Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS)

Peregrine Mission One · failed to land · NASA payload

A two-part instrument (3.6 kg, about 30 W): a spectrometer box with two near-infrared spectrometers, and a bracket assembly with a multi-color camera, a thermal sensor and a lamp. It measures surface hydration (H2O and OH), CO2 and methane, and maps surface temperature and texture at the landing site.

PI: Anthony Colaprete (NASA Ames)
Built by: NASA Ames Research Center; spectrometers and fiber cable by Brimrose Technology Corp (Sparks, Maryland) (NASA center)

Technology	science instrument (near-infrared point spectrometer and imager)
Moon Base need	DN-013 L (The study's reading, and partial. NASA does not tie the Peregrine NIRVSS to a data gap. DN-013 L asks for in situ volatile measurements at the South Pole, including gases released by landings; NIRVSS was to watch surface volatiles, including the lander's own exhaust, at a mid-latitude mare site. NIRVSS was built for polar prospecting (Resource Prospector, then VIPER), which fits DN-013 L and DN-007 L better than this flight did.)
Route onto CLPS	NPLP; NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads: SMD's request to NASA centers, selected 21 February 2019. Before that NIRVSS was an instrument of Resource Prospector, cancelled in 2018; SMD then kept the RP instruments in development so they could compete for flights. Manifested on Astrobotic's first delivery (TO2-AB) and listed in January 2020; kept on Peregrine in April 2023.; 2019-02-21
Timeline	first funding 2012 (statement of work to the spectrometer vendor, with HEOMD support; idea in 2011); first flight test not in public sources; selected 2019-02-21 (NPLP); flight model due to Astrobotic in March 2020; launch 2024-01-08; landing not in public sources
On the Moon	partly operated
FO	company-level

Flights before the Moon

• earlier lunar mission: LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite), NASA Ames, launched with LRO, 2009-06-18. A predecessor, not NIRVSS: LCROSS carried two near-infrared spectrometers to watch the plume of its impact near the South Pole in 2009. Colaprete's team used a flight spare of one of them as NIRVSS's first development unit. NIRVSS itself had no flight before Peregrine.

"On June 18, 2009, LCROSS and LRO launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, in Florida, USA."
— NTRS 20100028203, LCROSS: A High Return, Small Satellite Mission, 2010

"one visible and two near-infrared spectrometers"
— NTRS 20100028203, section 5

"which was a flight spare of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Hadamard transform near-infrared spectrometer"
— NTRS 20160000304, section II.A (AIAA 2016)

Heritage hardware

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

"THROUGH AN STTR CONTRACT, BRIMROSE SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A DUAL-CHANNEL ACOUSTO-OPTIC TUNABLE FILTERS (AOTF) SPECTROMETER THAT OPERATES ACROSS 1300 AND 4000NM."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC19C0057, description

• design heritage (Resource Prospector ground tests): Ground tests only before Peregrine: cryo-vacuum tests at NASA Glenn (2013 and 2015, including drilling into frozen lunar simulant), a field test in the Mojave (2014), and tests on a rover at Johnson (2015). The NIRVSS team calls the CLPS units precursors of the VIPER NIRVSS.

"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

"a precursor to the VIPER NIRVSS"
— NTRS 20210000168, LPSC 2021 abstract (VIPER NIRVSS)

Funding before the lunar flight

• Resource Prospector (TechPort 34970, ESDMD; earlier NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems), where NIRVSS began; the team also thanks HEOMD. (NASA AES / HEOMD (Resource Prospector); 2012-2018): amount not in public sources

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

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

• The CLPS version: SMD's NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP) (SMD NPLP; from 2019): amount not in public sources

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

• Ames Imaging Module (AIM), the NIRVSS camera: Ames Center Innovation Fund (TechPort 14633 and 145927, PI Colaprete) (STMD Center Innovation Fund (Ames); 2013-2015): 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

• Brimrose STTR Phase II, 'Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter-Based Polarimetric Spectral Sensor' (NASA SBIR/STTR tracking number 140063, contract NNX15CL29C, with UMBC; Phase I was 140063 / NNX14CL88P, 2014, $124,865). Link: Brimrose's later NIRVSS orders say the spectrometer work grew out of an STTR contract for an AOTF spectropolarimeter and hyperspectral imager, which matches this award's title. The award itself does not name NIRVSS or Resource Prospector, so the link is the study's reading. (NASA STTR; 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; Phase II, award amount 999495.0

