NASA’s Lunar Flashlight (Mission Animations)

Animations for media and public use. These animation sequences show NASA’s Lunar Flashlight SmallSat deploying in space, journeying to the Moon, and swooping low over the lunar South Pole gathering data from orbit. NASA is sending Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite (or SmallSat) no larger than a briefcase, to find out whether surface water ice is present inside some of the Moon’s darkest craters. Swooping low over the lunar South Pole, the SmallSat will use lasers to shed light on these permanently shadowed craters. Lunar Flashlight will be the first mission to use a four-laser reflectometer to look for water ice on the Moon. The reflectometer works by using near-infrared wavelengths that are readily absorbed by water to identify ice on the surface. As a technology demonstration, Lunar Flashlight will also be the first interplanetary spacecraft to use a new kind of “green” propellant that is safer to transport and store than the commonly used in-space propellants such as hydrazine.