As NASA prepares to launch its Space Launch System for a journey to the later this year, the agency has announced there will be stowaways on board.
One of those stowaways is a CubeSat that will have the purpose of investigating lunar ice. Dubbed, the Lunar IceCube, the satellite will use a spectrometer to further NASA’s knowledge of ice on our Moon.
An aspect scientists are curious about is how regolith (the material the Moon’s surface is comprised of) absorbs and releases water. The CubeSat will allow scientists to map how lunar ice changes on the Moon. The IceCube will also study the Moon’s exosphere.
It’s a rather important mission for a satellite that’s no bigger than a tissue box and weighs in at just 14kg. The mission is being led by Morehead State University and is funded through NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships program.
If humanity hopes to establish a base on the Moon, understanding how water exists and moves on the Moon will be critical.
While the Artemis I mission expected to launch later this year will be uncrewed, it will contain several CubeSats that will help us understand our Moon a bit more. This is important should we hope to build a base on the Moon.
On that, the Moon can be a rather dangerous place given its lack of a magnetosphere. The video below from Astrum gives a bit more context as to why this is a big deal and how water ice on the Moon could shock explorers to death.
