The Ultra-Compact Imaging Spectrometer Moon (UCIS-Moon) instrument is a pushbroom shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging spectrometer prototype developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology under the Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) program. It is designed for integration with a lander or rover for lunar surface science missions. Operating over a 0.6 to 3.6 micron spectral range with 10 nm sampling and a 36 degree field of view, UCIS-Moon is capable of detecting spectral absorptions from common lunar materials, OH species, molecular H2O, water ice, organics, and placing mineral identifications within an established geologic context at the cm to m scale. We discuss instrument assembly, alignment, and measured laboratory optical performance, which meets or exceeds the high-uniformity and high-resolution requirements while achieving a wide spectral range, field of view, and environmental tolerance, with limited mass and power resources. As such, the UCIS-Moon imaging spectrometer is well-suited to address key science questions about lunar geology, the abundance, sources, and sinks of volatiles at the Moon, and the distribution of possible in situ resources for future human exploration.
The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) is a pushbroom shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging spectrometer developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, for the Lunar Trailblazer mission. The mission, a part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, pairs HVM3 with University of Oxford’s Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) to determine the form, abundance, and distribution of water on the Moon, while providing a potential reconnaissance opportunity for future landed missions. The HVM3 optical design utilizes heritage from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), and maintains a compact form while extending to longer wavelengths. Operating at F/3.4 with a spatial resolution of 70 meters per pixel and a spectral resolution of 10 nm over the 0.6 to 3.6 microns spectral range, HVM3 is optimized for the detection of volatiles to map OH, bound H2O, and water ice at the Moon, including the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). We discuss the optical specifications, optical design, alignment, and initial measured laboratory performance of the HVM3 instrument.
The Visible Mid-wave Dyson Imaging Spectrometer (VMDIS) is a JPL-developed prototype instrument whose main goal is to address three key technical challenges for the next generation of imaging spectrometers for solar system exploration: (1) High signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurements for mapping of minerals and volatiles on solar system targets including comets, asteroids, rocky moons, icy moons, and planets especially Mars; (2) Miniaturization for low-cost mission platforms (reducing the size, mass, and power requirements compared to current options); and (3) excellent spectral cross-track and spectral-spatial uniformity required by todays advanced algorithms for rigorous quantitation with uncertainties. The core of VMDIS is the imaging spectrometer instrument: an optically fast F/1.8 Dyson imaging spectrometer covering a spectral range from 600 nm to 3600 nm, with a spectral sampling of 7 nm. Different telescopes can be used with different implementations of VMDIS to tailor the IFOV and FOV of the instrument. With its prototype telescope, the instrument enables a field of view (FOV) of 28°, with an instantaneous FOV of 0.5 milliradians subtended by each 18 μm cross-track pixel. The size of the VMDIS prototype including the telescope and heritage electronics is roughly equal to 3U (3 units – 1 unit measuring approximately 10×10×10 cm), with a mass < 8 kg and payload power < 40 W. With next generation electronics in development this mass falls below 3 kg. We present an overview of the optical, mechanical, and thermal design of VMDIS, which is required to fabricate this instrument within very demanding resource allocations. The design of the signal chain electronics is also detailed. In addition, preliminary alignment, characterization, and calibration measurements, obtained with the instrument operating in relevant space-type environment, are also discussed. While tested with an available 30-μm detector array, VMDIS is designed for a 18-μm digital readout detector array. VMDIS is intended to pave the way for future low-cost, small form factor imaging spectrometers with state-of-the-art performance in terms of combination of spectral range, high throughput, exceptional uniformity, as well as configuration flexibility for both orbital and landed mission, for the next decade and beyond.
Time delay interferometer (TDI) is the baseline technique to mitigate laser phase noises in laser interferometer space antenna (LISA) for gravitational wave detection. Just as important in the TDI scheme is the ability to suppress the local oscillator radio-frequency (rf) noises in the optical heterodyne measurements. This is accomplished currently by sending additional clock tones in the ranging laser and recovering the clock signals with additional heterodyne measurements. We show that the laser and local oscillator noises can be simultaneously cancelled by employing optical frequency combs in which the rf signal phases are coherent with the optical phases. We describe an effort for the experimental demonstration of the optical frequency comb based TDI. The deployment of optical combs eliminates the need for separate ultra-stable oscillators. This approach can be a simpler and more reliable approach than the current modulation scheme. It is applicable to the most generalized TDI combinations.
The Lunar Flashlight (LF) mission will send a CubeSat to lunar orbit via NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) test flight. The LF spacecraft will carry a novel instrument to quantify and map water ice harbored in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar South Pole. The LF instrument, an active multi-band reflectometer which employs four high power diode lasers in the 1-2 μm infrared band, will measure the reflectance of the lunar surface near water ice absorption peaks. We present the detailed instrument design and system engineering required to deploy this instrument within very demanding CubeSat resource allocations.
Mapping and quantifying lunar water ice addresses one of NASA’s Strategic Knowledge Gaps to understand the lunar resource potential for future human exploration of the Moon. Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently-shadowed and occasionally-sunlit regions in the vicinity of the lunar South Pole. Lunar Flashlight will acquire these measurements from lunar orbit using a multi-band laser reflectometer composed of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers emitting different wavelengths in the shortwave infrared spectral region between 1 μm and 2 μm. The receiver measures the laser radiance reflected from the lunar surface in each spectral band and continuum/absorption reflectance band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice concentration in the illuminated spot. The receiver utilizes a 70×70-mm, aluminum, off-axis paraboloidal mirror with a focal length of 70 mm, which collects the incoming light onto a single, 2 mm diameter InGaAs detector with a cutoff wavelength of 2.4 μm. We present the optical and mechanical designs of the receiver, including its optimization for rejection of solar stray-light from outside its intended field of view. This highly mass- and volume-constrained instrument payload will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first instruments onboard a CubeSat performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit and the first planetary mission to use multi-band active reflectometry from orbit.
Lunar Flashlight is an innovative NASA CubeSat mission dedicated to mapping water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, which may act as cold traps for volatiles. To this end, a multi-band reflectometer will be sent to orbit the Moon. This instrument consists of an optical receiver aligned with four lasers, each of which emits sequentially at a different wavelength in the near-infrared between 1 μm and 2 μm. The receiver measures the laser light reflected from the lunar surface; continuum/absorption band ratios are then analyzed to quantify water ice in the illuminated spot. Here, we present the current state of the optical receiver design. To optimize the optical signal-to-noise ratio, we have designed the receiver so as to maximize the laser signal collected, while minimizing the stray light reaching the detector from solarilluminated areas of the lunar surface outside the field-of-view, taking into account the complex lunar topography. Characterization plans are also discussed. This highly mass- and volume-constrained mission will demonstrate several firsts, including being one of the first CubeSats performing science measurements beyond low Earth orbit.
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