The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) mission is one of NASA’s smallest planetary science missions, but it has big scientific goals. Previous missions and studies have identified the presence of water-ice at the Moon’s poles. However, there are still unanswered questions about how much water ice is contained in permanently shadowed regions.
It is also unknown how much water-ice can be held at depth in illuminated regions of the lunar South Pole. LunaH-Map will answer these questions by orbiting the Moon and creating a neutron map that will reveal where and how much water-ice is hidden in the lunar South Pole.
LunaH-Map will help us understand the origin of water on the Moon and how it has been redistributed since the Moon’s formation. The maps will also be used to plan future missions and landing sites for robotic and human water-ice exploration.
The CubeSat will find and map water ice at the Moon’s South Pole. Credit: ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration What we hope to learn from the LunaH-Map CubeSat. Credit: ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration NASA’s moon-observing CubeSat is ready for launch Artemis Provided by Arizona State University
Reference: NASA Artemis1 to carry ASU CubeSat into space (2022, August 26) Retrieved August 26, 2022, from
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