Mission type | Lunar orbiter |
---|---|
Operator | Morehead State University / NASA |
COSPAR ID | 2022-156C |
SATCAT no. | 55903 |
Mission duration | 2 years and 8 days (In Orbit) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Lunar IceCube |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Bus | 6U CubeSat |
Manufacturer | Morehead State University |
Launch mass | 14 kg (31 lb) |
Dimensions | 10 cm x 20 cm x 30 cm |
Power | 2 deployable solar panels |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC[1] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1 / Artemis 1 |
Launch site | KSC, LC-39B |
Contractor | NASA |
End of mission | |
Last contact | November 16, 2022 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Lunar orbit |
Regime | Polar orbit |
Periselene altitude | 100 km (62 mi) |
Inclination | 90° |
Moon orbiter | |
Transponders | |
Band | X-band |
Instruments | |
Broadband InfraRed Compact High Resolution Exploration Spectrometer (BIRCHES) | |
Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite orbiter mission that was intended to prospect, locate, and estimate amount and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation.[2] It was launched as a secondary payload mission on Artemis 1 (formerly known as Exploration Mission 1), the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), on 16 November 2022.[1][3] As of February 2023 it is unknown whether NASA team has contact with satellite or not.[4]