"The CLPS initiative was designed to leverage the expertise and innovation of private industry to get to the Moon quickly," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "As we build a steady cadence of deliveries, we'll expand our ability to do new science on the lunar surface, develop new technologies, and support human exploration objectives."

Future payloads could include rovers, power sources, science experiments – including the agency's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) – and technology demonstrations to be infused into the Artemis program. NASA expects to issue a regular series of task order proposal requests to expand the scope of agency payloads requiring transportation services to the lunar surface ahead of human landings.

"Buying rides to the Moon to conduct science investigations and test new technology systems, instead of owning the delivery systems, enables NASA to do much more, sooner and for less cost, while being one of many customers on our commercial partners' landers," said Steve Clarke, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis

NASA has finalized the first 16 science experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from chemistry to communications, to be delivered to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. Scheduled to fly next year, the payloads will launch aboard the first two lander deliveries of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These deliveries will help pave the way for sending the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024.

In May 2019, the agency awarded two orders for scientific payload delivery to Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, with both flights targeted to land on the Moon next year. Astrobotic, which will launch its Peregrine lander on a United Launch Alliance rocket, will carry 11 NASA payloads to the lunar surface, while Intuitive Machines, which will launch its Nova-C lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will carry five NASA payloads to the Moon.

"We've finished the work of assigning science and technology payloads to each of the initial CLPS deliveries," said Chris Culbert, CLPS project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This step allows our commercial partners to complete the important technical integration work necessary to fly the payloads and brings us a step closer to launching and landing the investigations that will help us better understand the Moon ahead of sending the first woman and next man to the Moon."

Each partner is responsible for payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the Moon, as well as securing any additional customers on their flights, if desired. The payloads are each about the size of a shoebox and range in mass from around two to 33 pounds (one to 15 kilograms).

Both Partners

Two of the payloads will be integrated onto both the Astrobotic lander and the Intuitive Machines lander. This gives NASA multiple opportunities to gather important data and demonstrate a critical technology needed for future human exploration.

• Laser Retro-Reflector Array (LRA): LRA is a collection of eight approximately half inch (1.25 centimeter) retro-reflectors – a unique kind of mirror that is used for measuring distance -- mounted to the lander. This mirror reflects laser light from other orbiting and landing spacecraft to precisely determine the lander's position. It is being provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

• Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing (NDL): The NDL is a LIDAR-based (LIght Detection And Ranging) sensor composed of a three-beam optical head and a box with electronics and photonics that will provide extremely precise velocity and range sensing during descent and landing of the lander that will tightly control navigation precision for a soft and controlled touchdown on the Moon. NDL is being collaboratively developed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Astrobotic Payloads

• Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers (SEAL): SEAL will investigate the chemical response of lunar regolith to the thermal, physical and chemical disturbances generated during a landing, and evaluate contaminants injected into the regolith by the landing itself. It will give scientists insight into the how a spacecraft landing might affect the composition of samples collected nearby. It is being developed at NASA Goddard.

• Photovoltaic Investigation on Lunar Surface (PILS): PILS is a technology demonstration that is based on an International Space Station test platform for validating solar cells that convert light to electricity. It will demonstrate advanced photovoltaic high-voltage use for lunar surface solar arrays useful for longer mission durations. It is being developed at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

• Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS): The LETS radiation sensor will collect information about the lunar radiation environment and relies on flight-proven hardware that flew in space on the Orion spacecraft's inaugural uncrewed flight in 2014. It is being developed at NASA Johnson.

• Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS): NIRVSS will measure surface and subsurface hydration, carbon dioxide and methane – all resources that could potentially be mined from the Moon -- while also mapping surface temperature and changes at the landing site. It is being developed at Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

• Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo): MSolo will identify low-molecular weight volatiles. It can be installed to either measure the lunar exosphere or the spacecraft outgassing and contamination. Data gathered from MSolo will help determine the composition and concentration of potentially accessible resources. It is being developed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) for Lunar Surface Volatiles: PITMS will characterize the lunar exosphere after descent and landing and throughout the lunar day to understand the release and movement of volatiles. It was previously developed for ESA's (European Space Agency) Rosetta mission and is being modified for this mission by NASA Goddard and ESA.

• Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS): NSS will search for indications of water-ice near the lunar surface by measuring how much hydrogen-bearing materials are at the landing site as well as determine the overall bulk composition of the regolith there. NSS is being developed at NASA Ames.

• Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS): NMLS will use a neutron spectrometer to determine the amount of neutron radiation at the Moon's surface, and also observe and detect the presence of water or other rare elements. The data will help inform scientists' understanding of the radiation environment on the Moon. It's based on an instrument that currently operates on the space station and is being developed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

• Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG): MAG will characterize certain magnetic fields to improve understanding of energy and particle pathways at the lunar surface. NASA Goddard is the lead development center for the MAG payload.

Intuitive Machines Payloads

• Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator (LN-1): LN-1 is a CubeSat-sized experiment that will demonstrate autonomous navigation to support future surface and orbital operations. It has flown on the space station and is being developed at NASA Marshall.

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS): SCALPSS will capture video and still image data of the lander's plume as the plume starts to impact the lunar surface until after engine shut off, which is critical for future lunar and Mars vehicle designs. It is being developed at NASA Langley, and also leverages camera technology used on the Mars 2020 rover.

• Low-frequency Radio Observations for the Near Side Lunar Surface (ROLSES): ROLSES will use a low-frequency radio receiver system to determine photoelectron sheath density and scale height. These measurements will aide future exploration missions by demonstrating if there will be an effect on the antenna response or larger lunar radio observatories with antennas on the lunar surface. In addition, the ROLSES measurements will confirm how well a lunar surface-based radio observatory could observe and image solar radio bursts. It is being developed at NASA Goddard.

NASA has 14 companies on contract through CLPS to bid on delivering science experiments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Investigations and demonstrations launched on commercial Moon flights will help the agency study Earth's nearest neighbor, and prepare for human lunar missions beginning in 2024 under the Artemis program.

NASA anticipates advancements in landers and rovers will be needed to expand the range and duration of its science and technology experiments. Through CLPS, the agency plans to work with its partners to send about two deliveries of scientific and research payloads to the Moon per year starting in 2021.

NASA Enlists Commercial Partners to Fly Payloads to Moon

NASA has issued another request to its 14 Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) partners to bid on flying a suite of payloads to the Moon. The request asks partners to fly 10 NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to a non-polar region of the Moon in 2022.

Through the CLPS initiative, NASA taps its commercial partners to quickly land scientific instruments and technology demonstrations on the Moon. The initiative is a key part of NASA's Artemis program. The science and technology payloads will help lay the foundation for human missions to the lunar surface. A provider will be selected by the end of the year, making it the sixth surface task award.

The payloads, collectively expected to be about 200 pounds (100 kg) in mass, include:

• Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC): will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment at different phases of flight. Components will be derived from the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) facility currently on the International Space Station.

• Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR): will serve as a target for lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the Moon. These retroreflectors, one of which will fly on this mission, are designed to provide data that could be used to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and address fundamental physics questions.

• Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI): will capture images of the interaction of Earth's magnetosphere with the flow of charged particles from the Sun, called the solar wind.

• Reconfigurable, Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC): aims to demonstrate a radiation-tolerant computing technology. Due to the Moon's lack of atmosphere and magnetic field, radiation from the Sun will be a challenge for electronics. This investigation also will characterize the radiation effects on the lunar surface.

• The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS): designed to characterize the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle by studying electric and magnetic fields. The investigation will make use of a flight-spare magnetometer, a device that measures magnetic fields, originally made for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

• Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER): designed to measure heat flow from the interior of the Moon. The probe will attempt to drill 7 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) into the lunar regolith to investigate the Moon's thermal properties at different depths.

• Lunar PlanetVac (LPV): a technology for acquiring and transferring lunar regolith from the surface to other instruments that would analyze the material, or put it in a container that another spacecraft could return to Earth.

• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1): will capture video and still-image data of the area under the lander from just before the point the engine plume first disturbs the lunar surface through engine shutdown. Long-focal-length cameras will determine the pre-landing surface topography. Photogrammetry will be used to reconstruct the changing three-dimensional surface during landing. Understanding the physics of rocket exhaust on the regolith, and the displacement of dust, gravel, rocks, etc., is critical to understanding how to best mitigate the ejecta during the terminal phase of flight/landing on the Moon, and other celestial bodies.

• Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS): a technology that generates a non-uniform electric field using varying high voltage on multiple electrodes. The non-uniform field generates a dielectrophoretic (DEP) force which, in turn, moves the particles, and has potential implications for thermal radiators, spacesuit fabrics, visors, camera lenses, solar panels, and many other technologies.

• Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE): based on the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), LuGRE will continue to extend the reach of GPS signals and, if successful, be the first to discern GPS signals at lunar distances.

NASA Selects New Science Investigations for Future Moon Deliveries

As NASA continues plans for multiple commercial deliveries to the Moon's surface per year, the agency has selected three new scientific investigation payload suites to advance understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor. Two of the payload suites will land on the far side of the Moon, a first for NASA. All three investigations will receive rides to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, part of the agency's Artemis approach.

The payloads mark the agency's first selections from its Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) call for proposals.

"These selections add to our robust pipeline of science payloads and investigations to be delivered to the Moon through CLPS," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "With each new PRISM selection, we will build on our capabilities to enable bigger and better science and prove technology which will help pave the way for returning astronauts to the Moon through Artemis."

Lunar Vertex, one of the three selections, is a joint lander and rover payload suite slated for delivery to Reiner Gamma – one of the most distinctive and enigmatic natural features on the Moon, known as a lunar swirl. Scientists don't fully understand what lunar swirls are or how they form, but they know they are closely related to anomalies associated with the Moon's magnetic field. The Lunar Vertex rover will make detailed surface measurements of the Moon's magnetic field using an onboard magnetometer. Lunar surface magnetic field data the rover collects will enhance data the spacecraft collects in orbit around the Moon and help scientists better understand how these mysterious lunar swirls form and evolve, as well as provide further insight into the Moon's interior and core. Dr. David Blewett of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory leads this payload suite.

NASA also has selected two separate payload suites for delivery in tandem to Schrödinger basin, which is a large impact crater on the far side of the Moon near the lunar South Pole. The Farside Seismic Suite (FSS), one of the two payloads to be delivered to Schrödinger basin, will carry two seismometers: the vertical Very Broadband seismometer and the Short Period sensor. NASA measured seismic activity on the near side of the Moon as part of the Apollo program, but FSS will return the agency's first seismic data from the far side of the Moon—a potential future destination for Artemis astronauts. This new data could help scientists better understand tectonic activity on the far side of the Moon, reveal how often the lunar far side is impacted by small meteorites, and provide new constraints on the internal structure of the Moon. FSS will continue taking data for several months on the lunar surface beyond the lifetime of the lander. To survive the two-week long lunar nights, the FSS package will be self-sufficient with independent power, communications, and thermal control. Dr. Mark Panning of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California leads this payload suite.

The Lunar Interior Temperature and Materials Suite (LITMS), the other payload headed to Schrödinger basin, is a suite of two instruments: the Lunar Instrumentation for Thermal Exploration with Rapidity pneumatic drill and the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder. This payload suite will investigate the heat flow and electrical conductivity of the lunar interior in Schrödinger basin, giving an in-depth look at the Moon's internal mechanical and heat flow. LITMS data also will complement seismic data acquired by the FSS to provide a more complete picture of the near- and deep-subsurface of the far side of the Moon. Dr. Robert Grimm of the Southwest Research Institute leads this payload suite.

While these selections are final, negotiations are continuing for each award amount.

"These investigations demonstrate the power of CLPS to deliver big science in small packages, providing access to the lunar surface to address high priority science goals for the Moon," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division. "When scientists analyze these new data alongside lunar samples returned from Apollo and data from our many orbital missions, they will advance our knowledge of the lunar surface and interior, and increase our understanding of crucial phenomenon such as space weathering to inform future crewed missions to the Moon and beyond."

