WATCH: NASA’s Lunar-Observing CubeSat Ready for Upcoming Artemis Launch
By NASA information center // August 10, 2022
satellite is integrated into the SLS rocket
ABOVE VIDEO: Lunar IceCube – An Artemis Secondary Payload
(NASA) – NASA’s water-scouting CubeSat is now poised to hitch a ride to lunar orbit. Not much bigger than a shoe box, Lunar IceCube’s data will have an outsized impact on lunar science.
The satellite is integrated into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and ready to journey to the Moon as part of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, launching this year.
Orbiting the Moon, Lunar IceCube will use a spectrometer to investigate lunar ice. Earlier missions revealed water ice on the Moon, but Lunar IceCube will further NASA’s knowledge about lunar ice dynamics.
Scientists are interested in the absorption and release of water from the regolith — the Moon’s rocky and dusty surface. With Lunar IceCube investigating this process, NASA can map these changes as they occur on the Moon.
Lunar IceCube will also study the exosphere — the very thin atmosphere-like volume surrounding the Moon.
By understanding the dynamics of water and other substances on the Moon, scientists will be able to predict seasonal changes in lunar ice that could impact its use as a resource in the future.
This will all be achieved from an efficient and cost-effective CubeSat that only weighs 31 pounds. Lunar IceCube is one of several CubeSats catching a ride to the Moon aboard Artemis I.
These small satellites, along with future Artemis missions, will increase our knowledge for living and working on the Moon and eventually Mars.
Related Story:BACK TO THE MOON: Countdown and Launch Operations Start in the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center
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