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LunIR is a
nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
spacecraft launched to the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
collecting surface spectroscopy and
thermography Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video and/or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared i ...
. It was launched as a secondary payload on the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022.


Mission

LunIR is a technology demonstration mission funded by NASA that uses a low-cost 6U
CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
spacecraft. LunIR will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy and thermography for surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. The spacecraft includes two deployable solar panels and will have a total mass of about . 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 Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Littleton, Colorado, with additional sites in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Sunnyvale, California; Santa Cruz, California; Huntsvill ...
worth US$1.4 million for further development. LunIR will communicate with Earth via ground stations operated by
Kongsberg Satellite Services Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) is a Norwegian-based company. KSAT has the most extensive ground station network globally, and the world's largest ground station for support of polar orbiting satellites located at 78° North - Svalbard, ...
. LunIR will use 13-meter-diameter radio antennas located in
Punta Arenas, Chile Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...
; Svalbard, Norway; and Troll station, Antarctica.


Launch

LunIR was launched as one of ten
CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s as a secondary payload on the maiden flight of the
Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
, Artemis 1.


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.


See also

;The 10
CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...
s flying in the Artemis 1 mission *
Near-Earth Asteroid Scout The Near-Earth Asteroid Scout (NEA Scout) was a mission by NASA to develop a controllable low-cost CubeSat solar sail spacecraft capable of encountering near-Earth asteroids (NEA). NEA Scout was one of ten CubeSats launched into a heliocentri ...
by
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
was a solar sail spacecraft that was planned to encounter a near-Earth asteroid (mission failure) *
BioSentinel BioSentinel is a lowcost CubeSat spacecraft on a astrobiology mission that will use budding yeast to detect, measure, and compare the impact of deep space radiation on DNA repair over long time beyond low Earth orbit. Selected in 2013 for a ...
is an astrobiology mission * LunIR by
Lockheed Martin Space Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Littleton, Colorado, with additional sites in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Sunnyvale, California; Santa Cruz, California; Huntsvill ...
*
Lunar IceCube Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite orbiter mission to prospect, locate, and estimate amount and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation by robots or humans. It was launched as a secondary payload mission on A ...
, by the
Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ...
*
CubeSat for Solar Particles CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP) was a low-cost 6U CubeSat to orbit the Sun to study the dynamic Solar energetic particles, particles and Sun#Magnetic field, magnetic fields. The principal investigator for CuSP is Mihir Desai, at the Southwe ...
(CuSP) *
Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper, or LunaH-Map, is one of 10 CubeSats launched with Artemis 1 on 16 November 2022. Along with Lunar IceCube and LunIR, LunaH-Map will help investigate the possible presence of water-ice on the Moon. Arizona State ...
(LunaH-Map), designed by the Arizona State University *
EQUULEUS Equuleus ( ) is a constellation of stars that are visible in the night sky. Its name is Latin for "little horse", a foal. Located just north of the celestial equator, it was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolem ...
, submitted by JAXA and the
University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...
*
OMOTENASHI is a Japanese expression that roughly describes concepts of hospitality as well as mindfulness. The term developed particularly around the roles of the host at a Japanese tea ceremony. The term gained increased awareness internationally throu ...
, submitted by JAXA, was a lunar lander (mission failure) *
ArgoMoon ''ArgoMoon'' is a CubeSat that was launched into a heliocentric orbit on Artemis 1, the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, on 16 November 2022 at 06:47:44 UTC. The objective of the ArgoMoon spacecraft is to take detailed images of the ...
, designed by
Argotec Argotec is an aerospace engineering company based in Turin whose research, innovation and product development activities use engineering and computing for space applications and renewable energy systems. Particular attention is also given to the ...
and coordinated by
Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international enti ...
(ASI) * Team Miles, by Fluid and Reason LLC,
Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
;The three CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1 * Lunar Flashlight will map exposed water ice on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
* Cislunar Explorers,
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
,
Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
* Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3),
University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...


References

{{2022 in space CubeSats Missions to the Moon NASA space probes 2022 in the United States Space probes launched in 2022 Secondary payloads Satellites orbiting the Moon