Mission record
GRAIL
Also known as Ebb, GRAIL-A, Flow, GRAIL-B
National Aeronautics and Space Administration · Launched
Explore trajectoryCompleted · Success
Twin NASA orbiters that flew in formation to map the Moon's gravitational field in unprecedented detail before impacting the surface together.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta II
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, United States
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Orbiter
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B launched together on a single Delta II
Impact
Ebb impacted the lunar surface
The navigation source gives impact at 22:28:47.2471 UTC; this catalog event is rounded to the nearest second. The trajectory retains the source endpoint.
MoonImpact
Flow impacted the lunar surface
The navigation source gives impact at 22:29:15.9018 UTC; this catalog event is rounded to the nearest second. The trajectory retains the source endpoint.
Moon
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- GRAIL Ebb: Estimated · September 10, 2011 to December 17, 2012
- GRAIL Flow: Estimated · September 10, 2011 to December 17, 2012
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 12, 2026
- GRAIL - NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- GRAIL crash site locations and impact times — NAIFSpice · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- LROC Science Operations Team: Coordinates of Lunar Anthropogenic Targets (28 July 2016) — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- DE421 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- DE440 lunar mean-Earth and principal-axes frame specification — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- IAU rotational elements and body radii (PCK 00011) — NAIFSpice · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA global lunar height maps, LDEM_4 V3 original PDS source label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- LOLA 2023 south-polar elevation, uncertainty and effective-resolution maps — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above: LROC site and terrain context — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- Moon Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- SLDEM2015 Blue Ghost region: original PDS elevation-grid label — NASATechnical document · Supports: destination/body context
- JPL Solar System Dynamics Astrodynamic Parameters — JPLOther · Supports: destination/body context