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The First Deep Space Cubesat Broadband IR Spectrometer, Lunarcubes, and the Search for Lunar VolatilesBIRCHES is the compact broadband IR spectrometer of the Lunar Ice Cube mission. Lunar Ice Cube is one of 13 6U cubesats that will be deployed by EM1 in cislunar space, qualifying as lunarcubes. The LunarCube paradigm is a proposed approach for extending the affordable CubeSat standard to support access to deep space via cis-lunar/lunar missions. Because the lunar environment contains analogs of most solar system environments, the Moon is an ideal target for both testing critical deep space capabilities and understanding solar system formation and processes. Effectively, as developments are occurring in parallel, 13 prototype deep space cubesats are being flown for EM1. One useful outcome of this 'experiment' will be to determine to what extent it is possible to develop a lunarcube 'bus' with standardized interfaces to all subsystems using reasonable protocols for a variety of payloads. The lunar ice cube mission was developed as the test case in a GSFC R&D study to determine whether the cubesat paradigm could be applied to deep space, science requirements driven missions, and BIRCHES was its payload. JPL's Lunar Flashlight, and Arizona State University's LunaH-Map, both also EM1 lunar orbiters, will also be deployed from EM1 and provide complimentary observations to be used in understanding volatile dynamics in the same time frame.
Document ID
20170002429
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Clark, P. E.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Malphrus, Ben
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Reuter, Dennis
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
MacDowall, Robert
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Folta, David
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Hurford, Terry
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Brambora, Cliff
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Farrell, William
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
March 23, 2017
Publication Date
March 20, 2017
Subject Category
Inorganic, Organic And Physical Chemistry
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN39897
Meeting Information
Meeting: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Country: United States
Start Date: March 20, 2017
End Date: March 24, 2017
Sponsors: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Universities Space Research Association
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
Cubesat
spectrometer
Broadband
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