+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds Previous Animation Next Animation Assembly and Testing of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO will give scientists more information about the structure of the Moon’s interior, the types of rock found there, events that shaped it, and the conditions that exist at the surface. It will spend one year in a polar orbit collecting this information. LRO's instrument suite will provide the highest resolution and the most comprehensive data sets and the most detailed maps ever returned from the moon. This objective is considered critical if we are to 'implement a sustained, safe, and affordable human and robotic program to search for evidence of life, understand the history of the solar system, and prepare for future human exploration.' The following videos record the building, testing, and integrating of the satellite and its instruments. Once this was completed, environmental testing of the satellite began in readiness for launch.    A 30 Foot Cable for Laser Ranging This fiber optic cable attaches to the back of the Laser Ranging Telescope at the end of the High Gain Antenna boom. It actually has three segments that connect to each other. The first two segments are used to transfer the lights from the back of the telescope to the bottom of the boom. The third segment is used to transfer the light from the bottom of the boom to the LOLA instrument. This cable was carefully handmade at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Duration: 1.5 minutes Available formats:   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   21 MB   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   23 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   10 MB   320x240     PNG           228 KB   160x80       PNG           64 KB   80x40         PNG           17 KB How to play our movies    Propulsion Tank Welding A computer assists engineers who are welding together parts of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) during the summer of 2008 at Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.4 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   22 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   20 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   9 MB   320x240     PNG           203 KB How to play our movies    Building And Mating the Harness Like human arteries and veins, the flight harness is crucial to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. They were built, tested, and integrated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.5 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   22 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   20 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   15 MB   320x240     PNG           166 KB How to play our movies    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. Duration: 2.1 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   32 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   30 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   19 MB   320x240     PNG           184 KB How to play our movies    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. Duration: 2.4 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   36 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   34 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   22 MB   320x240     PNG           230 KB How to play our movies    Putting It Together It takes careful planning and strong teamwork to begin pulling all the LRO puzzle pieces together. This occured in the summer of 2008 at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 3.5 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   53 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   51 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   44 MB   320x240     PNG           212 KB How to play our movies    High Gain Antenna Engineers built, tested, integrated and deployed the high gain antenna at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Duration: 1.1 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   16 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   14 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   11 MB   320x240     PNG           239 KB How to play our movies    Reaction Wheels Engineers installed the “reaction wheels” during the build-up of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in the clean room affectionately known as the “White House” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.8 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   27 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   25 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   16 MB   320x240     PNG           258 KB How to play our movies    Star Trackers The star tracker guidance instruments were integrated on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in the “White House” clean room during the summer of 2008 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.9 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   28 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   26 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   23 MB   320x240     PNG           222 KB How to play our movies    CRaTER The primary goal of the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is to characterize the global lunar radiation environment and its biological impacts. CRaTER will also test models of radiation effects and shielding, and measure radiation absorption by human tissue-like plastics. The instrument was integrated during the summer of 2008 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.8 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   20 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   25 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   16 MB   320x240     PNG           225 KB How to play our movies    Diviner Integration The Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission will measure surface and subsurface temperatures from orbit to identify cold traps and potential ice deposits, as well as rough terrain, rock abundance and other landing hazards. The instrument was integrated during the summer of 2008 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.8 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   27 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   25 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   24 MB   320x240     PNG           132 KB How to play our movies    LEND The Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will create high-resolution maps of hydrogen distribution, plus gather information about the neutron component of lunar radiation environment. LEND data will be analyzed in the search for evidence of water ice near the moon's surface. The instrument was integrated during the summer of 2008 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 48.0 seconds Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   12 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   10 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   6 MB   320x240     PNG           143 KB How to play our movies    LOLA The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will measure landing site slopes and lunar surface roughness, plus it will generate a high-resolution 3-D map of the moon. LOLA will also measure and analyze the lunar topography to identify permanently illuminated and shadowed regions. This footage includes b-roll of engineers installing the 9-meter fiber optic cable used for LOLA and the Laser Ranging telescope. The instrument was integrated during the summer of 2008 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Duration: 1.0 minutes Available formats:   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   16 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   13 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   13 MB   320x240     PNG           213 KB How to play our movies    LROC The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) consists of two narrow angle cameras and a wide-angle camera, which will provide close-up images of the lunar surface. These images will show polar lighting conditions, identify potential resources and hazards, and aid in the selection of safe landing sites. The instrument was integrated during the summer of 2008 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Duration: 2.2 minutes Available formats:   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   32 MB   320x240     PNG           205 KB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   32 MB   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   34 MB How to play our movies    The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) began its first environmental testing during the summer of 2008 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. T Duration: 1.9 minutes Available formats:   320x240     PNG           259 KB   160x80       PNG           67 KB   80x40         PNG           17 KB   640x360 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   29 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   26 MB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   43 MB How to play our movies Animation Number: 10326 Completed: 2008-08-08 Producer: Erica Drezek (HTSI) Video Editor: Erica Drezek (HTSI) Videographers: Chris Smith (UMBC)   Erica Drezek (HTSI) Writer: Erica Drezek (HTSI) Series: Building the LRO Satellite   LRO Goddard TV Tape: G2007-065AHD -- LRO Resource Tape Keywords: SVS >> LRO SVS >> LOLA SVS >> Isothermal SVS >> Spin Test SVS >> LROC SVS >> LEND SVS >> LAMP SVS >> CRaTER SVS >> Deviner SVS >> Star Tracker SVS >> Reaction Wheel SVS >> Laser Ranging SVS >> Putting It Together More Information on this topic available at: http://www.nasa.gov/lro     Please give credit for this item to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: Content Contact: Curator: