Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC)

Blue Ghost Mission 1 · landed · NASA payload

Two wheels of 15 material samples each (paints, fabrics, Kapton, titanium, solar cells, optics and more), turned in front of cameras every day. One wheel is exposed from launch, the other stays covered until after landing as a control. The images show how much lunar dust sticks to each material during landing and surface operations.

PI: Matt Carter (Aegis Aerospace) at flight; Johnnie Engelhardt (Alpha Space) at selection in 2019
Built by: Aegis Aerospace (Webster, Texas), formerly Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance; NASA Marshall managed the payload for CLPS; NASA Langley and industry supplied samples (company)

Technology	dust-adhesion materials experiment (dust collector and imager)
Moon Base need	#0801, DN-019 L (The study's reading. NASA ties RAC to protecting spacecraft, suits and habitats from dust, which is the subject of gap #0801 (rated 1 of 57). RAC measures dust accumulation on materials over time, a partial answer to DN-019 L, which also asks for particle charge and for South Pole sites; RAC measured no charge and worked at Mare Crisium.)
Route onto CLPS	LSITP; Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads: one of 12 payloads NASA selected on 1 July 2019 (release 19-053). Assigned to Firefly's TO 19D (NASA's award of 4 Feb 2021, release 21-012). The development contract is probably 80MSFC20C0009 (see funding).; 2019-07-01
Timeline	first funding 2019-11-13 (probable LSITP contract); the MISSE facility it derives from was funded about 2016-2018; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2019-07-01 (LSITP); on TO 19D from 2021-02-04; launch 2025-01-15; landing 2025-03-02
On the Moon	operated as planned
FO	company-level

Flights before the Moon

None found in the public sources.

Heritage hardware

• design heritage from flown hardware (MISSE flight facility on the ISS): Alpha Space built and runs the MISSE flight facility outside the ISS (debuted with MISSE-9, 2018). NASA says RAC's components derive from MISSE. No flight of RAC itself, or of a RAC prototype, was found.

"Components of this experiment are derived from Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) on ISS."
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science

"The new MISSE flight facility hardware was designed and implemented by Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance."
— nasa.gov: flightopportunities-2017-annualreport-508-highres.pdf, FY2017 report p. 23 caption

• material samples with flight heritage: NASA Langley's four samples (Ti-6Al-4V, Teflon FEP, an LCLR composite, Kapton HN), half of each laser-textured to shed dust, chosen for their space heritage and tested on the ground. Langley put other candidate dust-mitigation materials on MISSE in 2022-2023, after RAC was built; those were not RAC's samples.

"The RAC payload is designed by Alpha Space for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)"
— NTRS 20210024439, Langley paper, 2021

"December 14, 2021: samples integrated into the RAC payload"
— NTRS 20250010853, page 8 (Langley AGU 2025 slides)

Funding before the lunar flight

• Probable LSITP contract from NASA Marshall to Alpha Space (80MSFC20C0009), for engineering and operational requirements across CLPS landers. The record does not name RAC; the link is the study's reading, from the recipient (RAC's 2019 lead), the office (Marshall manages RAC), and the date and number (signed 13 Nov 2019, in the run of Marshall's LSITP contracts 80MSFC20C0007, 0022 and 0024). (SMD LSITP (probable); 2019-11-13 to 2025-09-30): $2,520,239

"THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DEVELOP THE ENGINEERING AND HARDWARE OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND PERFORM AN ENVELOPE ASSESSMENT OF THE VARIOUS COMMERCIAL LUNAR PAYLOAD SERVICES LANDERS."
— USAspending.gov, award 80MSFC20C0009, description; obligated 2520239.0; recipient Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance, LLC (parent Aegis Aerospace Inc)

• The MISSE flight facility on the ISS, from which RAC's components derive: co-funded by the ISS Program Office and Alpha Space. Not RAC funding as such. (ISS Program and Alpha Space (company funds); about 2016-2018): amount not in public sources

"The MISSE flight facility was co-funded by the International Space Station Program Office and Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance"
— nasa.gov: flightopportunities-2017-annualreport-508-highres.pdf, FY2017 report p. 23

How it got onto CLPS

"RAC will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment at different phases of flight."
— NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations - NASA, release 19-053, 1 Jul 2019

"Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) Payload"
— Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads (LSITP) - NASA, LSITP page

"NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023."
— NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023 - NASA, release 21-012, 4 Feb 2021

On the Moon

RAC imaged its samples from landing to 15 March 2025. Langley's samples show dust from landing, more dust after PlanetVac operated nearby, and later a cleaned surface whose cause is unknown. The team concludes that nearby activities strongly affect dust accumulation. Fuller results are not yet in the public sources used here.

"instrument examined how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment"
— NASA Science Continues After Firefly’s First Moon Mission Concludes - NASA

"Proximal activities can strongly influence lunar dust accumulation"
— NTRS 20250010853, page 25, Conclusions

"Contamination Event LPV Operation"
— NTRS 20250010853, page 23 (photo timeline, 2 March)

FO's role

Grade: company-level. No FO flight of RAC or its predecessor. The study's earlier traceback found none; this study adds a company-level link. FO's active project 158760, EPIIC (Aegis Aerospace's payload adapter, 2024-2027), lists RAC's PI Matt Carter as co-investigator. It is a different technology, it started after RAC was built, and no EPIIC flight is recorded in the sources used here. FO also managed NASA's MISSE payload selections in FY2017, when Alpha Space's MISSE facility was new: a program link to the facility RAC derives from, not a flight of RAC.

FO flights: 0. No FO investment in RAC found.

"Easy-to-use Payload Interoperable Integration Carrier (EPIIC)"
— TechPort project 158760, title (FO, Aegis Aerospace, 2024-06-01 to 2027-06-30)

Data: name: Matt Carter
— TechPort project 158760, contacts: Co-Investigator

"NASA’s Flight Opportunities program currently manages the selection of NASA-led research payloads for the MISSE program."
— nasa.gov: flightopportunities-2017-annualreport-508-highres.pdf, FY2017 report p. 22

Who built it

"Lead Development Organization: Aegis Aerospace, Inc."
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science

"Payload PI: Matt Carter"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science

"The principal investigator is Johnnie Engelhardt of Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance, LLC, Houston."
— NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations - NASA

"Thirty samples, including a dust collection disk, thermal control paint, Kapton, and titanium, have been provided by NASA and the industry."
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science

Moon Base need

"Its purpose is to help scientists progress in their endeavor to protect spacecraft, spacesuits and habitats from abrasion."
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science

"Lunar dust has been established as a concern for EVA, mobility, and surface assets."
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: ESDMD #0801: Lunar Dust-Tolerant Systems and Dust Mitigation, Description

"Measure the electric charge and flux of regolith (dust) particles impacting spacecraft"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-019 L: In situ measurement of lunar regolith (dust) particle flux and charge, Description

Open questions

• Is 80MSFC20C0009 RAC's LSITP contract? The record does not name RAC.
• Did a RAC prototype or engineering unit fly (on MISSE or elsewhere) before the Moon? Not in public sources.
• Which RAC components derive from MISSE, and which MISSE missions flew them? NASA does not say.
• RAC's full results (adhesion per material): not yet in the public sources used here.