NASA has issued a request for “lunar freezer” designs that may safely retailer supplies taken from the moon throughout deliberate Artemis missions.
In keeping with a request for info (RFI) posted to the federal contracting web site SAM.gov, the freezer’s major use shall be transporting scientific and geological samples from the moon to Earth. These samples, the put up specifies, shall be ones collected through the Artemis program.
Nevertheless, the put up additionally states that the lunar freezer might be used to retailer and transport “human organic/physiological samples collected through the missions,” presumably for analyzing how spaceflight to the moon impacts astronauts.
Within the RFI, NASA writes that it needs the lunar freezer prepared by the top of 2027, to be launched aboard its deliberate Artemis 5 mission.
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What would a lunar freezer appear to be?
To make the lengthy journey again to Earth from the moon’s floor, the lunar freezer must be transportable aboard the automobiles, amenities and spacecraft that future Artemis astronauts will use. These embrace the longer term lunar rover, any moon habitats, the Human Touchdown System (HLS), the Orion crew module and the Gateway lunar outpost. The latter is a deliberate area station that may stay in orbit across the moon.
The lunar freezer should due to this fact be capable to stand up to a wide range of bodily forces encountered throughout launch and touchdown, reminiscent of vibrations and shocks.
The overall quantity of the lunar freezer’s chilly inside must be at least 10x10x26 inches (25x25x66 centimeters), and the full system ought to weigh lower than 121 kilos (55 kilograms). Saved samples ought to be capable to keep a temperature of minus 121 Fahrenheit (minus 85 Celsius) for no less than 30 days.
The freezer NASA envisions should additional have an onboard show that Artemis crews can use to observe and management the module, in addition to wi-fi and wired web connectivity that may collectively present telemetry to Artemis automobiles and floor stations again on Earth. Lastly, the lunar freezer ought to be capable to file knowledge about its personal temperature, total well being in addition to when (and for a way lengthy) its door is opened.
The lunar freezer’s deliberate debut mission, Artemis 5, would be the third mission within the Artemis program. It’ll contain placing human boots on the moon, if all goes in response to plan — although not for the primary time in this system. Artemis 3 will mark the primary human return to the moon since 1972, and is at the moment deliberate for 2025. Artemis 4 and Artemis 5 are projected to launch in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
