Cislunar Explorers
{{Short description|Pair of spacecraft}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = Cislunar Explorers
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| image_size = 300px
| mission_type = Technology demonstration
| operator = Cornell University
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| spacecraft = Cislunar Explorers
| spacecraft_type = CubeSat
| spacecraft_bus = 6U CubeSat
| manufacturer = Cornell University
| launch_mass = {{cvt|14|kg}}
| dimensions = 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm
| power =
| launch_date = NET Unknown (planned)
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| orbit_reference = Selenocentric orbit
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| apsis = selene
| interplanetary = {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
| type = orbiter
| object = Moon
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| apsis = selene
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| instruments = Commercial cameras
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| insignia_size = 200px
| programme = NASA CubeQuest Challenge
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Cislunar Explorers is a pair of spacecraft that will show the viability of water electrolysis propulsion and interplanetary optical navigation to orbit the Moon.{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cislunar-explorers.htm|title=Cislunar Explorers|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|date=18 May 2020|access-date=10 March 2021}} Both spacecraft will launch mated together as two L-shaped 3U CubeSats, which fit together as a 6U CubeSat of about 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm.
The technology demonstrator spacecraft pair is being developed at Cornell University in New York, by a team of researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates.{{cite web|url=https://cislunarexplorers.wordpress.com/|title=Cislunar Explorers - Streamlined, sustainable spacecraft|publisher=Wordpress|date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021}} The spacecraft were originally intended to launch onboard the Artemis 1 mission into a heliocentric orbit in cislunar space in 2022; delays caused by difficulties during integration led to their removal from the Artemis 1 manifest; a new launch provider has not yet been chosen.{{cite conference |last=Muhlberger |first=Curran D. |url=https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/leag2021/pdf/5054.pdf |title=Cislunar Explorers: A Student Cubesat Demonstrating Low-Cost Technologies for Lunar Exploration |conference=Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) 2021 |publisher=USRA |date=2 September 2021 |access-date=6 September 2021}}{{cite web |last=Ohana |first=Lavie |url=https://www.spacescout.info/2021/10/four-artemis-i-cubesats-miss-their-ride/ |title=Four Artemis I CubeSats miss their ride |work=Space Scout |date=3 October 2021 |access-date=6 October 2021}}
Water powered
The two spacecraft feature an unusual water electrolysis propulsion system that splits the bond between hydrogen and oxygen, producing combustible gaseous mixture that can be used as engine propellant.{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/cubequest/cislunar-explorers|title=Cube Quest Challenge Team Spotlight: Cislunar Explorers|author=Jennifer Harbaugh|publisher=NASA|date=22 May 2017|access-date=12 March 2021}} {{PD-notice}} This propulsion system will be used to enter lunar orbit. The mission designers comment that if this water-based propulsion technology is successful, it may enable in situ resources for refueling landers for commercial or science purposes. Such a spacecraft could refuel at space-bound water sources, like asteroids, instead of bringing all the needed fuel along with it from Earth.{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/34096-water-fueled-cubesat-lunar-challenge.html|title=Water-Powered CubeSat Satellite Shoots for the Moon|author=Sarah Lewin|publisher=SPACE.com|date=16 September 2016|access-date=12 March 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/09/cornells-quest-make-first-cubesat-orbit-moon|title=Cornell's quest: Make the first CubeSat to orbit the moon|author=Tom Fleischman|publisher=Cornell Chronicle|date=15 September 2016|access-date=12 March 2021}}
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
;The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission:
- Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA is a solar sail spacecraft that will encounter a near-Earth asteroid
- BioSentinel is an astrobiology mission
- LunIR by Lockheed Martin Space
- Lunar IceCube, by the Morehead State University
- CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP)
- Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map), designed by the Arizona State University
- EQUULEUS, submitted by JAXA and the University of Tokyo
- OMOTENASHI, submitted by JAXA, was a lunar lander (mission failure)
- ArgoMoon, designed by Argotec and coordinated by Italian Space Agency (ASI)
- Team Miles, by Fluid and Reason LLC, Tampa, Florida
;The 3 CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1:
- Lunar Flashlight will map exposed water ice on the Moon
- Cislunar Explorers, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E3), University of Colorado Boulder
;Other water-based propelled spacecraft
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Moon spacecraft}}
{{Future spaceflights}}
Category:Proposed NASA space probes