Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE)¶
Blue Ghost Mission 3 · manifested · NASA payload
A suite of five instruments to study the summit of one of the Gruithuisen Domes, thought to be silica-rich volcanic domes. Three ride a rover: a visible multispectral camera (LV-VIC), a thermal-infrared imaging radiometer (LV-CIRiS) and a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer (LV-GRNS). Two are on the lander: a descent camera that films the surface during landing and a context camera. Besides composition, the team will map regolith geotechnical properties along the rover's traverse.
PI: Kerri Donaldson Hanna (University of Central Florida); Deputy PI Adrienne Dove (UCF)
Built by: University of Central Florida (lead). Ball Aerospace (now BAE Systems) for the cameras and LV-CIRiS; Arizona State University for LV-GRNS; University of Colorado Boulder for LV-CIRiS science (instrument PI Paul Hayne). The rover is not part of the payload: Firefly engaged Honeybee Robotics to provide it as a service. (university)
| Technology | science instrument suite (planetary geology: imaging, thermal infrared and gamma/neutron spectroscopy), on a lander and a CLPS-provided rover |
| Moon Base need | DN-018 L, DN-017 L, DN-008 L, DN-014 L (Partly NASA's link. NASA's CP-21 page says Lunar-VISE and Heimdall will show how regolith behaves when hit by landing plumes, and that their imagery supports rover navigation and hazard finding. The tie to data gaps by ID is the study's reading: the descent camera bears on plume ejecta and site alteration (DN-017 L, DN-018 L); the team's exploration goal, regolith geotechnical properties from rover wheels and imagery, bears on DN-008 L; landing-site imagery bears on rock sizes (DN-014 L). All four gaps are written for the South Pole; Gruithuisen is a northern near-side site, so the fit is partial. NASA does not tie Lunar-VISE to the Moon Base by name.) |
| Route onto CLPS | PRISM; Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM), second round: one of two suites NASA selected on 2 June 2022, for a lander and a rover to be provided as a CLPS service. NASA awarded the delivery (task order CP-21, USD 179 million, including the rover) to Firefly on 18 December 2024. Funded through PRISM2 cooperative agreement 80NSSC22M0303.; 2022-06-02 |
| Timeline | first funding 2022 (PRISM2 cooperative agreement 80NSSC22M0303); first flight test No flight of a Lunar-VISE unit. Predecessors: CIRiS in orbit from 2020-01-31; Mini-NS lunar flyby 2022-11.; selected 2022-06-02; task order CP-21 to Firefly 2024-12-18; launch Not yet launched. Landing targeted for 2028.; landing not in public sources |
| On the Moon | not yet flown |
| FO | company-level |
Flights before the Moon¶
- Earth orbit or deep space: LunaH-Map CubeSat (launched on Artemis I), Miniature Neutron Spectrometer (Mini-NS), 2022-11 (launch and lunar flyby). LV-GRNS is a rebuild, with minor changes, of ASU's Mini-NS. Mini-NS collected several hours of lunar data during LunaH-Map's flyby of the Moon in November 2022. A predecessor instrument, not LV-GRNS itself.
"LV-GRNS is a rebuild, with minor modifications, of the Miniature Neutron Spectrometer (Mini-NS, Fig. 1) launched on LunaHMap in November 2022."
— hou.usra.edu: 2152.pdf, LPSC 2023 abstract 2152"which successfully collected several hours of lunar data during its flyby of the Moon in November 2022"
— hou.usra.edu: 2258.pdf, LPSC 2024 abstract 2258
- Earth orbit or deep space: CIRiS 6U CubeSat (Ball Aerospace, NASA ESTO InVEST), launched to the ISS and deployed into low Earth orbit, 2019-12-05 launch; in orbit from 2020-01-31. An uncooled thermal-infrared imaging radiometer with on-board calibration in orbit. LV-CIRiS draws heritage from it (and from L-CIRiS, built for a South Pole delivery). CIRiS's PI, David Osterman of Ball, is on the Lunar-VISE author list. A predecessor design, not LV-CIRiS itself.
