Lunar Ice Cube, scheduled to be launched on ARTEMIS I in late 2021, is a deep space cubesat mission with the goals of demonstrating 1) a cubesat-scale instrument (BIRCHES) capable of addressing NASA HEOMD Strategic Knowledge Gaps related to lunar volatile distribution (abundance, location, and transportation physics of water ice), and 2) cubesat propulsion, via the Busek BIT 3 RF Ion engine. The mission will also demonstrate the AIM/IRIS microcryocooler for the first time in deep space. BIRCHES integration is nearly complete, with several changes made to the thermal design to improve detector performance. Final preflight instrument testing and calibration, our ongoing concern to be emphasized here, have been delayed due to the mandated closure rules of NASA facilities. Lunar Ice Cube, along with two other cubesats deployed from ARTEMIS I, Lunar Flashlight and LunaH-Map, will be the first deep cubesat missions to deliver science data to the Planetary Data System.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.