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A NASA award-winning instrument from Puli Space Technologies could reach the Moon later this year: the Lunar Water Snooper is designed to measure the hydrogen reserves in the surface layer, potentially helping to supply water to astronauts and rocket fuel for future space missions. The Hungarian company’s development has a good chance of being shortlisted by the European Space Agency (ESA), reports Világgazdaság.
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission is expected to launch the NASA award-winning Puli Lunar Water Snooper as early as this year. This Hungarian-developed detector is capable of measuring the hydrogen reservoir in the lunar surface layer, which could enable astronauts to supply water. The hydrogen and oxygen extracted from the water could also potentially be used as rocket fuel for future space missions.
The Hungarian-developed water-detection instrument is extremely small, measuring just 10×10×3.4 centimeters and weighing only 40 decagrams.
“We are proud that Hungarian technology can contribute to the exploration of the lunar surface. We are excited to open up even more opportunities for humanity in space exploration through our results,” said Dr. Tibor Pacher, founder and CEO of Puli Space Technologies.
The Lunar Snooper also has a good chance of competing in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) call for low-budget lunar missions.
If successful, Puli’s unique solution could further strengthen Hungary’s place on the global map of space exploration.
The results are expected to be announced in April.
Puli Space Technologies was also part of a space history event a month ago on January 8, when Astrobotic Technology launched the Peregrine lander to deliver several instruments and 90 kilograms of payload to the Moon, including the first ever entirely Hungarian-made object, the Puli Spacetime Plaque.
The Peregrine ultimately failed to reach its intended destination due to a fuel leak, but it did exceed the distance to the Moon, reaching a distance of 389,500 kilometers from Earth. Before being destroyed in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on its return,
the ten-day journey collected valuable data and the payload testing provided valuable experience that could be key to the success of future lunar landings.
Since then, the device has become a museum piece, or rather a replica of it, which has been moved to Pittsburgh’s Moonshot Space Museum.
“For us, this object represents not just a small piece of history, but also the power of community collaboration. I am confident that it will give everyone who visits the museum a glimpse of the incredible power of contemporary Hungarian spirituality,” added Tibor Pacher.
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Facebook/Puli Space Technologies