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 data (RFI) posted to the federal contracting web site SAM.gov, the freezer’s main use shall be transporting scientific and geological samples from the moon to Earth. These samples, the put up specifies, shall be ones collected throughout the Artemis program.
Nonetheless, the put up additionally states that the lunar freezer may very well be used to retailer and transport “human organic/physiological samples collected throughout 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 tip of 2027, to be launched aboard its deliberate Artemis 5 mission.
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What would a lunar freezer appear like?
To make the lengthy journey again to Earth from the moon’s floor, the lunar freezer ought to be transportable aboard the autos, services and spacecraft that future Artemis astronauts will use. These embrace the long run lunar rover, any moon habitats, the Human Touchdown System (HLS), the Orion crew module and the Gateway lunar outpost. The latter is a deliberate house station that may stay in orbit across the moon.
The lunar freezer should due to this fact be capable of stand up to a wide range of bodily forces encountered throughout launch and touchdown, resembling vibrations and shocks.
The full quantity of the lunar freezer’s chilly inside ought to be at least 10x10x26 inches (25x25x66 centimeters), and the overall system ought to weigh lower than 121 kilos (55 kilograms). Saved samples ought to be capable of preserve a temperature of minus 121 Fahrenheit (minus 85 Celsius) for at least 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 autos and floor stations again on Earth. Lastly, the lunar freezer ought to be capable of report information about its personal temperature, general well being in addition to when (and for the 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 can contain placing human boots on the moon, if all goes in line with 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 presently deliberate for 2025. Artemis 4 and Artemis 5 are projected to launch in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
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