Planetary Science
GRAIL-B (FLOW)
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft, GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow), were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10. GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later. They arrived at their orbits around the Moon 25 hours apart. The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012. The two spacecraft impacted the lunar surface on December 17, 2012.
Read more on Wikipedia →Launch
- Launch date
- September 10, 2011 at 01:08 PM UTC
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral SFS, USA
- Launched by
- Delta II 7920H-10C →
- Operator
- United Launch Alliance
- Launch record
- View full launch →
Trajectory
- Regime
- Interplanetary — Lunar
- Reference body
- Lunar
Spacecraft
- Operator
- United States
- Launch mass
- 307 kg
Identity
- COSPAR (Int'l)
- 2011-046B
- NORAD catalog №
- 37802
- Object type
- Payload
- Owner / operator
United States
- Status
- Decayed
- Decay / reentry
- December 17, 2012
End of mission
- Last active / ended
- December 17, 2012
- Time in service
- 1.3 years
- Fate
- Mission ended at Lunar.
- Final status
- Decayed