"THROUGH AN STTR CONTRACT, BRIMROSE SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A SPECTROPOLARIMETER/HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGER OPERATING IN 900-1700NM (SWIR) WAVELENGTH RANGE."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC18C0025, description

• Brimrose orders for the Resource Prospector spectrometer: requirements work with the RP payload team (NNX17CA16P, 2017, $63,000), design toward an engineering test unit (80NSSC18P0702, 2018, $91,200), and an engineering test unit that 'is very flight-forward' (80NSSC18C0025, 2018). Linked by the award descriptions, which name Resource Prospector or RP. (NASA purchase orders and contract (STTR Phase II-X / Phase III); 2017-2018): $294,933

"INITIAL WORK HAS BEEN CONDUCTED VIA A SBIR PHASE II-X TO DEMONSTRATE THE AOTF SYSTEM WOULD HAVE SUFFICIENT PERFORMANCE TO MEET RP MISSION REQUIREMENTS."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC18C0025, description; obligated 294933.0 (80NSSC18C0025 only)

"BRIMROSE WILL WORK WITH THE RESOURCE PROSPECTOR PROJECT/PAYLOAD TEAM TO MORE FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PAYLOAD REQUIREMENTS"
— USAspending.gov, award NNX17CA16P, description; obligated 63000.0

"THIS WORK IS LEADING TO A DESIGN FOR AN ENGINEERING TEST UNIT THAT IS VERY FLIGHTFORWARD."
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC18P0702, description; obligated 91200.0

• 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). All but $199,949 (added in September 2024) was obligated before Peregrine's launch. The sources do not say whether later work paid for other NIRVSS units (VIPER, IM-5). (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 2024-09-16

"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 three NIRVSS units (Peregrine, a later CLPS lander and VIPER). Science support, not hardware; most of it falls after Peregrine. (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

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, release of 21 Feb 2019

"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)

"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

"NIRVSS will measure surface and subsurface hydration, carbon dioxide and methane"
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA, 22 Jan 2020, under Astrobotic Payloads

On the Moon

Peregrine could not land. NIRVSS powered on in space and took images and spectra. The team found several compounds in the spectra, which it put down to the lander's outgassing and leaked fuel. It also refined how it captures spectra and images at low data rates, and validated data processing and operating procedures. No lunar surface data.

"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

"A variety of chemical compounds were detected in the NIRVSS spectra which the team currently attributes to lander outgassing and leaked fuel."
— NASA Science, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission to Conclude - NASA

FO's role

Grade: company-level. No FO flight of NIRVSS. Its PI, Anthony Colaprete, led FO's Nephelometer Experiment, a cloud-particle instrument flown on a balloon in June 2021, after the NIRVSS flight model was due at Astrobotic. Several NIRVSS team members are on the NephEx team too. Colaprete is also a co-investigator on FO's Fluidic Telescope parabolic flights (TechPort 106725). Neither is the same technology, so this is a company-level link (same PI). The study's earlier traceback drew no link (none found); its count does not change.

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 (p. 9)

Who built it

"Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) - Ames Research Center (ARC), Dr. Anthony Colaprete"
— TO2-AB Science Payloads - NASA Science, updated manifest, 6 Apr 2023

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

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

Moon Base need

"better understand the population of gases that may become volatilized/released during"
— 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

"Observe ASAP to document"
— NTRS 20200001822, Table 1, day 1: presence and sublimation of exhaust volatiles

Open questions

• NIRVSS's total development cost, and NASA's in-house cost at Ames: not in public sources. The Brimrose and PSI awards may cover several NIRVSS units (Peregrine, IM-5, VIPER); the sources do not split them.
• Is the 2014-2015 Brimrose STTR (140063 / NNX15CL29C) the 'STTR contract' its later NIRVSS orders refer to? The study links them by title only.
• Which compounds did NIRVSS detect in flight? Only NASA's January 2024 summary is public; no paper was found.
• Did NIRVSS or its parts fly on any aircraft, balloon or rocket before Peregrine? Not in public sources: the papers describe ground and field tests only.