NASA will begin 2024 by sending five payloads to the Moon aboard Astrobotic Peregrine’s Mission One lander. The first CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) launch will take place on Monday, January 8, aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA’s payload suite on Peregrine One will aim to locate water molecules on the moon, measure radiation and gases around the lander, and assess the lunar exosphere (the thin layer of gases on the moon’s surface). These measurements will improve our understanding of how solar radiation interacts with the lunar surface. The payload will also provide data for NASA’s Lunar-VISE (Lunar Vulcan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer) instrument set, which is scheduled to land on the Gruithuisen dome in 2026.

“We are thrilled to see this vision become a reality. CLPS is an innovative way to encourage American companies to send critical science and technology payloads to the Moon,” said Nicola Fox, Deputy Science Mission Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The Moon is a rich place for scientific discovery. Studying and sampling the lunar environment will help NASA solve some of our solar system’s greatest mysteries for the benefit of everyone.”

The Peregrine lander is scheduled to touch down on February 23 at Sinus Viscositatis, a lunar structure outside the solidified lava of the Gruithuisen Domes on the moon’s near side. Large amounts of water are required to form similar natural structures on Earth; This leads scientists to believe that this landing site may contain evidence of water on the Moon.

NASA’s five payloads on Astrobotic’s Peregrine One lander include:

• let it carry load (Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer) It is a radiation monitor based on conventional equipment used in Orion Expedition Flight Test-1 in 2014. LETS will collect data on the moon’s radiation environment and demonstrate the capabilities of radiation monitors on the lunar surface. . LETS units were also used as BioSentinel payloads on Artemis I and the International Space Station. LETS uses the same core technology as the Hybrid Electronic Radiation Evaluator system, which is the main radiation monitor on the Artemis missions. Payload Principal Investigator: Dr. Edward Semones, NASA Johnson Space Center.
• NIRVSS (Near Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System) It will reveal the composition and temperature of the surface as well as the fine-scale structure of the lunar soil at the landing site. NIRVSS is equipped with an imaging camera, a spectrometer, and a thermal sensor to examine lunar soil and identify mineral and volatile substance types. Payload Principal Investigator: Dr. Anthony Colaprete, NASA Ames Research Center
• NSS (Neutron spectrometer system) It is a tool that can indirectly detect the potential water present in the lunar soil at the landing site due to water in the exhaust gases produced by the engines of the lander. After landing, the system will measure changes in lunar soil properties throughout the lunar day. Payload Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard Elphick, NASA Ames
• PITMS (Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer) They will examine the composition of compounds in the thin lunar atmosphere during and after landing and during the lunar day to understand the release and movement of volatiles such as water, gases, and other chemical compounds. PITMS is a partnership between NASA, the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, and ESA (European Space Agency). Payload Principal Investigator: Dr. Barbara Cohen, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array) It is a set of eight retroreflectors that allow accurate measurement of the distance between an orbiting or landing spacecraft and a landing spacecraft. The LRA is a passive optical instrument and will serve as a permanent position marker on the Moon for decades to come. Payload Principal Investigator: Dr. Xiaoli Sun, NASA Goddard

Astrobotic is one of 14 suppliers eligible to transport NASA payloads to the Moon as part of the CLPS initiative, which began in 2018 and is designed to create a commercial market for scientific research, exploration and technology development on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit. Through CLPS, NASA aims to gain new knowledge about the lunar environment and expand the lunar economy to support future crewed missions under the Artemis program. Source