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DN-013 L: In situ measurements of the composition, distribution, and abundance of volatiles in the near-surface lunar south pole

Ground measurements of ices and volatiles other than water, inside and near PSRs, to at least 1 m depth with a 0.1 wt% detection limit. The concern is safety as much as resources: landing heat or EVA and rover activity could release "potentially corrosive or toxic gases", and volatiles could change how stable disturbed regolith is under large landers. "There have been no firm detections in situ." It is named in the Moon Base Users Guide (near-term), under two challenges (Data gaps spreadsheet, DN-013 L; Users Guide, p. 12).

Quotations below are from row DN-013 L of the data gaps spreadsheet unless marked otherwise. ADD Rev C's Appendix E prints the same record as a table, and it matches the row field for field (ADD Rev C, p. 277).

Description

"Measure the distribution, abundance, and composition of other ices/volatiles that may exist at the lunar south pole both within and outside of permanently shadowed regions to better understand the population of gases that may become volatilized/released during Artemis activities. As concentrations are likely too low to be detected from orbit, a series of direct, ground-based measurements should be taken at several different locations. Data should be taken within and nearby PSRs as different species have variable stability temperatures."

Need driver and data type

  • Need driver: Lunar Surface Natural Environment Characterization
  • Data type: In Situ Measurement

Target measurement parameters

"Volatile abundance to at least 1 m depth, with a 0.1 wt% detection limit. Abundance at greater depth may have relevance to rocket landing effects."

Current state of data

"No community agreement on concentrations of lunar volatiles at the lunar south pole just below the surface."

Impact if data is unavailable

"While the Moon is typically thought of as "dry," there is evidence that volatiles (in addition to water) exist in the lunar regolith, especially at the south pole. There have been no firm detections in situ; as such, the nature and distribution of these volatiles is unknown and could potentially pose a hazard to surface operations. The release of potentially corrosive or toxic gases could occur via heating when landing or sublimation during operations (EVA/rover). Further, the presence of these volatiles could impact regolith geotechnical properties like cohesion or stability when disturbed, which poses a threat to large landers."

Benefits if data is available

"The type, abundance, and distribution of volatiles within the near-surface environments of the lunar south pole would greatly improve our understanding of their impacts on terrain stability and contamination potential."

Traceability

Priority

None. The spreadsheet has no priority field, and the Users Guide calls the data-gap list "not comprehensive or prioritized" (Users Guide, p. 11).

Moon Base relevance

The Users Guide names DN-013 L for two challenges (Users Guide, p. 12):

  • "Operating on the Lunar Surface for Long Durations" (headline challenge). Its knowledge challenge has two sentences: "Characterize the lunar surface environment to predict performance impacts and risks associated with long duration surface operations." and "Investigate dust mechanics, regolith geotechnical properties, and radiation/charged particle fluctuations, seasonal patterns, and scattering." The guide lists DN-008 L to DN-013 L, DN-015 L, DN-016 L and DN-019 L under both sentences together and does not say which sentence each serves. The challenge's technology half cites tech gaps #0101, #0201, #0301, #0801 and #0804.
  • "Securing sites": "Identifying, selecting, and landing at individual sites requires more data about the lunar surface, including regolith properties, high-resolution imagery, mapping, and resource locations." Also cited: DN-001 L to DN-010 L and DN-014 L. No tech gap.

The guide ties its challenges to "near-term Moon Base development efforts": missions in phase one "offer opportunities to collect data and mature technologies to enable essential phase two and phase three capabilities" (p. 11). See Technology and knowledge challenges.

Phase 1 mission on the same subject (the wiki's link; no source pairs them): VIPER's 1-meter drill will "sample lunar soil at different depths and temperatures, searching for water ice and other volatiles hidden beneath the surface" (Moon Base Phases, "VIPER"). See the data gaps index.

Sources

Data gaps spreadsheet, DN-013 L · Users Guide, pp. 11–12 · Moon Base Phases, "VIPER" · 2025 Architecture Update, p. 14 · ADD Rev C, pp. 202, 277