ESA UNCLASSIFIED – For Official Use

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Request For Information:

Imaging, Near Infrared and Electrical Permittivity
instrumentation for PROSPECT on the Luna-27 Lunar
Lander

Prepared by James Carpenter

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Table of contents:

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 4
2 PROSPECT OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................. 4
3 INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTIONS ....................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Imaging ...............................................................................................................................................................................5
3.2 Near Infrared spectrometer ...............................................................................................................................................6
3.3 Electrical permittivity ........................................................................................................................................................6
4 DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE & NEXT STEPS .................................................................................. 7
5 RESPONDING TO THE CALL .......................................................................................................... 7

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1 INTRODUCTION
This is a Request For Information (RFI) for instrumentation which could be included as part of the PROSPECT (Platform
for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Commercial exploitation and Transportation ) drilling,
sampling, sample handling and analysis chain, which ESA will provide for the Russian Luna-27 lunar landing mission
planned for 2020.

Information on the following instrumentation types is sought:

• Visible wavelength camera(s)
• Near Infrared spectrometers
• Electrical permittivity sensors

Their primary goal is to support the drilling and sample handling operations, to provide context information and to
monitor the state of samples until they are delivered to the analytical laboratory. As part of the forthcoming industrial
PROSPECT Phase B activities the accommodation of such instrumentation may be considered. Feasibility of doing so in
terms of the technical, programmatic and cost boundaries of the project will be assessed. The results of this RFI will be a
starting point and a major input for the consideration of if and how these instruments may be included. Information
received may be passed on to third parties in support of the on-going industrial activities. Some of the collected
information may be also used to elaborate requirements for a follow-on procurement activity.

For all instruments the major constraints are mass and cost. Strict mass limitations on the PROSPECT package mean that
low mass solutions are needed. In addition strict budget caps mean that feasibility is very much linked to cost. As such
low cost solutions including adaptation of commercial off-the-shelf instruments is of high interest. Flight heritage is
desirable, but instruments without flight heritage can also be considered if the cost and time required to adapt and qualify
them for space are shown to be consistent with the project’s constraints.

Figure 1 shows a CAD model of PROSPECT, accommodated on the Luna-27 lander platform.

Figure 1. The Russian Luna-27 lander planned for 2020 to the lunar South Polar Region, including the PROSPECT drill
(ProSEED) in grey on the left foreground and laboratory (ProSPA) in green, along with Russian led sample analysis
instruments.

2 PROSPECT OVERVIEW

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Establishing the utilisation potential of resources found in-situ on the Moon may be key to enabling sustainable
exploration in the future. PROSPECT has been defined to support the identification of potential resources, to assess the
utilisation potential of those resources and to provide information to help establish their broader distribution.
PROSPECT will also perform investigations into resource extraction technologies that may be applied at larger scales in
the future and provide data with important implications for fundamental scientific investigations on the Moon related to
Solar System history, astrobiology and the origins of terrestrial volatiles.

PROSPECT will be operated on the lunar surface in the South Polar region of the Moon, as part of the Russian Luna-27
mission, where it will be required to:
• Extract samples from depths of up to 2m.
• Transfer samples to the Russian sample handling robotic arm, and to the European laboratory
• Extract water, oxygen and other chemicals of interest that may be present.
• Identify the chemical species extracted.
• Quantify the abundances of these species.
• Characterize isotopes so that the origins and emplacement processes of these species can be established.

PROSPECT is divided into two main elements, a drill (PROSPECT Samples Excavation and Extraction Device: ProSEED)
and a chemical laboratory (PROSPECT Sample Processing and Analysis system: ProSPA).

Figure 2. Illustration of the functions of the PROSPECT end-to-end sample chain.

The instrumentation which is the subject of this RFI would be associated with various points along this sample chain and
used to generate data which supports the processing of samples and provides a broader context in which results of the
analysis of samples should be understood.

3 INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTIONS
The sections below describe the applications and constraints applied to the different instrument types about which
information is being sought. The ROM-cost to ESA for the complete package of in-situ instruments is expected to be
approximately 1.5M€. This number reflects the intention that these instruments need not be the best possible science
instruments, but provide supporting measurements, consistent with budgetary and other project constraints.

