LunIR
Spacecraft
LunIR (Lunar InfraRed Imaging , formerly known as SkyFire ) is a nanosatellite spacecraft launched to the Moon collecting surface spectroscopy and thermography . It was launched as a secondary payload on the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022.[1] [2]
Mission
LunIR is a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA that uses a low-cost 6U CubeSat spacecraft. LunIR will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy and thermography for surface characterization, remote sensing , and site selection.[3] The spacecraft includes two deployable solar panels and will have a total mass of about 14 kg (31 lb).
LunIR was selected in April 2015 by NASA's NextSTEP program (Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships ) and awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Space worth US$1.4 million for further development.[4] [5] [6]
LunIR will communicate with Earth via ground stations operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services . LunIR will use 13-meter-diameter radio antennas located in Punta Arenas, Chile ; Svalbard, Norway ; and Troll station, Antarctica .[7] [8]
Launch
LunIR was launched as one of ten CubeSats as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System , Artemis 1 .[2]
Propulsion
LunIR will demonstrate a low thrust electric propulsion technology called electrospray propulsion to lower the spacecraft's orbit for additional science and technology mission objectives.[9]
See also
The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission
The three CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1
References
^ a b Roulette, Joey; Gorman, Steve (16 November 2022). "NASA's next-generation Artemis mission heads to moon on debut test flight" . Reuters . Retrieved 16 November 2022 .
^ a b Clark, Stephen (12 October 2021). "Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket" . Spaceflight Now . Retrieved 22 October 2021 .
^ Williams, Greg; Crusan, Jason (April 2015). "Pioneering Space – Evolvable Mars Campaign" (PDF) . NASA. Retrieved 9 March 2021 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
^ Morring, Frank (24 April 2015). "Habitats Could Be NASA's Next Commercial Spacecraft Buy" . Aviation Week. Retrieved 26 May 2015 .
^ Clark, Stephen (8 April 2015). "NASA adding to list of CubeSats flying on first SLS mission" . Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 9 March 2021 .
^ Krebs, Gunter (18 May 2020). "LunIR (SkyFire)" . Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 9 March 2021 .
^ "KSAT to support NASA LunIR mission" . SpaceNews . 10 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022 .
^ "KSAT to provide Ground Network support for the LunIR mission" . www.ksat.no . Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022 .
^ "Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Projects" . NASA. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2021 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
Exploration programsActive missions
Orbiters Landers Rovers Flybys
Past missions
Planned missions
Proposed missions
Cancelled / concepts Related
Missions are ordered by launch date. Crewed missions are in italics .
January
Starlink G4-5 (49 satellites)
ION-SCV 004 (LabSat , STORK-1 , STORK-2 , SW1FT ), Capella 7 , Capella 8 , ICEYE X14 , ICEYE X16 , USA-320 , USA-321 , USA-322 , USA-323 , DEWA SAT-1 , Flock 4x × 44, Kepler × 4, Lemur-2 × 5, Nepal PQ-1
Lemur-2 Krywe , STORK-3 , TechEdSat-13 , Unicorn-1 , Unicorn-2 × 4
Shiyan 13
Starlink G4-6 (49 satellites)
USA-324 / GSSAP-5 , USA-325 / GSSAP-6
CSG-2
February March April May
SpaceBEE × 16, SpaceBEE NZ × 8, Unicorn-2F
Jilin-1 Kuanfu-01C , Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D × 7
Starlink G4-17 (53 satellites)
Tianzhou 4
Jilin-1 Mofang-01A †
Starlink G4-13 (53 satellites)
Starlink G4-15 (53 satellites)
Starlink G4-18 (53 satellites)
Kosmos 2556 / Bars-M 3L
Boe OFT-2
ION-SCV 006 (SBUDNIC ), SHERPA AC1 , Vigoride-3 , ICEYE × 5, ÑuSat × 4, Lemur-2 × 5, Platform 1 , PTD-3
June July August September October November
LDPE-2 , USA-339 / Shepherd Demonstration, USA-340 , USA-341 , USA-344 / USUVL
Kosmos 2563 / EKS-6
Hotbird 13G
MATS
ChinaSat 19
Cygnus NG-18 (SpaceTuna1 )
NOAA-21 , LOFTID
Yunhai-3 01
Tianzhou 5
Galaxy 31 , Galaxy 32
Yaogan 34-03
Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D × 5
Artemis 1 (ArgoMoon , BioSentinel , CuSP , EQUULEUS , LunaH-Map , Lunar IceCube , LunIR , Near-Earth Asteroid Scout , OMOTENASHI , Team Miles )
Eutelsat 10B
EOS-06 / Oceansat-3 , Astrocast × 4
SpaceX CRS-26
Yaogan 36-03 (3 satellites)
Kosmos 2564 / GLONASS-M 761
Shenzhou 15
Kosmos 2565 / Lotos-S1 №6 (Kosmos 2566 )
Oceansat-3
December Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).