Last Sunday, the 11th, NASA launched a new satellite in the space. Called SmallSat, the equipment is about the size of a briefcase and will travel for three months to its destination: the south pole of the Moon, to search for ice in dark craters. According to a text released by the space agency, SmallSat will be steered from here to Earth. The satellite’s path will just go past the Moon and then be slowly pulled by gravity into an orbit. There it will do its job. Read on and find out more about the possibility of ice in the lua.
Read more: NASA will start investigating the dark side of the moon in 2025
Small satellite, huge potential
still second official information by NASA, or satellite no more than the size of a briefcase. However, it is a very powerful item for scientists.
SmallSat is equipped with a reflectometer whose four lasers emit infrared light. With their wavelengths, the space agency will be able to measure whether or not there is ice on this part of the Moon. Detail: The lunar south pole hasn’t seen sunlight for billions of years!
Lasers work like this: if the waves hit the water or selfwill be absorbed. However, if they hit any bare rock, dust or gravel, the light will be reflected back to SmallSat.
That is, the greater the absorption of the emitted light, the greater the indication that there may be ice in the location.
“We are literally carrying a torch to the Lua — firing lasers at these dark craters to look for definite signs of water ice coating the top layer of lunar regolith,” said Barbara Cohen, lead researcher on the NASA project in Maryland.
“I’m excited to see our mission contribute to our scientific understanding of where water ice is located on the Moon and how it got there.”
But wait… Is there ice on the moon?
Yup! In 2018, a NASA he had already come to the conclusion that there are deposits of ice on both poles of the Moon.
The blocks are unevenly distributed: at the south pole the frozen water is more concentrated in the craters, while at the north pole the ice is more extensive and widespread.
