Clementine 1 Is in Orbit Around Moon
Clementine 1, a spacecraft on a mapping and military mission, fired its thrusters to guide it toward an elliptical orbit around the moon, officials said Sunday.
“It had an injection burn Saturday at 7:51 a.m. EST,” said Department of Defense public affairs officer Major Arne Owens. “It was successful and that put it into lunar orbit around noon.”
Clementine, which will map the moon and fly by an asteroid while testing military sensors, had been in a circular orbit around Earth since it was launched Jan. 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Clementine, built and launched at a cost of $75 million, was assembled by the Naval Research Laboratory to test advanced sensors designed for detecting and tracking missiles and other lightweight spacecraft components.
The sensors will be tested by targeting the Earth, moon, the asteroid Geographos and a separate device called the Interstage Adapter that was launched with Clementine.
The encounters with the moon and Geographos will also generate scientific data for use by civilian scientists.
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