3.1 Imaging
Camera(s) would be deployed in order to observe the drilling/sample extraction & transfer operations. Images would be
used to inform selection of the point at which contact was made between the drill and the ground. Images would also be
used to monitor and inform the drilling operations, the accumulation of cuttings brought up to the surface and the
sample extraction & transfer. Images produced would also be used to support public engagement and communications

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activities. Whilst these cameras are not considered to be “scientific instruments” it is foreseen that the images produced
would be used to inform science operations and scientific interpretation of the data produced by PROSPECT.

Camera(s) would be accommodated on box structure in which the drill mechanical unit is accommodated. At this location
they would be subject to the external environment at the lunar poles. As such they will need to be qualified for operations
in this environment. A description of a representative environment is provided in the environment specification
document which is provided with this call. They will also be required to operate while samples are not illuminated and so
will require a light source.

3.2 Near Infrared spectrometer

The Near Infrared Spectrometer will be used to detect the presence of water and to infer the mineral content of the
regolith in order to confirm the interest of the samples before extraction. As such it is expected that the instrument would
be sensitive in the wavelength band from around 0.5µm to 2.2µm. Sensitivity above 3µm is desirable.

Two possible configurations could be considered. In the preferred case the spectrometer would be accommodated on the
lander or the drill box and connected via an optical fibre to an optical head which is integrated with the drill string. In this
configuration the spectrometer would measure spectra of regolith material beneath the surface and adjacent to the drill
string as it descends. This accommodation scheme is being prepared for the MAMISS spectrometer on Exomars as shown
in Figure 3.

Figure 3 External view through the sapphire window of the NIR optical head integrated in the Exomars drill.

In an alternative configuration the NIR spectrometer could be accommodated on the external surface of the box structure
in which the drill is accommodated. From this location the spectrometer would be required to provide its own optical
elements for both the light source and detectors, to observe the drill cuttings as they are excavated from beneath surface.
At this location the instrument would be subject to the external environment at the lunar poles. As such they will need to
be qualified for operations in this environment.

3.3 Electrical permittivity

Electrical permittivity measurements would be applied to infer physical properties of the excavated lunar materials and,
importantly, to infer phase changes occurring to water ice during the sample handling process.

In the preferred case measurements would be made of samples during and after sampling and once they have been
contained within the drill’s sampling tool. In this case electrodes accommodated in the periphery of this sample volume
would be used to measure the sample throughout the sample extraction and transfer, such that any changes in

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permittivity during the sample excavation and transfer process can be observed. Alternative accommodation schemes for
permittivity measurements could be considered if the value of measurements made in this scheme can be demonstrated
and the effect on the complexity, risk and cost associated with the drill is considered low.

4 DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE & NEXT STEPS

Industrial PROSPECT Phase B activities are planned to begin at the start of 2016. Any in-situ instrumentation of the
types described in this document would be selected during the first months of this activity and introduced to the system
development sometime in the second quarter of 2016. Delivery of the integrated and qualified flight unit to Russia is
currently planned in 2019.

The detailed planning would run as follows:

• Based on inputs to the RFI, ESA shall assess the potential for inclusion of such instruments within the overall
PROSPECT package, and shall specifically assess the performance which may be achieved within the cost
constraints
• In the event that inclusion of a given instrument is considered feasible ESA will update the requirements applied
to such instruments within the project such that they are consistent with the cost constraints. These
requirements shall then apply to the PROSPECT prime contractor.
• The PROSPECT prime contractor shall then implement procurement of the instruments up to PDR level. This
procurement is the point of access for RFI respondents to be integrated into the PROSPECT project team.

5 RESPONDING TO THE CALL

The information requested by this call is the following.
• Contact person
• Organisation name and address
• Instrument type
• Existing products and heritage including:
o current applications of these products and previous/existing instruments
o and costs associated with these products (where available)
• Key instrument characteristic. For example:
o Measurements and performance
o Mass
o Power
o Volume
• Operable environments
• Space flight and other relevant heritage (if any)
• Perceived requirements for adaptation for space flight and the lunar environment
• Instrument data sheets and other relevant materials
• Preliminary cost data, sufficient to provide visibility of the estimated total cost of the
instrument and the total cost to ESA.
• Precise identification of which data should be treated as confidential.

Responses to the RFI and any queries should be sent to explorationcall@esa.int before close of business on Friday 27th
November 2015.

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