Lunar IceCube (Lunar Ice Cube Orbiter)

Prospect for water ice and other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee lunar orbit

Prospect for water ice and other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee lunar orbit flying only 100 km (62 miles) above the lunar surface. Use an innovative RF Ion engine to achieve lunar capture and the science orbit to allow the team to make systematic measurements of lunar water features. The science goals are to investigate the distribution of water and other volatiles, as a function of time of day, latitude, and regolith composition/mineralogy.

Made contact with controllers shortly after deployment. However, in a Nov. 29 update, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said that the mission team was “continuing its attempts to communicate with the CubeSat so that it can be placed into its science orbit in the coming days.” NASA has not provided an update since then, and the mission’s principal investigator at Morehead State University did not respond to a request for comment.

Carrier briefly detected (~ 1 hr) with large frequency offset, then lost.

Acquisition over DSS-25 at DSS-25’s official BOT (320/12:50). No explanation for lack of detection at DSS-53. Loss of signal at 13:50:21. No further acquisitions. RS provided post-processed data and supported continued tracks for 3 weeks after the launch event.

• ADCS - Blue Canyon XACT
• THRUSTER - Busek BIT-3
• SOLAR PANELS - Pumpkin
• EPS - Pumpkin
• OBC - Space Micro Proton 400K Lite