Question: How many satellite secondary payloads or ‘CubeSats’ will be carried by the first flight of NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS)?
(a) 13 CubeSats
(b) 15 CubeSats
(c) 18 CubeSats
(d) 12 CubeSats
Ans (a)
Related facts:
- On 2 February, 2016 the American Space Agency NASA in its release mentioned about the first flight of NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).
- It will carry 13 CubeSats to test innovative ideas along with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2018.
- CubeSats are in a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The base CubeSat dimensions are 10x10x11 centimeters (about 4x4x4 inches), which equals one Cube, or 1U.
- These small satellite secondary payloads will carry science and technology investigations to help pave the way for future human exploration in deep space, including the journey to Mars.
- SLS’ first flight, referred to as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), provides the rare opportunity for these small experiments to reach deep space destinations, as most launch opportunities for CubeSats are limited to low-Earth orbit.
- NASA selected two payloads through the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement:
- Skyfire – It will be developed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Denver, Colorado to perform a lunar flyby of the moon, taking sensor data during the flyby to enhance our knowledge of the lunar surface
- Lunar IceCube– It will be built by Morehead State University, Kentucky to search for water ice and other resources at a low orbit of only 62 miles above the surface of the moon.
- Three payloads were selected by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate:
- Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout– It will perform reconnaissance of an asteroid, take pictures and observe its position in space.
- BioSentinel– It will use yeast to detect measure and compare the impact of deep space radiation on living organisms over long duration’s in deep space.
- Lunar Flashlight will look for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted from the lunar surface.
- Two payloads were selected by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate:
- CuSP – a “space weather station” to measure particles and magnetic fields in space, testing practicality for a network of stations to monitor space weather.
- LunaH-Map will map hydrogen within craters and other permanently shadowed regions throughout the moon’s South Pole.
- Three additional payloads will be determined through NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
- NASA has also reserved three slots for payloads from international partners.
- The first configuration of SLS that will fly on EM-1 is referred to as Block I and will have a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability and be powered by twin boosters and four RS-25 engines.
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