Lunar Payloads

Lunar Payloads

Surface Chemicals

Surface and Exosphere Alterations by Landers (SEAL)

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Investigate the chemical response of Lunar regolith to the thermal, physical, & chemical disturbances generated during a landing.
• Evaluate the nature and amount of exogenous contaminants injected into the regolith by the landing.
• Characterize the Lunar exosphere directly at the surface to bridge the current observation gap.

• Hardware Description:

• SEAL consists of three primary elements: quadrupole mass spectrometer, electron impact ionization source, and support electronics.

Radiation

Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Acquire knowledge of the Lunar radiation environment.
• Demonstrate the capabilities of a flight-proven radiation monitor on the Lunar surface.

• Hardware Description:

• The LETS radiation sensor is a solid-state silicon Timepix detector that is derived from heritage hardware that was flown on Orion EFT-1.

Plume Studies

Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS)

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Collect validation data for plume-surface interaction analysis which is critical for future Lunar and Mars vehicle design.
• Capture stereo video/images from the time of plume impingement through touchdown and after engine shutoff.
• Return data for the onset, rate, shape, and volume of plume crater formation.

• Hardware Description:

• SCALPSS leverages Mars 2020 rover downlook camera and includes commercial off the shelf FLIR cameras and a Lunar-specific COTS lens.

Solar Cells

Solar Cell Demonstration Platform for Enabling Long-Term Lunar Surface Power

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Flight-proven platform to demonstrate advanced photovoltaic high voltage utility for Lunar surface solar arrays.

• Hardware Description:

• Technology demonstration payload is based on an ISS test platform for solar cell validation.
• Platform will include health monitoring, plasma measuring, and arc measuring as a function of applied voltage.

Neutron Spectrometer

Neutron Spectrometer System

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Determine abundance of hydrogen-bearing materials and the bulk regolith composition at the landing site.
• Measure any time variations in hydrogenous volatile abundance during the diurnal cycle.

• Hardware Description:

• NSS is a neutron spectrometer that measures cosmic ray-generated neutrons using two helium gas-proportional counters to detect thermal and epithermal neutrons with less than 0.1% uncertainty.

Navigation

Lunar Node 1 (LN-1) Navigation Demonstrator

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Demonstrate Multi-spacecraft Autonomous Positioning System (MAPS) navigation to support future surface and orbital operations.

• Hardware Description:

• LN-1 Navigation Demonstrator is cubesat flight hardware that integrates navigation and communication functionality for autonomous navigation.
• The hardware has flown on ISS via the SCaN testbed and will validate the Lunar system by ranging back to Earth.

Navigation Lidar

Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing

• Science/Technology Objectives:

• Provide ultra-precise velocity & range sensing during descent & landing.
• Enable GN&C subsystem to tightly control descent velocity for
soft/controlled touchdown.
• Increase navigation precision to minimize the landing dispersion ellipse.
• Potentially provide NDL capability to CLPS vendors for future missions.

• Hardware Description:

• The instrument contains an electronics chassis and a three-telescope optical head resulting in the following line-of-sight (LOS) performance:
• Velocity of 200 m/s LOS (2 cm/s accuracy)
• Range of 7 kilometers LOS (2 meter accuracy)