Depth Imager with Spectral and Color Optics (DISCO)¶

PRISM selections of 30 Sept 2026 (no delivery yet) · manifested · NASA payload

A payload for the first direct measurements on the ground of ice hidden in lunar micro cold traps: small shadowed spots, from about 10 cm to 100 m across, that are the most numerous cold traps on the Moon and have never been observed at the poles. NASA says it will pinpoint where ice is and how much, and study how rocket exhaust disturbs the ground and how stable the surface is for mobility. Its name suggests a depth, spectral and color imaging instrument; NASA's release gives no instrument details, lander, site or date.

PI: Ariel Deutsch (NASA Ames)
Built by: NASA Ames Research Center (PI's center). The rest of the team and any industry partner are not named in public sources. (NASA center)


Technology	science instrument (imaging and spectral optics for ice and surface properties)
Moon Base need	DN-007 L, DN-017 L, DN-018 L, DN-008 L (The knowledge base's own matching, not NASA's: NASA names no data gap. It matches DISCO to DN-007 L (shallow water ice), DN-017 L and DN-018 L (plume effects on the ground) and DN-008 L (regolith geotechnics), all 'same subjects'. The fit is partial: the release gives no site or measurement depth, while DN-007 L asks for 20 cm steps to 1 m depth. The PI's VIPER colleagues write that crews are 'guaranteed to walk through numerous micro cold traps' at polar landing sites, which never have been observed, so DISCO targets a gap that matters to crewed operations (the study's reading). NASA itself says the data will 'help NASA design safe surface operations' for the Moon Base.)
Route onto CLPS	PRISM; Selected through SMD's PRISM program on 30 September 2026 to fly on CLPS as part of the Moon Base Program. NASA corrected DISCO's full name on 2 October 2026. No task order, lander, site, date or cost cap is named.; 2026-09-30
Timeline	first funding not in public sources; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2026-09-30; launch not in public sources; 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¶

science heritage (the PI's research; no hardware heritage public): The PI has studied polar ice, cold traps and surface roughness on the Moon and Mercury, and proposed in 2022 that texture measurements at sub-centimeter scales can show the 'near-surface volume available for micro-cold trapping of volatiles'. She is a co-author of VIPER science papers on micro cold traps and on VIPER's geotechnical and mobility insights. What hardware DISCO uses, and whether any of it has flown, is not in public sources.

"near-surface volume available for micro-cold trapping of volatiles"
— NTRS 20220009601, abstract (Deutsch and Heldmann, 2022)

"The Relevance of the VIPER Mission to NASA's Artemis Human Exploration of the Moon"
— NTRS 20260005586, 20260005586 (Heldmann, Colaprete, Deutsch et al., 2026)

"Leveraging VIPER Geotechnical and Mobility Insights for Endurance Rover and Traverse Development"
— NTRS 20230011552, 20230011552 (Bickel, Rezich, Deutsch et al.)

Funding before the lunar flight¶

NASA PRISM: selected 30 September 2026. No award, amount or cost cap is public, and no earlier TechPort project, SBIR or USAspending award names DISCO. (NASA SMD PRISM; from 2026): amount not in public sources

"The suite of science instruments and technologies was selected through NASA's Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program"
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA

How it got onto CLPS¶

"will fly to the lunar surface using the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative as part of the agency's Moon Base Program"
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA

"This release was updated on Oct. 2, 2026, to correct the full names of the DISCO and GIMLI payloads."
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA

On the Moon¶

Selected for a CLPS delivery with no task order, lander, site or date yet.

"The DISCO payload will provide the first direct, on-the-ground measurements of ice hidden in lunar micro-cold traps"
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA

FO's role¶

Grade: none. No FO project, report or page names DISCO or its PI. NASA Ames takes part in 31 FO projects, but none with the PI; an organization-only link is not counted. FO flew plume-surface work by other teams (Auburn University's reduced-gravity crater measurements, TechPort 106726), which is the same topic as DISCO's plume study but has no tie to DISCO. Grade: none. The DISCO team is not public; if it includes people with FO projects, such as NASA Ames's Anthony Colaprete (FO's Nephelometer Experiment), the grade could become company-level.

"Three-Dimensional Plume-Surface Interaction and Crater Formation Dynamic Measurements in Reduced Gravity Environments"
— TechPort project 106726, title (FO; lead Auburn University)

Who built it¶

"Principal Investigator: Dr. Ariel Deutsch, NASA's Ames Research Center"
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA, 30 Sep 2026

Moon Base need¶

"Same subjects. The release gives no site or measurement depth; DN-007 L asks for "vertical resolution <20 cm depth intervals to 1 m depth"."
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Architecture data gaps: all 25, PRISM September 2026 table

"Together, this information will help NASA design safe surface operations and develop the technologies needed to turn ice into a usable resource for the future Moon Base."
— NASA Adds New Science Investigations for Moon Base - NASA

"cold traps have never before been observed at the lunar poles"
— NTRS 20260005586, page 18 (Heldmann, Colaprete, Deutsch et al., 2026)

"cold traps can range in size from ~10 cm to 100 m and are the most numerous"
— NTRS 20260005586, page 18

"| DN-007 L | Securing sites; ISRU systems |"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base technology and knowledge challenges

"| DN-018 L | Landing; small cargo return |"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base technology and knowledge challenges

Open questions¶

What is DISCO's hardware (camera, spectrometer, depth sensing), who builds it, and has any of it flown? Not in public sources.
Who is on the DISCO team? Not in public sources; a team member with FO projects would change the grade to company-level.
Which lander, site and date, and will DISCO ride on a rover to reach micro cold traps? Not yet named.
What is DISCO's cost cap? Not in the release.