**UPDATE**
The launch of the Artemis 1 has been delayed. NASA officials say there was a problem with the engine. The launch is being rescheduled, the earliest it could launch is Friday, Sept. 2nd.
College students in eastern Kentucky are shooting for the moon. A satellite built by faculty and students at Morehead State University will be part of the payload of NASA’s Artemis 1 Rocket. This rocket is the most powerful made for a NASA mission to the moon.
The satellite is a small cube, about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage and is called “Lunar Icecube.” Ben Malphrus is the executive director of the Space Science Center at Morehead State University. He said its mission relates to the satellite’s name.
“We’re orbiting the moon at a low altitude, about 100KM at the closest point. We’re using an infrared spectrometer to map the distribution of water ice in advance of NASA’s return to the moon.”
Malphrus said their satellite has been in the works for eight years. He said these students at a small eastern Kentucky college are some of the brightest he has ever worked with.
“I’ve discovered in my time here, that if you take some of these bright students with tremendous enthusiasm and give them opportunity, they can perform just as well as any student at any flagship university in the country.”
Malphrus said it is an honor for his program to be a part of this major push from NASA to return to the moon. The Lunar Icecube satellite will monitor the surface of moon for ice that can be used for water.
The Artemis Mission is NASA’s first attempt to go back to the moon since 1972. The goal is to touchdown in 2025.
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