Recall that the launch of the Artemis 1 mission is scheduled for August 29. Its main task is to test the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Orion spacecraft and ground systems. NASA hopes that this combination of technologies will allow people to go to the moon in a few years.
As an additional burden, NASA will send two more cadets who will search for water on the Moon.
The first is Lunar IceCube, developed by Morehead State University (Kentucky). The weight of the cubesat is 14 kg, it is equipped with a high-resolution broadband infrared spectrometer (BIRCHES) for mapping the lunar surface and studying the exosphere.
The second, Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper, weighing 13.6 kg, will study areas at the south pole of the Moon where the potential localization of ice is already known. Kubsat was developed at the University of Arizona. The result will be the most detailed map of the South Pole to date, on which the ice-covered zones will be drawn in detail.
