Astrobotic successfully completes test with NASA water payload
Press Release from: Astrobotic Technology
Posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Three of NASA’s payloads that are to fly aboard an Astrobotic Hawk Moon in 2021 have completed an initial interface simulation test between Astrobotic, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and Center’s pay teams. NASA Space Kennedy.
All three payloads were successful in an end-to-end analysis of the power, data, and software interface of the peregrine falcon. The test included testing of flight and ground software that allows you to control the payloads from NASA facilities, through the Astrobotic headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.
Designed to fly on NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Rover (VIPER), a mission scheduled for 2023, the three payloads – Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo), Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), and Near Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) – the first to be integrated directly with the Astrobotic falconers for this year’s Hawks Mission One. The recent completion of an interface simulation test using Mobile Payback Simulator (PIMS) has proven that these payloads will work properly when integrated with Peregrines in 2021.
The first payload, the Mass Spectrometer Observation Lunar Operations (MSolo), is a commercial off-the-shelf cosmetic spectrometer adapted for space operation. NASA uses MSolo to identify molecules in the Moon ‘s exosphere, including potential water. It measures the gases coming from the surface at the time of friction to find out what brought the surface to the lunar surface and monitors for changes as the mission progresses. Astrobotic and the MSolo team successfully experimented with an engineering unit that included a vacuum pump to simulate an empty space.
The second is the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS), which was designed to detect the amount of hydrogen below the lunar surface and near the surface of the peregrine falcon. NSS measures the number and energy of neutrons present as radiation on the Moon, which can be used to find the amount of hydrogen in an environment. This finding is possible because when neutrons hit a hydrogen atom, they lose a lot of energy – a change that NSS detects. NSS can measure the total amount of hydrogen up to three feet below the surface. Compared to similar neutron detector measurements from an orbit, lunar surface measurements can provide a more accurate and accurate picture of the presence of hydrogen on the lunar surface.
The third payment, the Near Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS), consists of three scientific instruments: the near-infrared spectrometer, an Ames imaging model, and a longwave calibration sensor. The near-infrared spectrum captures the visible spectrum of the lunar surface when illuminated by light of different waves. This information can be used to determine the properties of the lunar surface and to determine the presence of water or other substances in an image. The Ames image module is a camera that captures images to put the spectral data into context. The longwave calibration system accurately measures the lunar surface temperature to measure data from the spectrometer.
A successful PIMS test is one of the final steps before these payloads are delivered to Astrobotic for integration with the peregrine falcon. Integration will take place in early 2021 at Astrobotic headquarters in Pittsburgh. Once united, the full spacecraft will complete a series of tests and then board the Vulcan Centaur United Launch Alliance rocket. Peregrines land on the Moon and provide power and data to the payloads, allowing their crews to operate their experiments in the lunar environment and collect valuable data. Astrobotic delivers NASA payloads to the Moon as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payment Services project, which is fast acquiring lunar delivery services for payers that will advance capabilities for science, study, or commercial development on the Earth. Moon.
The journey for these water hunting payloads doesn’t end here. In late 2023, the Astrobotic Griffin superintendent bends down at the moon’s south pole carrying the same technologies – but this time with wheels. A NASA-sized golf card-sized VIPER rover lowers the landlord’s ramps on the surface of the moon and begins its mission with a series of very similar payloads.
In Astrobotic
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is a space robotics company that makes space accessible to the world. They develop advanced navigation, operating, and computing systems for spacecraft, and their fleet of lunar astronauts and rovers deliver payloads to the Moon for companies, governments, universities, nonprofits, and humans separately. The company has more than 50 previous and ongoing NASA contracts and commercial technology and corporate support with DHL. Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
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