In February 2024, Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission will travel to the Moon’s south polar region as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. The mission is part of CLPS’ ongoing efforts to reduce the cost of lunar science and technology demonstrations and make them more routine ahead of landing on Artemis later this decade.

Among the NASA-supplied probes that will be flown on IM-1 will be an instrument designed to observe the lunar surface environment at radio frequencies to determine how natural and anthropogenic activities near the surface interact and might interfere with scientific research conducted there.

The instrument is called Radio Wave Observation of the Photo-Electron Sheath on the Lunar Surface (ROLSES) and is designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface. It will be launched with Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander.

The ROLSES device project was led by Dr. It is directed by Natchimutuk “Nath” Gopalswamy. Gopalswamy describes the design of ROLSES as a very simple system. “We have four antennas monitoring the radio emissions present on the Moon [радіовипромінювання — це тип світла або електромагнітного випромінювання, яке має найдовшу довжину хвилі або відстань між піками їхніх енергетичних хвиль]Gopalswamy said. “These antennas are very long, about 8 feet (2.5 meters), but for launch they are packaged in a small box about 8 inches (21 centimeters) in size.

The main aim of ROLSES will be to take into account the diversity of radiation created by cosmic events, as well as human activities on Earth. “There are different types of radio emissions,” Gopalswamy said. “This includes activities on Earth that create radio interference on the surface of the Moon. We also have natural radio emissions from Jupiter, from the Sun, even from our Milky Way galaxy. There is even radiation from Earth associated with the Aurora.”

The trick, Gopalswamy points out, is that each of these types of radio noise produces its own dynamic spectral pattern, just like fingerprints are unique to each person. “The spectrum of each event is different from the others,” he said. “So it’s easy for us to tell what the very low-frequency background radiation is from Jupiter, the Sun, or the galaxy.”

Another source of radio interference will be the lunar lander itself. “Landing vehicles, of course, have mechanisms, engines and other things; “And they will create clear indications that interference is occurring at that particular location.” By identifying such interference, scientists can work to filter out the noise it creates when analyzing data from devices like ROLSES. This way, they can focus on real data rather than the “noise” created by unnatural processes.

All four ROLSES antennas are mounted at two different heights; This means that once they start measuring, they can provide information about changes in the cloud of negatively charged electrons ejected from the Moon’s surface by sunlight and how this changes at different times. altitudes. “This way we can measure electron density depending on distance from the surface,” Gopalswamy said. “Then we can see how the number of electrons decreases as we move away from the surface.”

This information will be important when it comes time to design and build future lunar observatories, he notes, because radio frequency interference from the electron cloud and radio transmitters on Earth will need to be taken into account.

These radio observations will help build what Gopalswamy calls a library of information about the lunar environment. “That way, we’ll know if we’re going to have that kind of radiation and emission history at this latitude, at this altitude, and we can design our equipment accordingly.” This will aid NASA’s mission to return humans to the moon and establish a long-term sustainable presence over the next decade and beyond.

ROLSES and IM-1 are part of the agency’s CLPS initiative, designed to create a lunar economy through commercial delivery of NASA-supplied payloads. With CLPS, private companies of all sizes and specializations are responsible for the development of landing modules and the supply of launch vehicles, allowing NASA to focus its efforts on the development of instrument payloads. Once the agency’s Artemis program establishes a human presence on the moon, data collected by instruments on CLPS flights will help astronauts conduct more lunar exploration.