From Lovejoy and Riverside come two architects of U. S. lunar future
It is not often that childhood dreams of being an astronaut and memories of watching “Bill Nye, the Science Guy,” lead people to outer space exploration.
But for University at Buffalo graduates Frank Centinello and Kristen Paris, the “out of this world” experience is reality. The two helped in the creation of the first spacecraft in NASA’s return to the moon.
“I guess, when you think about it, for me this is one giant leap . . . with my work going to the moon and all,” Centinello said. “This whole experience has been really serendipitous.”
The pair of Buffalo natives— Lovejoy for Centinello and Riverside for Paris — are part of a 50-member operations team at Arizona State University that created and tested a moon-bound camera. It is attached to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which lifted off Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The orbiter’s mission is to record the moon’s permanent shadows and illuminations on the surface to better facilitate future landings.
Both Centinello and Paris are research analysts on the project with a primary focus on testing the camera’s capabilities before it leaves Earth’s atmosphere. The camera itself actually has three lenses — one wide-angle lens that shoots 100 meters per pixel and two narrow- angle lenses that shoot 50 centimeters a second.
“It’s so exciting to sit back and think about it,” Paris said. “Frank and I never thought growing up that we would be a part of something like this.
“We are but a very small part of what is out there. It’s just mind-boggling to attempt to think about the size of the universe. If all goes well, we’re definitely one step closer to man’s life on the moon.”
The orbiter has a one-year primary goal of a 50-kilometer polar orbit. The measurements recorded will uncover potential landing sites for future human and robotics missions, searching failed sites and stable land masses.
The last man on the moon was Eugene Cernan in 1972 on Apollo 17, the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program.
Centinello said this orbiter is providing the “first road maps” of the moon, paving the way for future flights and, more importantly, human habitation of its surface.
“No matter when we go back to the moon, they most definitely will use these maps we are going to make,” Centinello said. “There’s still a lot that needs to be done, and it will take years, but the ultimate goal is to establish colonies.
“Aside from a completely sustained surface, aerospace and rocketry need to advance, as well, for this to happen. When humans decide to go, because of projects like this, they will have the ability,” he said.
For information on the project and lunar images, visit http://lroc. sese. asu.edu/ index. html.
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