Near-Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS)

IM-5 · manifested · NASA payload

A two-part instrument: a spectrometer box with two near-infrared spectrometers (about 1.3 to 4 micrometres), and a bracket with a camera, LEDs, a lamp and a thermal sensor. It measures minerals, ices and hydration in the soil, takes close-up images, and maps surface temperature at fine scales. Intuitive Machines says that on IM-5 it rides on a Honeybee Robotics rover, so it can measure at more than one spot.

PI: Not named for IM-5 in public sources. Anthony Colaprete (NASA Ames) was NIRVSS's PI on Peregrine and led its development.
Built by: NASA Ames Research Center; the spectrometers and fiber cable by Brimrose Technology Corp (Sparks, Maryland). The host rover is Honeybee Robotics', per Intuitive Machines. (NASA center)

Technology	science instrument (near-infrared point spectrometer, imager and radiometer)
Moon Base need	DN-013 L, DN-010 L, DN-007 L (The study's reading; NASA names no data gap for IM-5. NASA says NIRVSS will identify soil composition, minerals and ices, and fine-scale surface temperature 'where ice can exist or remain stable', near the South Pole. On a rover it can take the 'series' of in situ measurements at several places that DN-013 L (other volatiles) and DN-010 L (south polar regolith mineralogy) ask for. The fit is partial: NIRVSS sees the surface only, while DN-013 L and DN-007 L (water ice) ask for measurements to 1 m depth. A 2030 landing falls in Phase 2 (2029-2032) by date, the study's reading.)
Route onto CLPS	NPLP; NIRVSS was one of SMD's NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads, selected on 21 February 2019, after Resource Prospector (its first home) was cancelled in 2018. One unit flew on Peregrine (TO2-AB). In April 2020 NASA also put NIRVSS on Masten Mission One (TO 19C), whose payloads came mostly from the NPLP and LSITP calls; that order ended after Masten's 2022 bankruptcy, and the CLPS office said its payloads were being re-manifested. NASA named NIRVSS among IM-5's payloads in March 2026 (CT-4, which NASA's naming makes an STMD-led technology delivery). A science support award planned three NIRVSS units (Astrobotic, 'CL19' and VIPER), so the IM-5 instrument may be the unit built for Masten; that is the study's reading.; 2026-03-24
Timeline	first funding 2012 (statement of work to the spectrometer vendor, with HEOMD support; idea in 2011); first flight test 2009-06-18 (LCROSS, a predecessor); 2024-01-08 (Peregrine, the first CLPS NIRVSS); selected 2019-02-21 (NPLP); 2020-04-08 (Masten Mission One, later cancelled); 2026-03-24 (CT-4, IM-5); launch not in public sources (landing targeted for 2030); landing 2030 (target)
On the Moon	not yet flown
FO	company-level

Flights before the Moon

• earlier lunar mission: LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite), NASA Ames, 2009-06-18 (launch). A predecessor, not NIRVSS: LCROSS carried two near-infrared spectrometers to watch its impact plume near the South Pole. A flight spare of one became NIRVSS's first development unit. NIRVSS later moved to Brimrose spectrometers.

"On June 18, 2009, LCROSS and LRO launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, in Florida, USA."
— NTRS 20100028203

"which was a flight spare of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Hadamard transform near-infrared spectrometer"
— NTRS 20160000304, section II.A

• Earth orbit or deep space: Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One: the first CLPS NIRVSS unit (a sister unit, if the IM-5 instrument is the one built for Masten), 2024-01-08 (launch); did not land. The same design in space. It powered on and took images and spectra; the team saw compounds it put down to the lander's outgassing and leaked fuel, and refined how it captures spectra and images at low data rates. No surface data. NASA cites this flight for the IM-5 instrument.

"NIRVSS also successfully powered on and collected images, spectra, and additional data around the lander."
— NASA Science, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission to Conclude - NASA

"The team also refined their process for capturing spectra, or intensity of light being emitted, and images while at low data rates."
— NASA Science, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission to Conclude - NASA

"The instrument successfully powered on and collected data while in flight on Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One in 2024."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA

Heritage hardware

• spare flight hardware (LCROSS): The first NIRVSS unit (the development unit used in a Hawaii field test) was a flight spare of the LCROSS near-infrared spectrometer. Later units use Brimrose spectrometers.

"The NIRVSS ETU is an evolution from the NIRVSS EDU used in Hawaii"
— NTRS 20160000304, section II.A

• commercial instrument: The spectrometers are modified commercial acousto-optic tunable filter units from Brimrose, which have no moving parts. Brimrose's engineering test unit became the NIRVSS baseline.

"Modified COTS, MEMS-based with 2 fiber fed optical engines"
— NTRS 20150020451, Ames Instrumentation Workshop chart, 2015

"The SB contains two commercially modified spectrometers, and controlling electronics (Brimrose Corporation of America)."
— NTRS 20200001822, LPSC 2020 abstract

• design heritage (Resource Prospector ground and field tests): Ground and field tests only: cryo-vacuum tests at NASA Glenn (2013, 2015), a field test in the Mojave (2014) and rover tests at Johnson (2015). The CLPS units are precursors of the VIPER NIRVSS; VIPER's unit is manifested on Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 2.

