POLAR NIGHT: A LUNAR VOLATILES EXPEDITION

摘要

The possible discovery of water at the poles of the Moon has captured the interest of both scientists and the general public. The hydrogen anomaly detected by Lunar Prospector indicates the presence of a rich deposit of volatile compounds at the lunar poles. Polar Night will survey the volatiles at the lunar poles using a highly focused and integrated approach featuring in situ analysis supported by remote sensing. Polar Night will launch a spacecraft equipped with penetrators into a polar orbit around the Moon. It will use a variety of remote sensing techniques to detect volatiles and will map the volatile abundance and distribution. On the basis of the remote sensing data, volatile-rich sites will be selected for penetrator landings. After impact, each penetrator will detect and identify the specific molecular species present at its landing site, and the data will be relayed to Earth via the orbiting spacecraft.