The satellite satellite of the dishwasher was launched on Wednesday to universe with Florida to identify the places on the surface of the moon where there is a water-on-example, in permanent overshadowed craters on the moon columns.
The Spacex Falcon 9 rocket was erected from Kennedy’s space center to Cape Canaveral, wearing NASA -in lunar orbit of the lunar trail, built by space division of Lockheed Martin. The satellite was a secondary user on the rocket ship, and the primary was a lunar spear named A Athena for a mission led by the US Intuiv Machines Universe Research Company.
The moon surface is often considered dry, but previous measurements have found the presence of some water, even in warmer places illuminated by the sun. Scientists have long assumed that there could be significant amounts of ice water in the cold and permanently shaded places on the lunar pole.
For example, the bottom of hundreds of crater on the moon’s southern half are permanently overshadowed and can hold ice stains. Some water can also be locked inside the broken rock and dust on the moon surface.
Lunar Trailblazer, weighing about 440 pounds (200 kg) and measures about 3.5 meters when its solar panels are completely arranged, are sent to find and copy this water on the surface of the moon.
For the future research of the moon, including the potential long -term moon base basements, lunar water would be vital because it could be processed not only for drinks, but also in airy oxygen and hydrogen fuel for rockets.
Satellite to orbit of the moon to mapping surface
Lunar Trailblazer should perform a series of flies and loops in orbits over several months to set up a detailed copy of the surface. Finally, it will be orbit at an altitude of approximately 100 km and collect images of targeted areas of high resolution to determine the shape, distribution and abundance of water and better understand the lunar water cycle.
“We see small amounts of water in the sun’s parts of the moon, which is mysterious,” said planetary scientist Bethany Ehlmann, Missionary Mission Investigator and Director of the Caltech Keck Institute for Space Studies.
But Ehlmann added: “The most interesting (most interesting (aspect) for many are potentially large amounts of ice in permanently shaded areas of the moon’s columns. Lunar Trailblazer will peek inside to see how much it is on the surface.”
Such locations could serve as a lunar explorers resource in the future.
“Understanding where Rover would drive or astronaut would walk to examine science deposits and future use of resources, it will use all future spleen missions,” Ehlmann said.
Two Lunar Trailblazer instruments will overthrow the measurements from orbit. Moon thermal mapping or LTM will change and measure the temperature of the lunar surface. The lunar maps of high resolution and minerals, or HVM3, will look at the surface of the moon for a sample of light that has given water.
“We believe that the movement of water on the moon is probably driven by surface temperature. Therefore, by measuring the presence and amount of water through HVM3 instruments and surface temperatures through the LTM instrument, we can better understand this relationship,” said the University of Oxford Tistram Tristram, who worked on the development of the LTM instrument.
Lunar water is thought to come from several potential sources. One is the possibility that solar wind – packed particles from the sun – could react with the moon minerals to create water. Another source can be a comet or meteorite, which have been able to deliver water to the moon for a billion years.
The exact amount of moon water remains uncertain, but NASA estimates that it is potentially hundreds of millions of tons.
“Apart from exploring people, lunar water is also scientifically very exciting,” Warren said.
“The moon has been orbiting near Earth almost since the formation of the country itself. Thus, understanding of the origin of lunar waters could help us understand the origin of water on Earth.”
