Spanish system in NASA lunar mission

A Spanish system is chosen to plan the upcoming NASA lunar mission

The NASA has chosen a system of software for mission planning, developed by aerospace engineers Spanish , for its program Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), its next lunar mission unmanned. The system, called FLEXPLAN, is a development of GMV Space System, the Spanish group GMV.

The launch of LRO is scheduled for late 2008, ten years after the last mission of NASA on the moon, the Lunar Prospector satellite. FLEXPLAN can prepare, update and check the rules of flight and mission with great flexibility, says GMV. The system can be used in any space mission, in Earth orbit and interplanetary. "Once you have installed FLEXPLAN, NASA will plan, schedule and manage all phases of the lunar mission," say the experts of the company. "The state and the use of the instruments on board, the power system and memory on board and the planning of the scientific, data dumps and situations of flight dynamics (eclipses, visibility, and acquisition of ground control station, and operations) will be coordinated and planned by using the system. " The LRO shall remain in lunar orbit for at least one year, renewable up to four, to build a complete topography of the Moon.