Supporting NIRVSS Development and Operations
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Resource Prospector Mission
Project Description
The Near Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) is an instrument package designed to acquire imaging and spectral data of targets within the lunar permanently shaded regions (PSRs). At its core, the instrument consists of a monochromatic imager and a spectrometer that covers the wavelength range of 1.3 μm to 4 μm at a spectral resolution of 15 to 30 nm. The imager uses a set of color LEDs to illuminate the target at different wavelengths, whereas a tungsten lamp illuminates the target for the spectrometer. 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), to be launched on 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.
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.
2) Supporting data analysis and interpretation.
3) Preparing the data for release with the PDS.