"2013 EDU delivered, tested in cryovac tests @ Glenn Research Center (GRC)"
— NTRS 20150020451, Ames Instrumentation Workshop chart, 2015

"2014 EDU → ETU development, field testing in Mojave"
— NTRS 20150020451, Ames Instrumentation Workshop chart, 2015

"Figure 1 shows a precursor to the VIPER NIRVSS payload represented by the two CLPS Mission 1 NIRVSS units"
— NTRS 20210000168, LPSC 2021 abstract

Funding before the lunar flight

• Resource Prospector (TechPort 34970, PI Colaprete; NASA Advanced Exploration Systems with HEOMD support), where NIRVSS began. No amount public. (NASA AES / HEOMD (Resource Prospector); 2012-2018): amount not in public sources

"2012 SOW to vendor w/ support from HEOMD"
— NTRS 20150020451, Ames Instrumentation Workshop chart, 2015

"NIRVSS was originally developed for the former Resource Prospector mission."
— NTRS 20200001822, Acknowledgments (LPSC 2020)

• Ames Imaging Module (AIM), the NIRVSS camera: Ames Center Innovation Fund (TechPort 14633, PI Colaprete). No amount in TechPort. (STMD Center Innovation Fund (Ames); 2013-2014): amount not in public sources

"First use would be as part of the NASA AES Resource Prospector mission in the NIR Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS)."
— TechPort project 14633, benefits

• The CLPS version: SMD's NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP). No amount public, and how much of it reached the IM-5 unit is not stated. (SMD NPLP; from 2019): amount not in public sources

"The CLPS version is funded by NASA Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP)."
— NTRS 20200001822, Acknowledgments

• Brimrose STTR Phase II, 'Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter-Based Polarimetric Spectral Sensor' (agency tracking number 140063, contract NNX15CL29C, with UMBC). Brimrose's NIRVSS contract says its spectrometer grew out of an STTR contract; the award itself does not name NIRVSS, so the link is the study's reading by title and technology (as in pm1-nirvss). (NASA STTR Phase II; 2015-2018): $999,495

"Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter-Based Polarimetric Spectral Sensor With Progressive Algorithm For Material Analysis and Mapping"
— SBIR.gov award data, award NNX15CL29C, award_title; agency tracking number 140063, award_amount 999495.0

"THROUGH AN STTR CONTRACT, BRIMROSE SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A DUAL-CHANNEL ACOUSTO-OPTIC TUNABLE FILTERS (AOTF) SPECTROMETER"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description

• Brimrose contract for the NIRVSS spectrometer and fiber cable 'in support of the CLPS flight unit' (80NSSC19C0057, May 2019 to Sept 2025; lifetime obligation shown). Obligations by date: $949,998 (May 2019), $1,501,961 (Jan 2020), $315,000 (Mar 2022), $105,323 (Jun 2022), $245,217 (Dec 2022) and $199,949 (Sep 2024). The 2022 and 2024 money came after Peregrine's unit was due (March 2020), so it may have paid for later units (Masten/IM-5 or VIPER); the record does not say. Not this unit's cost alone. (NASA contract (STTR Phase III), NASA Ames; 2019-2025): $3,317,448

"THIS SOW DESCRIBES THE NECESSARY TASKS AND DELIVERABLES IN SUPPORT OF THE CLPS FLIGHT UNIT."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description; obligated 3317448.0; transactions 2019-05-09 to 2025-03-18

"THIS ETU HAS BECOME THE BASELINE SPECTROMETER FOR THE NIRVSS INSTRUMENT."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description

• Planetary Science Institute cooperative agreement: data analysis tools, analysis and PDS archiving for the three planned NIRVSS units, renewed through September 2026 ('supporting NIRVSS development and operations'). Science support, not hardware; shared across units. (NASA Science (CFDA 43.001), cooperative agreement 80NSSC20M0115; 2020-2026): $1,828,326

"WE PROPOSE HERE TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS OF NIRVSS BY: 1) DEVELOPING DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS TO USE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF NIRVSS DATA."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC20M0115, description; obligated 1828326.0, 2020-03-20 to 2026-09-30

"UNSOLICITED SUPPORTING NIRVSS DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC20M0115, transaction P00008, 2025-11-18

How it got onto CLPS

"The Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System is an imaging spectrometer that will measure surface composition."
— NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 - NASA, 21 Feb 2019

"THE NIRVSS INSTRUMENT WAS SELECTED AS A SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION PAYLOAD VIA THE NASA PROVIDED LUNAR PAYLOAD (NPLP) DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description

"SMD determined to continue development of the instruments through the end of Fiscal Year 2018 and that these instruments could compete for flight on future SMD-funded missions."
— TechPort project 34970, outcomes, closeout (Resource Prospector)

"Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) is a tool to measure surface composition and temperature."
— NASA Awards Contract to Deliver Science, Tech to Moon Ahead of Human Missions - NASA, Masten award, 8 Apr 2020

"The payloads that will be delivered have been developed predominantly from the two recent NASA Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP) and Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads (LSITP) solicitations."
— NASA Awards Contract to Deliver Science, Tech to Moon Ahead of Human Missions - NASA

"TO 19C: Awarded to Masten Space Systems; the payloads are now being re-manifested on other TOs."
— ntrs.nasa.gov: CLPS2025LPSCv1.pdf, CLPS office, LPSC 2025

"THREE VERSIONS OF THIS INSTRUMENT ARE EXPECTED TO FLY TO THE MOON AS PAYLOADS ON THE ASTROBOTICS LANDER ON CL19 AND ON THE VOLATILES INVESTIGATING POLAR EXPLORATION ROVER (VIPER)"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC20M0115, description (PSI cooperative agreement, 2020)

"The instrument successfully powered on and collected data while in flight on Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One in 2024."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA, IM-5 payloads, 27 Mar 2026

""CT-#" task orders indicate a CLPS Technology delivery led by Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)."
— Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Deliveries - NASA Science

On the Moon

Manifested on IM-5 (Nova-D), targeted for 2030 at Mons Malapert near the South Pole, on a Honeybee Robotics rover per Intuitive Machines. NASA's list does not name the rover.

"The IM-5 mission will target Mons Malapert"
— Intuitive Machines Expands Lunar Surface Operations with

FO's role

Grade: company-level. No FO flight of NIRVSS or its parts. Anthony Colaprete, NIRVSS's PI on Peregrine and its developer at Ames, led FO's Nephelometer Experiment (a cloud-particle instrument flown on a balloon in June 2021) and is a co-investigator on FO's Fluidic Telescope parabolic flights (TechPort 106725). Different technology, so a company-level link (same PI), as in pm1-nirvss; the study's earlier traceback drew no link. The IM-5 PI is not named in public sources. The host rover's maker, Honeybee Robotics, has several FO projects (for example PlanetVac on Masten's rocket landers, TechPort 89413 and 106599), but the rover is the carrier, not this payload, so that is not counted.

FO flights: 0. No FO investment in NIRVSS. The NephEx balloon flight's cost is in FO records.

"Its PI (named on NASA's Peregrine page) also led FO's Nephelometer Experiment (TechPort 106600, balloon, June 2021), a cloud-particle instrument with no technical tie to NIRVSS"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)

Data: name: Anthony Colaprete
— TechPort project 106600, contacts: Principal Investigator

Data: date: Jun. 11, 2021
— FO annual report, FY2021, flights of TechPort project 106600 (report)

"Honeybee Robotics PlanetVac on Masten Lander"
— TechPort project 89413, title (FO, Honeybee Robotics)

Who built it

"Lead organization: NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA

"BRIMROSE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BOTH THE SPECTROMETER AND THE BIFURCATED OPTICAL FIBER CABLE."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description

"Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) - Ames Research Center (ARC), Dr. Anthony Colaprete"
— TO2-AB Science Payloads - NASA Science, Peregrine manifest, 2023

"The IM-5 lander also will carry the Honeybee Robotics next-generation lunar rover, which will host the NIRVSS instrument suite."
— Intuitive Machines Expands Lunar Surface Operations with

Moon Base need

"NIRVSS is designed to detect minerals and various types of ices that may be present."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA

"NIRVSS aims to measure the surface temperature at fine scales, which may help determine where ice can exist or remain stable."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA

"of direct, ground-based measurements should be taken at several different locations"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-013 L: In situ measurements of the composition, distribution, and abundance of volatiles in the near-surface lunar south pole, description (: "a series / of direct, ground-based measurements...")

"Volatile abundance to at least 1 m depth, with a 0.1 wt% detection limit."
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-013 L: In situ measurements of the composition, distribution, and abundance of volatiles in the near-surface lunar south pole, target measurement parameters

"A series of in situ measurements across the exploration area"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-010 L: South polar lunar regolith elemental and mineral composition, description

"Water ice abundance with vertical resolution <20 cm depth intervals to 1 m depth"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-007 L: In situ measurements of the horizontal and vertical distribution, abundance, and physical makeup of shallow bulk water ice, target measurement parameters

Open questions

• Is the IM-5 NIRVSS the unit built for Masten Mission One (the PSI award's 'CL19' unit)? Not stated in public sources.
• Who is NIRVSS's PI for IM-5? NASA names only Ames.
• How will NIRVSS mount on the Honeybee rover, and who pays for the rover? Intuitive Machines names the rover; NASA's list does not.
• What NIRVSS has cost in all, and what the IM-5 unit costs: not in public sources. The Brimrose and PSI awards cover several units.
• Did NIRVSS or its parts fly on an aircraft, balloon or rocket before the Moon? Not in public sources: ground and field tests only.