Twin NASA probes successfully enter lunar orbit

Washington, July 20 (ANI): After two years of space travel in the Earth's orbit, the twin NASA probes have finally reached the Moon.

The probes, that had been used to study space weather, will now study the Moon's interior and surface composition.

The first of the two probes built by the University of California, Berkeley, and part of NASA's five-satellite THEMIS mission entered the lunar orbit on June 27, and the second on July 17.

The spacecraft, called Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence andlectrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS), began their journey away from Earth's orbit in July 2009.

Engineers used complex orbit maneuvers to relocate the spacecraft to their new locations. The journey required many gravity assists from the Moon and Earth and used minimal amounts of fuel.

The probes will now approach the Moon's surface to within 60 miles once per orbit. The data will provide scientists with new information about the Moon's internal structure for the next seven to 10 years.

"This is a good example of how additional science can be achieved with the innovative use of existing spacecraft," said Dick Fisher, director of Heliophysics for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

"The quality of the original design and construction of the spacecraft creates a double win: a new research opportunity for the space science community with no additional cost to the nation's taxpayers," he added.

Both spacecraft were previously in areas called the Lagrangian points, areas on either side of the moon, where the moon and Earth's gravity balance perfectly. These locations were ideal spots to study Earth's distant magnetic field and how the solar wind, made up of ionized gas known as plasma, flows past the moon and tries to fill in the vacuum on the other side.

"From their new orbits about the moon, ARTEMIS will collect important data about the moon's core, its surface composition, and whether it contains pockets of magnetism," said Dave Sibeck, ARTEMIS and THEMIS project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,d.

"ARTEMIS also will provide information needed to understand the moon's magnetic environment in space and its relationship to events near Earth," he added. (ANI)