers of the Constellation
manned lunar program. The observational techniques and preliminary results will be discussed.
The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged. |
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| Keywords: | Meteoroids Lunar impacts Space environments Hypervelocity impact testing |
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