July 2021 – Artemis

NASA Prepares Three More CubeSat Payloads for Artemis I Mission

Two more secondary payloads that will travel to deep space on the Artemis I mission were integrated for launch on July 23, and another is ready for installation at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The satellites – called CubeSats – are roughly the size of a large shoe box and weigh no more than 30 pounds. Despite their small size, they enable science and technology experiments that may enhance our understanding of the deep space environment, expand our knowledge of the Moon, and demonstrate new technologies that could be used on future missions.

The OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration Technologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor) team prepares their secondary payload for a ride on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket during the Artemis I mission. If successful, OMOTENASHI will be the smallest spacecraft ever to land on the lunar surface and will mark Japan as the fourth nation to successfully land a craft on the Moon.

OMOTENASHI (Outstanding MOon exploration Technologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor) and ArgoMoon, which will both study the Moon, were integrated with their dispensers and installed on the Orion stage adapter along with seven other payloads for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s first flight. A third payload, the BioSentinel CubeSat is the only CubeSat that will contain a biological experiment on Artemis I and will be the first CubeSat to support biological research in deep space. The team placed it in its dispenser for the flight, and to preserve its biological contents, it is being kept in a controlled environment at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At a date closer to launch, it will be placed in the Orion stage adapter.

OMOTENASHI was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). While OMOTENASHI is one of several Artemis I secondary payloads that are studying the Moon, it is the only one that will conduct a controlled landing on the Moon’s surface. Its primary objective is to test the technologies and trajectory maneuvers that allow a small lander to land on the Moon while keeping its systems – including power, communication, and propulsion systems – intact. Testing these systems around and on the Moon can help with development of similar small landers that could explore other planets. The spacecraft will also measure the radiation environment beyond low-Earth orbit, providing data that will help develop technologies to manage radiation exposure for human exploration. If successful, OMOTENASHI will be the smallest spacecraft ever to land on the lunar surface and will mark Japan as the fourth nation to successfully land on the Moon.

ArgoMoon, developed by Italian company Argotec and sponsored by Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), Italy’s national space agency, will perform autonomous visual-based proximity operations around the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), the in-space stage of SLS, that provides the propulsion to send Orion on a lunar trajectory. The CubeSat will use high-definition cameras and advanced imaging software to record images of the ICPS and later of the Earth and the Moon for historical documentation, provide mission data on the deployment of other CubeSats, and test optical communication capabilities between the CubeSat and Earth. ArgoMoon will use a hybrid micropropulsion system (MiPS) that combines green mono-propellant and cold gas propulsion in a single system to provide attitude control and orbital maneuvering using a small amount of power.

The enhanced attitude capabilities are also used to run and validate artificial intelligence-based algorithms for autonomous Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery systems that perform continuous monitoring of the health of the satellite to detect any potential fault. In the case of fault detection, this service performs several operations to solve the problem. If the fault is not recoverable, the satellite goes in safe mode, which means that only the functionalities to keep the satellite alive and to communicate with ground are used.

ArgoMoon’s mission is a forerunner of technologies for deep space application that can be used for inspection of satellites not originally designed to be serviced, without the involvement of the ground segment.

BioSentinel will be the first long-duration biology experiment to take place in deep space and will be among the first studies of the biological response to space radiation outside low-Earth orbit in nearly 50 years. Its primary objective is to measure the impact of space radiation on living organisms – in this case, yeast – over long durations beyond low-Earth orbit.

The BioSentinel team prepares their CubeSat to be the first long-duration biology experiment to take place in deep space, and the first study of the biological response to space radiation outside low-Earth orbit in nearly 50 years. The team placed the CubeSat in its dispenser and to preserve its biological contents, it is being kept in a controlled environment at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be placed in the Orion stage adapter at date closer to launch.

Developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, BioSentinel will enter an orbit around the Sun via a lunar flyby. The experiment will use yeast as a “living radiation detector” to evaluate the effects of ambient space radiation on biology. Human cells and yeast cells have many similar biological mechanisms, including DNA damage and repair.

The payload carries dry yeast cells stored in microfluidic cards – custom hardware that allows for the controlled flow of extremely small volumes of liquids that will activate and sustain the yeast. These yeast-filled cards are situated alongside a physical radiation detection instrument – developed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston – that measures and characterizes the radiation environment. Results from the physical instrument will be compared to the payload’s biological response. After completing a lunar flyby and spacecraft checkout, the yeast will be rehydrated at various points during the six-month mission. As yeast cells activate in space, they will sense and respond to the radiation damage.

