Saturday, September 10, 2011

GRAIL heads for the Moon

Delta II with GRAIL launches from LC-17B.

Well, if we can't send people, at least we're sending satellites. The GRAIL probe is on its way to the Moon. Blastoff was at 7:08 a.m. MDT this morning, from the Cape Canaveral AF station. The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory will reach the moon on New Years eve and go into orbit on Jan 1, 2012. It's purpose is to map the intracacies of the lunar magnetic fields to study the makeup of the Moon's core.

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