A new, powerful science camera is heading to the moon to look inside places we’ve never seen before.
ShadowCam is an instrument designed and led by Mark Robinson, a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. It’s a specially designed camera that will peer into the permanently shadowed craters of the moon.
Because the moon does not have the tilted spin axis of the Earth, these dark spaces never receive the sun’s light.
Cold, dark and full of unanswered questions, these craters are scattered around the poles of the moon.
“The permanently shadowed craters are mysterious,” Robinson says. “There are some thoughts that there may be large deposits of volatiles there — water, possibly even methane and ammonia.”
Such materials would potentially be useful for future human presence on the moon. Robinson says they may also provide important clues to the past billion years of our solar system.
ShadowCam is a NASA-funded instrument and is part of a collaboration between NASA and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. ShadowCam is aboard the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, a spacecraft that is launching to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. The launch is scheduled for Aug. 4.
More Science and technology
Will this antibiotic work? ASU scientists develop rapid bacterial tests
Bacteria multiply at an astonishing rate, sometimes doubling in number in under four minutes. Imagine a doctor faced with a patient showing severe signs of infection. As they sift through test…
ASU researcher part of team discovering ways to fight drug-resistant bacteria
A new study published in the Science Advances journal featuring Arizona State University researchers has found vulnerabilities in certain strains of bacteria that are antibiotic resistant, just…
ASU student researchers get early, hands-on experience in engineering research
Using computer science to aid endangered species reintroduction, enhance software engineering education and improve semiconductor material performance are just some of the ways Arizona State…