Experiments using the BioSentinel instruments will also take place on the International Space Station and on the ground to demonstrate how varied amounts of radiation affect the yeast. While Earth-bound research has helped identify some of the potential effects of space radiation on living organisms, no terrestrial source can fully simulate the unique radiation environment of deep space. BioSentinel’s data will provide critical insight on the effects of deep space radiation on biology as NASA seeks to establish long-term human exploration of the Moon under Artemis and prepare us for human exploration on Mars.

SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond low Earth orbit. On its first flight, NASA will demonstrate the rocket’s heavy-lift capability and send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft into deep space. The agency is also taking advantage of additional available mass and space to provide the rare opportunity to send several CubeSats to conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations in deep space. All CubeSats are deployed after SLS completes its primary mission, launching the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon.

Orion Points at the Moon with Launch Abort Tower

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and contractor Jacobs integrated the launch abort system (LAS) with the Orion spacecraft inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2021. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Ahead of the Artemis I lunar-bound mission, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center joined the launch abort tower to the Orion spacecraft on July 23. Working inside the spaceport’s Launch Abort System Facility, engineers and technicians with Exploration Ground Systems and primary contractor, Jacobs, lifted the system above the spacecraft and coupled it with the crew module.

The launch abort system is designed to protect astronauts if a problem arises during launch by pulling the spacecraft away from a failing rocket. Although there will be no crew Artemis I, the launch abort system will collect flight data during the ascent to space and then jettison from the spacecraft.

Next, teams will install four ogives – the protective panels that shield the upper portion of the spacecraft during its entry into orbit. Once final checkouts are complete, Orion will be integrated with the Space Launch System rocket.

Two More Artemis I Deep Space CubeSats Prepare for Launch

Two additional secondary payloads that will travel to deep space on Artemis I, the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, are ready for launch.

The Team Miles and EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS) CubeSats are tucked into dispensers and installed in the Orion stage adapter – the ring that connects Orion to the SLS rocket. They are joining five other secondary payloads that were recently installed. These small satellites, known as CubeSats, will conduct a variety of science experiments and technology demonstrations. The CubeSats will deploy after the Orion spacecraft separates from SLS.

Developed by Miles Space in partnership with software developer Fluid & Reason, LLC, the Team Miles CubeSat will travel to deep space to demonstrate propulsion using plasma thrusters, a propulsion that uses low-frequency electromagnetic waves. The CubeSat was developed as part of NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge and sponsored by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program. The team, composed of citizen scientists and engineers, came together through the nonprofit Tampa Hackerspace in Florida to develop Team Miles. The group considers itself a team of “makers,” who are open to trying technologies that may fall outside of engineering norms.

Members of the EQUULEUS (EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft) team prepare their CubeSat to be loaded in the Space Launch System’s Orion stage adapter for launch on the Artemis I mission. This CubeSat, developed jointly by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the University of Tokyo, will help scientists understand the radiation environment in the region of space around Earth called the plasmasphere.

Team Miles’ mission will be flown autonomously by a sophisticated onboard computer system. In addition, the breadbox-sized spacecraft will use a software-defined radio for communications with Earth. If successful, the CubeSat will travel farther than this size of craft has ever gone – 59.6 million miles (96 million kilometers) – before ending the mission. (For comparison, the minimum distance from Earth to Mars is around 34 million (54 million) kilometers.)

EQUULEUS, developed jointly by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the University of Tokyo, will travel to Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2, an Earth-Moon orbit where the gravitational pull of the Earth and Moon equal the force required for a small object to move with them. The CubeSat will demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth-Moon region and image Earth’s plasmasphere, a region of the atmosphere containing electrons and highly ionized particles that rotate with the planet.

Team Miles works in a clean room at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare their CubeSat to be launched on the Artemis I mission. The team designed the satellite to travel farther than this size of craft has ever gone – 59.6 million miles (96 million kilometers) – before ending its mission. The CubeSat was developed as part of NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge and sponsored by Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program.

EQUULEUS will measure the distribution of the plasmasphere, providing important insight for protecting humans and electronics from radiation damage during long space journeys. The CubeSat will also measure meteor impact flashes and the dust environment around the Moon, providing additional important information for human exploration. EQUULEUS will be powered by two deployable solar arrays and batteries, propelled by a warm gas propulsion system with water as the propellant.

SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond Earth’s orbit and demonstrate the rocket’s heavy-lift capability. The agency is taking advantage of additional available mass and space to provide the rare opportunity to send several CubeSats to conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations in deep space. All CubeSats are deployed after SLS completes its primary mission, launching the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon.

Artemis I CubeSats will study the Moon, solar radiation

Three additional CubeSats that will ride aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis I mission are installed in the rocket’s Orion stage adapter that will deploy them toward their deep space destinations.

The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map), the CubeSat to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) spacecraft, and LunIR were integrated with their dispensers and installed on the Orion stage adapter along with several other small satellites for the first flight of SLS and Orion. Artemis I provides a rare opportunity for CubeSats, each about the size of a large cereal box, to hitch a ride to deep space. The Orion stage adapter connects the Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket and will carry the CubeSats and deploy them after Orion departs for its lunar exploration mission.

LunaH-Map, developed by Arizona State University and sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), will measure the distribution and amount of hydrogen throughout the Moon’s South Pole. If successful, the LunaH-Map spacecraft will produce a high-resolution map of the Moon’s bulk water deposits, unveiling new details about the spatial and depth distribution of potential ice previously identified during a variety of missions. Confirming and mapping these deposits in detail will help NASA understand how the water got there, how much water might be available, and how it could potentially serve as a resource for longer exploration missions on the Moon. The CubeSat’s mission is designed to last around 60 days.

A team prepares the LunaH-Map before its installation in the Space Launch System rocket Orion stage adapter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once deployed from the rocket, the CubeSat will orbit the Moon for two months while searching for water deposits near the South Pole.

LunIR was developed by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado, and sponsored by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems division under the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The CubeSat will conduct a lunar flyby and use an advanced miniature infrared sensor to gather images and data about the lunar surface and its environment. This effort will help collect data to address knowledge gaps related to transit and long-duration exploration to Mars and beyond. The CubeSat will collect data about the lunar surface, including material composition, thermal signatures, presence of water, and potential landing sites. LunIR’s infrared sensor will be able to map the Moon during both day and night and can collect data at much higher temperatures than similar sensors, thanks to an innovative micro-cryocooler – similar to a refrigerator – designed to reach cryogenic temperatures below minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit.

CuSP will be deployed for an interplanetary mission to study the particles and magnetic fields that stream from the Sun. CuSP was developed by the Southwest Research Institute , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA and is also sponsored by NASA’s SMD. This CubeSat will orbit the Sun with three instruments to measure incoming radiation and the magnetic field that can create a variety of effects on Earth, such as interfering with radio communications, tripping up satellite electronics, and creating electronic currents in power grids. CuSP can observe events in space hours before those events potentially reach Earth.

Team CuSP cheers on the solar CubeSat prior to loading it in the Space Launch System rocket Orion stage adapter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond Earth’s orbit. On its first flight, NASA will demonstrate the rocket’s super heavy-lift capability and send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft into deep space. The agency is also taking advantage of additional available mass and space to provide the rare opportunity to send several CubeSats to conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations in deep space. All CubeSats are deployed after SLS completes its primary mission, launching the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon.

First CubeSats Aboard for Artemis I Mission

The first two CubeSats are aboard for the Artemis I mission as secondary payloads that will conduct a range of science experiments and technology demonstrations in deep space.

In preparation for their missions, Lunar IceCube and Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout have been integrated with their dispensers and installed in the Orion stage adapter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Housed in the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility, the Orion stage adapter connects the top of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the Orion spacecraft. The small satellites, roughly the size of large shoeboxes and weighing no more than 30 pounds, enable science and technology experiments that may enhance our understanding of the deep space environment, expand our knowledge of the Moon and beyond, and demonstrate technology that could open up possibilities for future missions. The payloads will deploy from the rocket after the Orion spacecraft separates from the rocket’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage that provides the propulsion to send Orion to the Moon.

The Near-Earth Asteroid Scout team prepares their secondary payload for installation in the Space Launch System rocket’s Orion stage adapter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NEA Scout will be deployed and go to an asteroid after the Orion spacecraft separates from the Space Launch System rocket and heads to the Moon during the Artemis I mission.

