Clementine
Clementine — a US Department of Defense and NASA spacecraft that mapped the whole Moon, poles included, from lunar orbit between February and May 1994, returning well over a million digital images in visible, ultraviolet and infrared light. Its data suggested possible ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the south pole, though the estimate of how much was very uncertain. A thruster malfunction on 7 May 1994 cancelled its planned flight past the asteroid Geographos.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- BMDO / NASA (Naval Research Laboratory)
- Launched
- January 25, 1994
- Status
- Completed
Mission
Clementine was a joint project of the US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA, built by the Naval Research Laboratory to test lightweight sensors in deep space — and, while doing so, to map the Moon. It was launched from Vandenberg on 25 January 1994, swung past Earth twice, and on 19 February entered an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon. Over two months of systematic mapping, from 26 February to 22 April, it photographed the whole Moon, polar regions included, in visible, ultraviolet and infrared light, and measured its topography with a laser altimeter between 60° south and 60° north. The sources put its image count at 1.6 million (NASA's mission page) or above 1.8 million (JPL). Its data suggested possible ice at the bottom of a permanently shadowed crater near the south pole, though the estimate of how much was very uncertain. On 3 May it left lunar orbit to fly past the near-Earth asteroid Geographos. Four days later a computer malfunction fired one of its thrusters for 11 minutes, using up its fuel and spinning it at 80 revolutions a minute, and the asteroid flyby was cancelled. The mission was ended on 8 August 1994. (Its position here is JPL Horizons', which carries only its months in lunar orbit.)
- 1994Clementine launches on a Titan II rocketLaunch
From Vandenberg, California, into a parking orbit around Earth.
- 1994Into lunar orbitArrival
An elongated orbit over the Moon's poles, after two Earth flybys.
- 1994Mapping beginsMilestone
Two months photographing the Moon in visible, ultraviolet and infrared light.
- 1994Mapping completeMilestone
The whole Moon photographed, the polar regions included.
- 1994Leaves the MoonMilestone
Bound for the near-Earth asteroid Geographos.
- 1994Thruster malfunctionMilestone
A thruster fires for 11 minutes and uses up its fuel; the asteroid flyby is cancelled.
- 1994Mission endsMission end
The spacecraft is left in orbit around the Sun.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image