Final Preparations for Diviner Thermal Balance Testing at JPL

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Caption:

This image shows final preparations being made for thermal balance testing of the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment at JPL.

Diviner is one of seven instruments aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, the first mission in NASA's Vision for Exploration program which aims to get astronauts back on the moon by 2020. Diviner will make the first global radiometric survey of the temperature of the lunar surface, identifying cold traps and potential ice deposits as well as rough terrain, rock abundance and other landing hazards.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is the first mission in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration program, a plan to return to the moon and then to travel to Mars and beyond. The mission will gather crucial data on the lunar environment that will help astronauts prepare for long-duration lunar expeditions.

Background Info:

More information about NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/lro .

More information about the Diviner instrument can be found at http://diviner.ucla.edu .

JPL designed, built and manages the Diviner instrument for NASA's Exploration Science Mission Directorate, Washington. UCLA is home institution of Diviner's principal investigator, David Paige. NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland manages the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow.

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