The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has signed a contract with Firefly Aerospace. The company, one of the founders of which is Max Polyakov, a native of Ukraine, will deliver cargo to the far side of the moon.
What is known
The contract amounted to $112 million. As part of the agreement, Firefly Aerospace undertakes to deliver two devices for NASA to the far side of the moon, as well as launch a communications satellite into orbit. The mission is scheduled for 2026 and is part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under the Artemis program. The total payload mass is almost 500 kg.
Firefly Aerospace will send a device to the moon called Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night). It is expected that it will allow scientists to look into the Dark Ages of our universe. This is an unexplored period of time that began 380,000 years after the Big Bang and lasted until the creation of the first stars.
LuSEE-Night will try to capture the CMB from the Dark Ages. It is one of the evidence in favor of the Big Bang theory. NASA scientists believe that the far side of the moon is the best place to operate the spacecraft, which will be created with the support of the US Department of Energy.
As you know, mankind has not been able to establish communication with the reverse side of the Earth’s natural satellite. Therefore, a repeater is required to transmit the information collected by LuSEE-Night. Its role will be taken over by the Lunar Pathfinder communications satellite. It was created by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA).
To provide communication between the Lunar Pathfinder itself and LuSSE-Night, a separate device will be required. This is a User Terminal (UT) communication system. It will be the third payload that will go to the far side of the moon in 2026.
Source: NASA
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