NASA将发射仪器研究月球上的水

The Americanspace agency NASA is preparing to launch a spacecraft to seek more detailedinformation on water sources on the moon.

The spacecraft isan orbiter called Lunar Trailblazer. It is set to launch later this year, or inearly 2025. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the orbiter to space. Thatrocket will also transport another moon exploring spacecraft.

In a recentstatement, NASA said Lunar Trailblazer passed a series of important operationaltests. It is currently completing additional software testing designed tosimulate different elements of the trip, or mission.

NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory (JPL) is leading the mission, in cooperation with theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California. LockheedMartin Space provided the spacecraft, linked it with the flight system, andsupports operations as part of a contract with Caltech.

The spacecraftwill use two science instruments to carry out its mission. Both instruments aredesigned to map the moon in search of areas containing water, as well as whatforms the water is in. The two instruments use infrared technology to producehighly detailed mapped images.

Lunar Trailblazerweighs about 200 kilograms and measures 3.5 meters with its solar equipmentfully deployed. The spacecraft is set to orbit the moon about 100 kilometersfrom the lunar surface.

Several paststudies have provided strong evidence that water exists on the moon. But theevidence has not included exact details on where it is and what forms it mighttake. Scientists believe most of the water is solid, in the form of ice. Butthere could be areas where water exists in liquid form, or as a gas in theatmosphere.

One studyreleased last month suggested that existing water on the moon is morewidespread than previously thought. That study was based on new examinations ofdata collected by India's Chandrayaan-1 orbiting spacecraft.

NASA has said itssearch for water on the moon is important because it is seen as a necessaryresource for future exploration activities. Astronauts could process it fordrinking water, to cool equipment, to create breathable oxygen or even to makerocket fuel.

NASA said LunarTrailblazer will make it easier for future human or robotic scienceinvestigators to use the water to see where it first came from.

For example, thepresence of ammonia in ice could suggest it came from comets, NASAsaid. The presence of sulfur, on the other hand, could show it rose to thesurface from deep inside the lunar interior when the moon was young andvolcanically active.

One of theinstruments, the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, wasdeveloped by the JPL. The other, called the Lunar Thermal Mapper, was built bya team at the University of Oxford in Britain.

Neil Bowles is aninstrument scientist for the Lunar Thermal Mapper. He said in a statement theinstrument would center on producing detailed maps of lunar surfacetemperatures. He added that the other instrument will look for a series ofsigns, called signatures, of water molecules.

“Both instrumentswill allow us to understand how surface temperature affects water, improvingour knowledge of the presence and distribution of these molecules on the moon,”Bowles said.

The orbiter isdesigned to provide scientists with new information about how much movementthere is of water molecules on the moon. Such movements can be linked to howmuch sun specific areas receive. “Understanding whether water molecules movefreely across the surface of the moon or are locked inside rock is alsoscientifically important,” NASA said in a statement.

Rachel Klima isan investigator for the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft and its systems at theJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

She said datacollected by the instruments can help provide information about where themoon's water first came from. Klima compared such examinations to thoseinvolving glaciers that help scientists learn about Earth's ancient history. Iceon the moon, she said, “could provide clues as to where that water came fromand how and when it got there.”

美国航天局NASA正准备发射一艘宇宙飞船，以获取有关月球水源的更详细信息。
这艘宇宙飞船是一颗名为“月球探路者”（Lunar Trailblazer）的轨道器。它计划在今年晚些时候或2025年初发射。一枚SpaceX公司的猎鹰9号火箭将携带这颗轨道器进入太空。该火箭还将运送另一艘月球探测宇宙飞船。
在最近的一份声明中，NASA表示，“月球探路者”已经通过了一系列重要的操作测试。目前，它正在进行额外的软件测试，旨在模拟任务的不同环节。
NASA的喷气推进实验室（JPL）正在领导这项任务，与位于加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳的加州理工学院（Caltech）合作。洛克希德·马丁空间公司提供了宇宙飞船，并将其与飞行系统连接起来，作为与加州理工学院签订的合同的一部分，支持任务操作。
这艘宇宙飞船将使用两台科学仪器来执行其任务。这两台仪器都设计用于绘制月球地图，寻找含有水的区域，以及水的存在形式。两台仪器使用红外技术来生成高分辨率的地图图像。
“月球探路者”重约200公斤，太阳能设备完全展开后长3.5米。这艘宇宙飞船将围绕月球轨道运行，距离月球表面约100公里。
过去几项研究提供了强有力的证据表明月球上存在水。但这些证据并未包括水的确切位置及其可能的形式等细节。科学家们认为，大部分水是以固态形式存在的冰。但也可能存在液态水或大气中的气态水。
上个月发布的一项研究指出，月球上的现有水源比之前认为的更为广泛。这项研究基于对印度“月船1号”（Chandrayaan-1）轨道器收集的数据进行的新分析。
NASA表示，其在月球上寻找水资源非常重要，因为这被视为未来探索活动的必要资源。宇航员可以处理这些水以供饮用、冷却设备、制造可呼吸的氧气，甚至制成火箭燃料。
NASA称，“月球探路者”将使未来的载人或机器人科学调查人员更容易利用这些水来探究其最初的来源。
例如，冰中氨的存在可能表明它来自彗星，NASA说。而硫的存在则可能显示它是在月球年轻且火山活跃时期从深层内部上升到表面的。
其中一个仪器——高分辨率挥发物和矿物月球测绘仪（High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper），是由JPL开发的。另一个名为月球热力测绘仪（Lunar Thermal Mapper）的仪器，则是由英国牛津大学的一个团队建造的。
尼尔·鲍尔斯（Neil Bowles）是月球热力测绘仪的仪器科学家。他在一份声明中表示，该仪器将专注于生成月球表面温度的详细地图。他还补充说，另一个仪器将寻找一系列被称为特征的水分子标志。
“两个仪器都将帮助我们了解表面温度如何影响水，提高我们对月球上这些分子存在及分布的认识。”鲍尔斯说道。
这颗轨道器的设计目的是为科学家提供关于月球上水分子移动量的新信息。这种移动可以与特定区域接收到的阳光量相关联。“了解水分子是否在月球表面自由移动还是被锁在岩石内，也具有科学上的重要性。”NASA在一份声明中说。
雷切尔·克利马（Rachel Klima）是位于马里兰州劳雷尔的约翰斯·霍普金斯应用物理实验室的“月球探路者”宇宙飞船及其系统的调查员。
她说，仪器收集的数据可以帮助提供关于月球上的水最初来自何处的信息。克利马将这类研究比作涉及冰川的研究，后者帮助科学家了解地球的古老历史。她提到，月球上的冰“可能提供线索，揭示这些水来自哪里，以及它们是如何以及何时到达那里的。”