CLEMENTINE - NOT LOST AND GONE FOREVER!

Washington, DC - On April 10, 1995, the Clementine Spacecraft was successfully recontacted, by members of the Clementine Team at the spacecraft's Mission Operations Center in Alexandria, VA, after the spacecraft's 10 months of silence due to the lack of solar power.

The NASA Deep Space Network's (DSN) 70m antenna, at Canberra, Australia, was used to command and receive telemetry from Clementine.

Clementine is currently in a heliocentric orbit nearly identical to the Earth's and is currently 40 million kilometers from Earth. The spacecraft departed the Earth-moon system on July 21, 1994, after a final lunar swing-by, which occurred 25 years after Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) engineers were successful in acquiring several hours of spacecraft "health" data and performed preliminary functional checkouts of many of the subsystems containing technology, which were flown, for the first time, on Clementine.

Mr. Paul Regeon, NRL Clementine Program Manager, reports that, "All subsystems that were tested are operating normally. Over 400 commands were sent to the spacecraft during initial checkout. The lightweight Ballistic Missile Defense Organization sensors, which were the centerpeice of the Clementine Lunar Mapping Mission, were successfully powered ON and initial data show that the camera electronics are functioning within nominal specs.

The spacecraft survived several months without any on-board power and at temperatures predicted to be below -65 degree centigrade. "The recontact was a confirmation of the robust nature of the new technology flown on Clementine" says Mr. Regeon.

Several additional contacts are hoped for within the next several weeks, depending on NASA DSN availability. Activities will include a more complete camera checkout, radiation and charged-particle readings and propulsion firings to slow down the spin-rate of the spacecraft. Mr. Regeon also says that, "Assuming all tests arecompleted successfully, Clementine will have successfully demonstrated many new technologies in a long-duration test in a harsh space environment."

The Naval Research Laboratory is the Department of the Navy's corporate laboratory. NRL conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology and advanced development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 4,000 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, DC, with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, MS; Orlando, FL; and Monterey, CA.