LunaH-Map Satellite

LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
LunaH-Map
Spacecraft name LunaH-Map ( Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper Mission)
Type CubeSat
Units or mass 6U
Status Was operational until May 2023, retired (Official update on 2022-12-07 but orbit needs confirmation and thruster valve currently stuck as of 2022-05-01, EOM end of May 2023 unless ignition is achieved, which was not the case)
Launched 2022-11-16
NORAD ID ? (Not yet catalogued and tracked?)
Deployer CSD (Canisterized Satellite Dispenser) [Planetary Systems Corporation]
Launcher SLS (Space Launch System) (Artemis-1)
Organization Arizona State University
Institution University
Entity Academic / Education
Nation US
Oneliner

Map the hydrogen content of the entire South Pole of the moon, including within permanently shadowed regions at high resolution.

Description

Map the hydrogen content of the entire South Pole of the moon, including within permanently shadowed regions at high resolution. Measure the bulk hydrogen content, up to a meter beneath the lunar surface, while the instruments on both Lunar IceCube and FLASHLIGHT will tell us about the very top few microns. Create the high-resolution maps of regional near-surface (top-meter) water-ice distribution across the entire South Pole of the moon.

Results

On Nov. 28, NASA’s LunaH-Map spacecraft acquired its first star tracker image, showing the constellation Auriga and its two brightest stars, Menkalinan and Mahasim.

The mission team also made several attempts to image the Earth and Moon; however, these images resulted in saturation of the star tracker. In the coming weeks, additional imaging opportunities of the Earth and Moon will be evaluated to help further demonstrate these novel autonavigation capabilities.

While a recent telemetry downlink showed an unexpected spacecraft reset, a Deep Space Network (DSN) pass has since indicated that, with the exception of the likely stuck propulsion system valve, the spacecraft is healthy with all subsystems nominal and operating as expected.

The problem instead was with the cubesat’s propulsion system, an electric thruster called BIT-3 from Busek that uses solid iodine as propellant. The thruster did not operate as expected in the days after launch, causing the spacecraft to miss its primary opportunity to maneuver into orbit around the moon.

Propulsion system (Busek ion thruster) unable to activate; missed LOI; losing link margin; using DSN arrays to close link.

LunaH-Map Mission Status (Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference 2023):

Failure cause Propulsion valve is likely stuck but otherwise operational.
Sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Photo sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
COTS subsystems
  • AVIONICS - Blue Canyon XB1
  • THRUSTER - Busek BIT-3
  • TRANSCEIVER - JPL Iris Deep Space Transponder
  • SOLAR PANELS - MMA Design eHaWK
Subsystems sources [1] [2]
Keywords Propulsion, Beyond Earth orbit, Steerable Solar Arrays
Space photos LunaH-Map

[1]

On the same launch

Last modified: 2024-05-29

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Created by Erik Kulu

Email: erik.kulu@nanosats.eu
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erikkulu

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