Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System (L-CIRiS)¶
IM-4 · manifested · NASA payload
A multispectral thermal-infrared imaging radiometer on a rotating stage on the lander deck. It scans 360-degree panoramas and maps surface temperature (from -170 to +100 C), silicate mineral composition and thermal inertia (soil density) at under 1 cm per pixel near the lander, using an uncooled microbolometer with on-board calibration.
PI: Paul O. Hayne (LASP, University of Colorado)
Built by: University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), which manages the project; the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace (now BAE Systems) under subcontract (university)
| Technology | thermal infrared imaging radiometer (science and site reconnaissance) |
| Moon Base need | DN-003 L, DN-010 L, DN-008 L (The study's reading. NASA says L-CIRiS will help find compounds that could supply water, oxygen and building materials and will 'identify potential exploration hazards'; its team says it will help plan landers, rovers and astronaut missions by finding hazardous rocks and soil density. Its South Pole thermal panoramas touch DN-003 L (time-resolved thermal mapping, a remote-sensing gap, so only in part), its mineral maps DN-010 L, and its thermal-inertia soil density DN-008 L. One site, one lunar day. IM-4 is not on NASA's Moon Base phases page; its 2027 date falls in Phase 1 ('Now through 2028'), which is the study's reading.) |
| Route onto CLPS | LSITP; One of the 12 Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads selected on 1 July 2019 (ROSES-2018). NASA first manifested it on Masten Space Systems' XL-1 lander (task order of 8 April 2020, for a 2022 South Pole landing). Masten went bankrupt in 2022, its payloads were re-manifested, and L-CIRiS moved to the CP-22 task order awarded to Intuitive Machines on 29 August 2024.; 2019-07-01 |
| Timeline | first funding 2016 (CIRiS InVEST project start); L-CIRiS contract signed 2020-01-06; first flight test 2019-12-05 (CIRiS CubeSat, low Earth orbit); selected 2019-07-01 (LSITP); Masten task order 2020-04-08; CP-22 task order 2024-08-29; launch 2027; LASP expects deployment on the Moon in late 2027; landing not in public sources |
| On the Moon | not yet flown |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- Earth orbit or deep space: CIRiS on a CubeSat in low Earth orbit (Ball Aerospace, ESTO InVEST), 2019-12-05. The radiometer design L-CIRiS adapts, built by the same company: an uncooled 7.5-13 micron imaging radiometer with on-board calibration (carbon-nanotube blackbody, high-emissivity flat panels), flown to show calibrated thermal imaging from a small spacecraft. TechPort rates it TRL 9. L-CIRiS adds a panoramic scan stage and a temperature-controlled enclosure for the Moon.
"The L-CIRiS design is an adaptation of the Ball-built CIRiS"
— web.archive.org: D3611-L-CIRiS-0922.pdf, continues: instrument. CIRiS, which was launched in 2019 to low earth orbit"besat spacecraft on December 5, 2019."
— hou.usra.edu: 2707.pdf, 'launched into low earth orbit on a cu-besat spacecraft on December 5, 2019'"The Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space (CIRiS) is an uncooled imaging infrared (7.5 um to 13 um) radiometer designed for high radiometric performance from LEO on a Cubesat spacecraft."
— TechPort project 40857, description"Features of L-CIRiS specifically added"
— web.archive.org: D3611-L-CIRiS-0922.pdf, continues: for lunar operation include a mechanism for panoramic scanning
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage (aircraft instrument): CIRiS itself was based on a Ball instrument flown on aircraft, modified for space. Who funded that aircraft instrument is not stated.
"The CIRiS design is based on a Ball aircraft-mounted instrument with modifications to improve radiometric uncertainty in the space environment."
— TechPort project 40857, description
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- NASA Marshall contract to the University of Colorado for L-CIRiS (80MSFC20C0016), the LSITP award. Linked by name: the description names L-CIRiS. It covers the Ball-built instrument through 2026; subawards reported are two small ones to the University of Central Florida for science support ($33,458 each). The Ball subcontract value is not reported. (SMD LSITP; 2020-2026): $5,029,295
"LUNAR COMPACT INFRARED SYSTEM (L-CIRIS)"
— USAspending.gov, award 80MSFC20C0016, description; obligated 5029295.0 (= base and all options), 2020-01-06 to 2026-12-31; outlays 4602340.08
- NASA Earth Science Technology Office InVEST project for CIRiS, the Ball CubeSat radiometer L-CIRiS adapts (TechPort 40857, 2016-2023). TechPort gives no amount, and no USAspending award naming CIRiS was found. (SMD ESTO InVEST; 2016-2023): amount not in public sources
"Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space"
— TechPort project 40857, title; InVEST, Ball Aerospace, 2016-01-11 to 2023-01-31, TRL 9
How it got onto CLPS¶
"The Lunar Compact InfraRed Imaging System (L-CIRiS)"
— NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations - NASA, 1 Jul 2019"NASA announced today that it has selected the scientific instrument, called the Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System (L-CIRiS)"
— An infrared close up of the moon, 1 Jul 2019"Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System (L-CIRiS) will deploy a radiometer"
— NASA Awards Contract to Deliver Science, Tech to Moon Ahead of Human Missions - NASA, Masten award, 8 Apr 2020"TO 19C: Awarded to Masten Space Systems; the"
— ntrs.nasa.gov: CLPS2025LPSCv1.pdf, payloads 'now being re-manifested on other TOs'"The Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System will deploy a radiometer"
— NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery - NASA, CP-22, 29 Aug 2024
On the Moon¶
Manifested on IM-4 at Mons Mouton after its first lander, Masten's XL-1, was cancelled.
"L-CIRiS is anticipated to be deployed on the Moon in late 2027 on the CP-22 mission"
— L-CIRiS - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO project, flight or report names L-CIRiS, CIRiS, its PI, LASP's L-CIRiS team or Ball's radiometer team. Its flight test before the Moon was an ESTO InVEST CubeSat in low Earth orbit, not FO. The study's earlier traceback grade (none found) stands; this study resolves an earlier open question: Ball's fact sheet and the team's 2020 abstract do tie L-CIRiS to CIRiS.
"Nothing in the FO sources."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)"but no source ties it to L-CIRiS"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"LASP researcher Dr. Paul Hayne is the instrument principal investigator"
— L-CIRiS - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics"The imaging system is managed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder."
— NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery - NASA"Ball Aerospace built the"
— web.archive.org: D3611-L-CIRiS-0922.pdf, continues: L-CIRiS instrument under a subcontract to the University of Colorado, Boulder"The L-CIRiS instrument was developed by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado."
— L-CIRiS - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Moon Base need¶
"identify potential exploration hazards"
— CLPS CP-22 Science - NASA Science"Data from L-CIRiS will help plan future lander, rover and astronaut missions by identifying hazardous rocks and determining the density of the lunar soil"
— An infrared close up of the moon"Capture multispectral thermal imagery to determine surface temperature profiles of lunar"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-003 L: High-resolution, time-resolved thermal mapping of lunar south pole exploration regions and sites"Characterize site-specific and depth-resolved mineralogical and elemental composition of"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-010 L: South polar lunar regolith elemental and mineral composition"box with a date range: Phase 1 "Now through 2028""
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base phases
Open questions¶
- The value of Ball's L-CIRiS subcontract and of the CIRiS InVEST award: not in public sources.
- What CIRiS's orbital results showed, and what changed in L-CIRiS because of them: not in the sources read.
- Is the L-CIRiS flight unit finished and delivered, given the move from Masten to IM-4? Not in the sources read.