NASA TO LAUNCH INSTRUMENTS TO STUDY WATER ON MOON

The American space agency NASA is preparing to launch a spacecraft to seek more detailed information on water sources on the moon.

The spacecraft is an orbiter called Lunar Trailblazer. It is set to launch later this year, or in early 2025. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the orbiter to space. That rocket will also transport another moon exploring spacecraft.

In a recent statement, NASA said Lunar Trailblazer passed a series of important operational tests. It is currently completing additional software testing designed to simulate different elements of the trip. or mission. The spacecraft will use two science instruments to carry out its mission. Both instruments are designed to map the moon in search of areas containing water, as well as what forms the water is in. The two instruments use infrared technology to produce highly detailed mapped images.

Lunar Trailblazer weighs about 200 kilograms and measures 3.5 meters with its solar equipment fully deployed. The spacecraft is set to orbit the moon about 100 kilometers from the lunar surface. Several past studies have provided strong evidence that water exists on the moon. But the evidence has not included exact details on where it is and what forms it might take. Scientists believe most of the water is solid, in the form of ice. But there could be areas where water exists in liquid form, or as a gas in the atmosphere.

NASA has said its search for water on the moon is important because it is seen as a necessary resource for future exploration activities. Astronauts could process it for drinking water, to cool equipment, to create breathable oxygen or even to make rocket fuel. NASA said Lunar Trailblazer will make it easier for future human or robotic science investigators to use the water to see where it first came from.

For example, the presence of ammonia in ice could suggest it came from comets, NASA said. The presence of sulfur, on the other hand, could show it rose to the surface from deep inside the lunar interior when the moon was young and volcanically active.

One of the instruments, the Lunar Thermal Mapper, was built by a team at the University of Oxford in Britain. Neil Bowles is an instrument scientist. He said in a statement the instrument would center on producing detailed maps of lunar surface temperatures. He added that the other instrument will look for a series of signs, called signatures, of water molecules. "Both instruments will allow us to understand how surface temperature affects water, improving our knowledge of the presence and distribution of these molecules on the moon," Bowles said.

The orbiter is designed to provide scientists with new information about how much movement there is of water molecules on the moon. Such movements can be linked to how much sun specific areas receive. "Understanding whether water molecules move freely across the surface of the moon or are locked inside rock is also scientifically important," NASA said in a statement.

Rachel Klima said data collected by the instruments can help provide information about where the moon's water first came from. Klima compared such examinations to those involving glaciers that help scientists learn about Earth's ancient history. Ice on the moon, she said, "could provide clues as to where that water came from and how and when it got there."

Give the English equivalents from the text for the following:

запуск космического аппарата

орбитальный аппарат эксплуатационные испытания картографирование Луны инфракрасная технология выводить на орбиту вокруг Луны в твердом состоянии в жидкой форме

питьевая вода ракетное топливо аммиак комета сера

ледник