NASAのLunar IceCube – 月観測 CubeSat、Artemis発射準備

月の氷を調査する軌道のLunar IceCubeの映像。 クレジット：モアヘッド州立大学

旧暦アイスキューブ、[{” attribute=””>NASA’s water-scouting CubeSat, is now poised to hitch a ride to lunar orbit. Although it is 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.

Lunar IceCube will orbit the Moon and use a spectrometer to investigate lunar ice. Earlier missions already revealed water ice on the Moon, but Lunar IceCube will further NASA’s knowledge about lunar ice dynamics.

Scientists are especially 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.

NASAのLunar IceCubeミッションは、Artemis Iミッションの2次マウントとして月まで旅行します。 出典：NASAゴダード宇宙飛行センター

Lunar IceCubeはまた、月を囲む非常に薄い雰囲気のようなかさばる外券を調べます。 月の水や他の物質の力学を理解することで、研究者は将来の資源への使用に影響を与える可能性がある月の氷の季節的な変化を予測することができます。

これらすべては、31ポンド（14kg）に過ぎず、効率的で費用対効果の高いCubeSatで達成されます。 Lunar IceCubeはいくつかのうちの1つです。 キューブ衛星 アルテミス1号に乗って月に行く[{” attribute=””>Mars.

Lunar IceCube is funded by NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships program, or NextSTEP, in support of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. The Lunar IceCube mission is led by Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia; and Busek Space Propulsion and Systems in Natick, Massachusetts.