NEA Scout will be the first CubeSat to travel to an asteroid. The small payload was developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. NEA Scout will be propelled by a square-shaped solar sail that will measure about 925 square feet (86 square meters) when unfurled. The sail is made of an aluminum-coated plastic film that is thinner than a human hair, with an area about the size of a racquetball court. NEA Scout is outfitted with a high-powered camera that will take photographs of and collect data from a near-Earth asteroid that represents asteroids that may one day become destinations for human exploration. Observations will include the asteroid’s position in space, its shape, rotational properties, spectral class, and geological characteristics. NEA Scout’s mission will take approximately two years.

Teams prepare the Lunar IceCube before its installation in the Space Launch System rocket Orion stage adapter at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This small satellite will be deployed from the rocket and will orbit the Moon for six months and search for water and ice with an infrared spectrometer.

Lunar IceCube will search for water ice and other resources from above the surface of the Moon. It was developed by Morehead State University in Kentucky, Busek Space Propulsion and Systems of Massachusetts, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, JPL, and NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. Once deployed, the CubeSat will take up to nine months to arrive at its destination and begin orbiting the Moon. Using state-of-the-art miniature electric thrusters for propulsion and relying on gravity assists from Earth and the Moon, Lunar IceCube will search for water and other materials in ice, liquid, or vapor states that may be useful for future exploration missions. Once in orbit, Lunar IceCube’s mission could last one to six months and the ground station at Morehead State will be used to track the CubeSat for the duration of the mission.

SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond Earth’s orbit. On its first flight, NASA will demonstrate the rocket’s heavy-lift capability and send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft into deep space. The agency is also taking advantage of additional available mass and space to provide the rare opportunity to send several CubeSats to conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations in deep space.

The NEA Scout and Lunar IceCube secondary payloads are the first to be installed in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s Orion stage adapter for the Artemis I mission on July 14 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Teams Add Launch Abort System to Ready Orion for Artemis I

NASA's Orion spacecraft — The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrives at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Abort System facility on July 10, 2021, after being transported from the Florida spaceport’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility earlier in the day. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission recently completed fueling and servicing checks while inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule has now made it to its next stop on the path to the pad – the spaceport’s Launch Abort System Facility.

Crowning the spacecraft with its aerodynamic shape, the launch abort system is designed to pull crew away to safety from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in the event of an emergency during launch. This capability was successfully tested during the Orion Pad Abort and Ascent Abort-2 tests and approved for use during crewed missions.

Teams with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will work to add parts of the launch abort system onto the spacecraft. Technicians will install four panels that make up the fairing assembly and protect the spacecraft from heat, air, and acoustic environments during launch and ascent. A launch tower will top the fairing assembly to house the pyrotechnics and a jettison motor. The system will also be outfitted with instruments to record key flight data for later study.

With successful demonstration of the system during previous tests, the abort motor that pulls the spacecraft away from the rocket and attitude control motor that steers the spacecraft for a splashdown during an abort will not be functional for the uncrewed Artemis I mission. The jettison motor will be equipped to separate the system from Orion in flight once it is no longer needed, making Orion thousands of pounds lighter for the journey to the Moon.

Once the system’s integration is complete, teams will transport the spacecraft to the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building. There, it will join the already stacked flight hardware and be raised into position atop the SLS rocket, marking the final assembly milestone for the Artemis rocket.

Launching in 2021, Artemis I will be a test of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish long-term lunar exploration.

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Artemis I Rocket Grows Closer to Launch

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs integrate the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) atop the massive SLS core stage in the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 5, 2021. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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The Artemis I mission reached another milestone this week inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. On July 5, teams with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs stacked the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The ICPS’s RL 10 engine is housed inside the launch vehicle stage adapter, which will protect the engine during launch. The adapter connects the rocket’s core stage with the ICPS, which was built by Boeing and United Launch Alliance.

The ICPS will fire its RL 10 engine to send the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon. Its European-built service module will provide the power to take the spacecraft on a journey tens of thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

Before attaching the Orion spacecraft to the rocket, teams will conduct a series of tests to assure all the rocket components are properly communicating with each other, the ground systems equipment, and the Launch Control Center.

The ICPS moved to the VAB on June 19, after technicians in the center’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility completed servicing the flight hardware inside.

Launching in 2021, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket as an integrated system ahead of missions with astronauts. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish a long-lasting presence on and around the Moon while preparing for human missions to Mars.

View additional photos here.