To the moon on gossamer wings
Abstract
The development of the Lunar Get-Away Special (GAS) canister to search for water on the moon is discussed. The possibility of detecting water on the moon with a gamma-ray spectrometer in a close polar orbit is reviewed. The Lunar GAS configuration, payloads, and subsystems, and a mission scenario are described. The Lunar GAS has a total mass of 150 kg and would require only 33 kg of xenon gas propellant to reach lunar orbit after a launch by the Space Shuttle.
- Publication:
-
Aerospace America
- Pub Date:
- March 1989
- Bibcode:
- 1989AeAm...27...40N
- Keywords:
-
- Lunar Exploration;
- Lunar Probes;
- Lunar Soil;
- Lunar Surface;
- Moisture Content;
- Get Away Specials (Sts);
- Space Communication;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration