Testing of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

  • Released Monday, April 20, 2009
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The LRO spacecraft was built by engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It was then put through extensive testing. The orbiter was subjected to the extreme temperature cycles of the lunar environment as engineers conducted simulated flight operations. "We have cooked LRO, frozen it, shaken it, and blasted it with electromagnetic waves, and still it operates," said Dave Everett, LRO mission system engineer at Goddard. "We have performed more than 2,500 hours of powered testing since January."

Spin Test

The spin test determines the spacecraft's center of gravity and measures characteristics of its rotation. It also provides a fine 360-degree display of LRO.

Thermal Vacuum Test

Using the thermal vacuum chamber, enginers confirm that all components properly operate over a range of temperatures and in vacuum. By varying the temperature of the walls around the spacecraft to simulate the hot moon, the cold moon, deep space, or sunlight, engineers measure the Orbiter temperature in different locations to observe the heat flow through the system.

Solar Array Test Deploy

Engineers deployed the solar array during the summer of 2008 on a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) test model and under the duress of gravity. Later, the flight hardware was integrated, tested and deployed in the White House clean room at Goodard Space Flight Center.

High Gain Antenna Test Deploy

Engineers built, tested, integrated and deployed the high gain antenna at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Laser Ranging Testing

The Laser Ranging System is designed to measure the distance to the LRO spacecraft using laser pulses sent from Earth. The laser pulses are received by a small telescope attached to the High Gain Antenna and transferred via fiber optic bundle to the LOLA istrument where the pulses are detected. Sometimes, the laser pulses will arrive at the telescope from a slight angle. The Laser Ranging Telescope needs to be able to see these off-axis pulses. Engineers test the telescope by rotating it in front of a light source to make sure the telescope's field of view is wide enough to pick up those laser pulses.

For More Information

See http://nasa.gov/lro

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, April 20, 2009.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:54 PM EDT.

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This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • LRO Pre-Launch Resource Tape (ID: 2009030)
    Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 4:00AM
    Produced by - Andy Acuna (Hughes STX)

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