NASA Engineers Revived A Discarded, Decades-Old Instrument For A 2020s Moon Mission
NASA engineers are dusting off a 20-year-old science instrument for a series of upcoming Moon landing missions.
NASA has contracted with two private companies so far to build landers for a series of uncrewed science missions to the Moon, with the first launches planned for 2021. The uncrewed lander missions are the first phase of NASA’s Artemis program, with the ambitious eventual goals of crewed Moon landings, an orbital lunar outpost, and lunar mining. To that end, several of the instruments are focused on better understanding where and how to look for hydrogen, water, and other important chemical compounds on the Moon.