Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG)¶

IM-4 · manifested · NASA payload

A DC vector fluxgate magnetometer (about 1.6 kg) with its sensor on a 2 m arm, away from the lander's own field. It measures the vector magnetic field during descent at low altitude and on the surface, to study local magnetic anomalies and whether they shield the surface from the solar wind that may help make water.

PI: Michael Purucker (NASA Goddard), per Goddard's 2019 article; NASA's CP-22 page names no PI
Built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (its magnetometer team) (NASA center)


Technology	science instrument (magnetic field)
Moon Base need	none named (The study's reading: no close match. No data gap or tech gap asks for the surface magnetic field. NASA frames MAG as science: magnetic anomalies, the Moon's history, and 'energy and particle pathways at the lunar surface'. Goddard links it to where solar-wind water may form, which is context for the water data gaps but not a measurement they ask for. IM-4's 2027 date falls in Phase 1 ('Now through 2028'), the study's reading.)
Route onto CLPS	NPLP; One of the NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads selected on 21 February 2019 ('a magnetometer'). NASA assigned it to Astrobotic's Peregrine in January 2020, moved it off Peregrine in April 2023 to keep descent margins, and re-manifested it on the CP-22 task order awarded to Intuitive Machines on 29 August 2024.; 2019-02-21
Timeline	first funding 2019 (NPLP selection); earlier funding not in public sources; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2019-02-21 (NPLP); on Peregrine 2020-01-22; moved off 2023-04-06; CP-22 task order 2024-08-29; launch 2027 (NASA); landing not in public sources
On the Moon	not yet flown
FO	none

Flights before the Moon¶

None found in the public sources.

Heritage hardware¶

design heritage (team): Goddard says the lunar MAG is one of 85 magnetometers its team has built for 48 missions; which earlier magnetometer it derives from is not stated, so no earlier flight is counted.

"one of 85 magnetometers the team has built for 48 missions throughout the solar system"
— NASA Science Experiments to be Delivered to Moon by Commercial Landers - NASA

possible design heritage (unconfirmed): NASA's January 2020 manifest links MAG to an article on Todd Bonalsky's miniaturized Goddard fluxgate, which flew on the Dellingr CubeSat (launched 2017) and on sounding rockets. That article does not mention the Moon, and the 1.6 kg lunar MAG with a 2 m arm described by Goddard in 2019 is not obviously the CubeSat unit. Kept as heritage, not an earlier flight, as in the study's earlier feeder-line map.

"Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG)"
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA

"The instrument made its debut as one of two magnetometers aboard the Dellingr mission"
— Mission-Saving NASA Instrument Secures New Flight Opportunity; Slated for Significant Upgrade - NASA

"The same instrument has also flown on a couple sounding rocket missions"
— Mission-Saving NASA Instrument Secures New Flight Opportunity; Slated for Significant Upgrade - NASA

"the team is building a 3.5-pound (1.6 kilogram) magnetometer"
— NASA Science Experiments to be Delivered to Moon by Commercial Landers - NASA

Funding before the lunar flight¶

SMD, NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads (in-house at Goddard). No amount is public; no SBIR, TechPort project or USAspending award names this magnetometer. (SMD NPLP; FY2019 on): amount not in public sources

"A magnetometer will measure the surface magnetic field."
— NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 - NASA

How it got onto CLPS¶

"A magnetometer will measure the surface magnetic field."
— NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 - NASA, 21 Feb 2019

"NASA Goddard is the lead development center for the MAG payload."
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA, 22 Jan 2020, Peregrine assignments

"Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG) - Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)"
— TO2-AB Science Payloads - NASA Science, reallocated, 6 Apr 2023

"the Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG) to characterize the vector magnetic"
— ntrs.nasa.gov: CLPS2025LPSCv1.pdf, CP-22

On the Moon¶

Manifested on IM-4 at Mons Mouton.

"The Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG) will characterize certain magnetic fields"
— CLPS CP-22 Science - NASA Science

FO's role¶

Grade: none. No FO flight of MAG or its Goddard team. FO has funded fluxgate magnetometer work by other teams: the University of Iowa's CubeSat boom test in microgravity (TechPort 106689) and APL's lunar hazard-monitoring package with a fluxgate (106720). Same topic, other teams: not counted. The study's earlier traceback grade (none found) stands.

"No FO flight of MAG or its Goddard team."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)

"CubeSat Articulated Boom Option Optimization in Microgravity (CABOOM)"
— TechPort project 106689, title (FO, University of Iowa)

Who built it¶

"and is managed by NASA Goddard."
— NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery - NASA

"who is leading the team behind the DC vector fluxgate magnetometer headed for the Moon"
— NASA Science Experiments to be Delivered to Moon by Commercial Landers - NASA, Michael Purucker

Moon Base need¶

"The Fluxgate Magnetometer will characterize certain magnetic fields to improve the understanding of energy and particle pathways at the lunar surface"
— NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery - NASA

"Researching these anomalies using MAG will unlock more insights about the geological history of our Moon"
— CLPS CP-22 Science - NASA Science

"that makes water, or at least hydroxyl, an ingredient of water"
— NASA Science Experiments to be Delivered to Moon by Commercial Landers - NASA

"box with a date range: Phase 1 "Now through 2028""
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base phases

Open questions¶

Who is MAG's PI today? NASA's CP-22 page names none; Goddard named Michael Purucker in 2019.
Which earlier Goddard magnetometer is MAG's design based on, and is it related to the Dellingr fluxgate NASA linked in 2020? Not in public sources.
MAG's cost: not in public sources.
Has the 2 m arm been deployed in reduced gravity or thermal vacuum? Not in the sources read.