Design Challenges and Opportunities Offered by the LUMIO Spacecraft: a CubeSat for Observing and Characterizing Micro-Meteoroid Impacts on the Lunar Far Side

The Earth-Moon system is constantly bombarded by meteoroids of different size and impact speed. Observation of the impacts on the Moon can enable thorough characterization of the Lunar meteoroid flux, which is similar to that of the Earth. While Earth-based Lunar observations are restricted by weather, geometric and illumination conditions, a...

Phase A Design of the LUMIO Spacecraft: a CubeSat for Observing and Characterizing Micro-Meteoroid Impacts on the Lunar Far Side

The LUnar Meteoroid Impacts Observer (LUMIO) is a CubeSat mission to a halo orbit at Earth–Moon L2 that shall observe, quantify, and characterize meteoroid impacts on the Lunar farside, by detecting their flashes. In this way, LUMIO is expected to significantly contribute to Lunar Situational Awareness and to the current knowledge on the...