About an hour after my shift ends at 6 AM, LRO will perform another burn. This one will only last for 12 minutes. It's the first of four daily burns that will adjust our orbit into the profile desired during the "commissioning phase," when science instruments, the flight software, and attitude sensors will be modified, fine-tuned, and readied for the one-year exploration mission phase. When commissioning completes, LRO will be put into a circular and low (50-km) orbit that is harder (as in, consuming more fuel) to maintain than our commissioning orbit. But our science instruments require the more precise close-in orbit.
Earlier today, one of my colleagues generated the burn products for the onboard computer. About an hour ago I supervised their uplink to the Orbiter.
The four daily burns are called LOI burns, which is a misnomer. We have already "inserted" LRO into a lunar orbit with the true LOI yesterday.
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