NASA's water-hunting tool will help scout moon's South Pole
Why it matters: Identifying lunar water deposits is crucial for NASA's goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028.
- NASA is contributing the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) to the LUPEX mission, an instrument designed to detect subsurface ice by identifying hydrogen concentrations.
- JAXA and ISRO are leading the LUPEX mission, which will deploy a lunar rover equipped with NASA's NSS to the Moon's South Pole no earlier than 2028.
- Rick Elphic, NSS lead at NASA's Ames Research Center, highlights the current gap in understanding lunar ice distribution at small scales, emphasizing the need for surface exploration to determine its location and quantity.
- Lunar water, primarily found as molecules within regolith or potentially as ice deposits, is critical for developing an enduring human presence on the Moon, enabling astronauts to produce breathable air and rocket fuel locally.
NASA is partnering with JAXA and ISRO on the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission, providing its Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) to scout for ice at the Moon's South Pole by 2028. This collaboration aims to map crucial water resources, which could be converted into breathable air and rocket fuel for future human lunar missions, reducing reliance on Earth-supplied materials.
