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TNO will contribute state-of-the-art technology for mineralogical and elemental science to Odyssey Moon’s 'MoonOne', a commercial lunar mission competing for the Google Lunar X Prize. Moon4You aims to place TNO’s combined Raman/LIBS instrument on a flight to the Moon, making it the first commercial space exploration project conducted in the Netherlands!
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TNO's innovatively designed Raman/LIBS instrument combines two data-rich types of ground-sample analysis into one instrument, creating a very resource-efficient method for achieving highly rapid and detailed mineralogical and elemental surface characterization.
The main scientific objective of the Raman/LIBS instrument onboard the MoonOne mission is to determine the mineralogical and elemental composition of the lunar surface, thereby (a) providing details on the geological and geochemical evolution of the Moon (b) performing detailed in situ mapping of lunar material of interest for lunar exploitation means and the realization of a future lunar base (c) demonstrating technology for future planetary exploration missions and terrestrial spin-offs.
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The Raman/LIBS instrument was previously pre-selected as part of the ESA ExoMars rover’s Pasteur payload and its end-to-end functional performance has been demonstrated in an Elegant Bread Board using natural samples under mission representative conditions. The same successful basic design will be accommodated to the MoonOne mission. By intelligently reapplying technology created and tested for use in the public space sector, TNO and its partners will push the threshold of commercial space exploration.
