GRAIL Program
GRAIL (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) was a completed NASA Discovery Program mission launched on 10 September 2011. Twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow flew in tandem around the Moon, measuring changes in their separation to produce the highest-resolution gravity map of a celestial body and reveal the Moon’s internal structure, composition, evolution, and impact-generated mascons. Both spacecraft intentionally impacted the Moon on 17 December 2012 after their primary and extended science missions.
Identity
- Aliases
- GRAILGravity Recovery And Interior LaboratoryGravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory MissionEbb and Flow
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Name
- GRAIL Program
- Status
- completed
- Types
- scienceresearchoperations
Details
- Description
- GRAIL (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) was a completed NASA Discovery Program mission launched on 10 September 2011. Twin spacecraft Ebb and Flow flew in tandem around the Moon, measuring changes in their separation to produce the highest-resolution gravity map of a celestial body and reveal the Moon’s internal structure, composition, evolution, and impact-generated mascons. Both spacecraft intentionally impacted the Moon on 17 December 2012 after their primary and extended science missions.
- End Date
- 2012-12-17
- Leads
- Participants
- -
- Start Date
- 2011-09-10
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 18:04:26 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 13, 2026 at 18:04:26 UTC