With these selections in place, NASA will work with the CLPS office at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to issue task orders to deliver these payload suites to the Moon in the 2024 timeframe.

For these payload suites, the agency also has selected two project scientists to coordinate science activities including selecting landing sites, developing concepts of operations, and archiving science data acquired during surface operations. Dr. Heidi Haviland of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will coordinate the suite slated for delivery to Reiner Gamma, and Dr. Brent Garry of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will coordinate payload deliveries to Schrödinger basin.

CLPS is a key part of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon's surface as part of CLPS, will help lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. The agency has made six task order awards to CLPS providers for lunar deliveries between late 2021-2023, with more delivery awards expected at least through 2028.

New NASA Artemis Instruments to Study Volcanic Terrain on the Moon

As part of NASA's regular cadence of robotic lunar missions through Artemis, the agency has selected a new scientific payload to establish the age and composition of hilly terrain created by volcanic activity on the near side of the Moon.

The DIMPLE instrument suite, short for Dating an Irregular Mare Patch with a Lunar Explorer, will investigate the Ina Irregular Mare Patch, discovered in 1971 by Apollo 15 orbital images. Learning more about this mound will address outstanding questions about the evolution of the Moon, which in turn can provide clues to the history of the entire solar system.

DIMPLE is the result of the third annual proposal call for PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon), which sends science investigations to the Moon through a NASA initiative called CLPS, or Commercial Lunar Payload Services. This PRISM call was the first that allowed proposers to choose and justify a particular landing site for conducting high-priority lunar science investigations.

"This commercial payload delivery initiative is helping to provide a burst of lunar science and exploration," said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "DIMPLE will add to a growing body of knowledge about the Moon, which in turn helps us understand the origins of Earth and other planets in the solar system. Additionally, the more we understand about our closest neighbor, the more we can support long-term human exploration at the Moon, and someday, Mars."

The cost cap for the payload suite is $50 million, and the delivery date is set for no earlier than the second quarter of 2027. NASA expects to work on issuing a CLPS task order in 2024 to determine the launch services to deliver DIMPLE to the Moon.

Such efforts are part of NASA's larger lunar plans – through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before with advanced robotics and astronauts.

The Moon is a rich destination for scientific discovery. While some 70 Irregular Mare Patches have been discovered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Ina remains the largest identified so far.

DIMPLE will help determine whether Irregular Mare Patches formed from recent or ancient volcanic processes. The mission will make use of a CLPS-provided rover, a collection gripping instrument, and a spectrometer that can help determine composition of the lunar material to analyze the age and composition of samples collected from the surface of Ina. DIMPLE will be able to collect and analyze anywhere from three to more than 25 samples to learn more about the timing of the volcanic activity that formed this feature. For example, if the volcanic activity turns out to be geologically recent, it implies that either the lunar mantle was warmer than previously thought, or that radioactive elements contributed to small-scale eruptions continuing later in lunar evolution than previously thought. Either scenario would help us better understand the geochemical state of the Moon over time. If, on the other hand, the eruptions creating Ina turn out to be older, it would lead to reevaluating the age and evolution of craters on the Moon – which would have implications for understanding the history of Earth and other planets in the solar system.

"With the selection of DIMPLE, we aim to definitively resolve the debate on how recently the Moon was volcanically active," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Not only is this a scientifically intriguing enigma that will fundamentally change our understanding of lunar thermal evolution, but this is also the demonstration of an exciting technology that can be used to measure absolute ages of a variety of geologic terrains across the solar system."

The principal investigator for the DIMPLE mission is F. Scott Anderson of Southwest Research Institute's Solar System Science and Exploration Division, which is located in Boulder, Colorado. The CLPS initiative is a key part of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration efforts. By taking advantage of commercial launch providers, NASA can perform cutting-edge science at the Moon in a more cost-effective way. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon's surface as part of the initiative will help lay the foundation for the next human missions.