Lunarcube: Creating a New Paradigm for Lower Cost, Higher Access, and Greater Capability Systems and Instrumentation for Planetary Exploration

Purpose: The Moon is not only the closest and most accessible extraterrestrial frontier. The lunar surface, with its rugged terrain, long diurnal cycle, and wide range of extreme thermal and illumination conditions varying as a function of latitude and local relief, represents a great portion of the entire range of conditions found throughout the solar system. The lunar surface is thus an ideal 'test bed' for exploring planetary surface processes and origins as well as for developing core technologies required for planetary exploration. The lunar environment has, and can continue to provide options for low cost missions of high scientific and technological value. Thus, any sound approach to planetary exploration should prioritize access to the Moon. The question is how to provide such access at a time when the conventional approaches to space exploration are unable to provide adequate support to achieve planetary exploration goals. CubeSat Approach: We are proposing LunarCube, an extension of the affordable and successful CubeSat approach, to facilitate access to the Moon. CubeSat has already encouraged and increased access to Earth orbital space over the last decade. CubeSat provides standards for bus design and operation for low–cost, focused–objective, Earth orbital missions via open access documentation and even online purchasable kits [1, 2], facilitating the implementation process, and reducing development costs, risks, and time. The bus provides standardized interfaces and shared access by guest 'instruments' to all subsystems using CubeSat protocols. Four key aspects of specified design are: 1) profile: short duration, low earth orbit; 2) form factor: multiple 10 cm cubes (U), typically varying from 0.5 to 3 U; 3) technology impact: low, incorporating off the shelf electronics and software; 4) risk: Class D, based on the rationale that CubeSat standards have been improved and demonstrated with use, and failures have far less impact, in terms of expenditures and size of groups involved, than conventional government sponsored 'missions'. Part of its appeal is that CubeSat afforded universities access for hands on student education. After a decade of development, this approach is beginning to yield scientifically useful monitoring of Earth's atmosphere and climate through combined experiments (e.g., CINEMA, CubeSat for Ions, Neutrals, Electron, and Magnetic Fields) [3]. Most recently CubeSat has been proposed as a model for a lunar swirl study mission [4]. LunarCube Concept and Core Technologies: LunarCube uses a similar approach for the lunar surface by maintaining the same standard on risk, thereby keeping costs …