"LV-CIRiS (Fig. 1) draws heritage from Ball’s CIRiS instrument, now operating in low Earth orbit on a CubeSat spacecraft"
— hou.usra.edu: 2152.pdf, LPSC 2023 abstract 2152"began its orbit around Earth on Jan. 31, 2020, following its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to the International Space Station on Dec. 5, 2019"
— Taking Earth’s Temperature from a Tiny Satellite - NASA Science"The Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space (CIRiS) is an uncooled imaging infrared (7.5 um to 13 um) radiometer designed for high radiometric performance from LEO on a Cubesat spacecraft."
— TechPort project 40857, description; TRL 9; PI David P Osterman; lastUpdated 2025-08-22
- aircraft (not FO): a Ball aircraft-mounted infrared instrument (not named), not in public sources. TechPort says CIRiS's design is based on a Ball airborne instrument; so the thermal imager line flew on aircraft before CIRiS. Two steps removed from LV-CIRiS; no date or aircraft named.
"The CIRiS design is based on a Ball aircraft-mounted instrument with modifications to improve radiometric uncertainty in the space environment."
— TechPort project 40857, description
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage (cameras): LV-VIC and the lander's descent and context cameras draw on Ball's GeoSpace Camera, a production-ready visible camera first designed for NASA's Orion program. The lander cameras are build-to-print copies of LV-VIC without the color filters. No source says the GeoSpace Camera has flown.
"a production-ready visible camera originally designed for NASA’s Orion program"
— hou.usra.edu: 2152.pdf, LPSC 2023 abstract 2152"Both cameras are build-to-print copies of the LV-VIC"
— hou.usra.edu: 2152.pdf, LPSC 2023 abstract 2152
- flown predecessors: LV-GRNS: LunaH-Map's Mini-NS (deep space, 2022). LV-CIRiS: Ball's CIRiS CubeSat (low Earth orbit, 2020) and L-CIRiS (manifested on IM-4, not yet flown). See flights_before.
"The LunarVISE GRNS has been designed using heritage components and elements from the Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) Miniature Neutron Spectrometer (Mini-NS) instrument"
— hou.usra.edu: 2258.pdf, LPSC 2024 abstract 2258
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- NASA PRISM2 cooperative agreement 80NSSC22M0303 to the University of Central Florida, 'Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE)', 1 Sep 2022 to 31 Jan 2027. Most of it passes to partners: BAE Systems (Ball) USD 23,761,845; Arizona State University (GRNS) two subawards of USD 4,174,001 and USD 684,000; University of Colorado USD 2,379,181. (NASA SMD PRISM; 2022-2027): $33,421,640
"LUNAR VULKAN IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY EXPLORER (LUNAR-VISE)"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC22M0303, description; obligated 33421640.0; signed 2022-09-30; subawards 32530889.0 (BAE Systems 23761845.0; Arizona State 4174001.0 and 684000.0; Colorado 2379181.0)"Lunar-VISE is funded through NASA’s PRISM2 cooperative agreement number 80NSSC22M0303."
— hou.usra.edu: 2152.pdf, Acknowledgments (LPSC 2023 abstract 2152)
How it got onto CLPS¶
"These payload suites mark the second selection through the agency’s Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) call for proposals."
— NASA Selects New Instruments for Priority Artemis Science on Moon - NASA, release of 2 Jun 2022"two of which will be mounted on a stationary lander and three mounted on a mobile rover to be provided as a service by the CLPS vendor"
— NASA Selects New Instruments for Priority Artemis Science on Moon - NASA"awarding Firefly Aerospace $179 million to deliver six experiments to the lunar surface"
— More NASA Science, Tech will Fly to Moon Aboard Future Firefly Flight - NASA, release of 18 Dec 2024
On the Moon¶
Planned: about 10 Earth days (one lunar day) on a dome summit, with the rover driving up to 1.1 km within 500 m of the lander.
"The rover will complete an up to 1.1 km traverse over one lunar day and operate at a radius of up to 500 m from Firefly’s lander."
— hou.usra.edu: 1750.pdf, LPSC 2025 abstract 1750
FO's role¶
Grade: company-level. Changed from the earlier traceback's 'none' (organization only) to company-level, on new evidence: UCF's Lunar-VISE page names Adrienne Dove as Deputy PI, and she leads or co-leads several FO regolith experiments (Adam LaMee, a Lunar-VISE Co-I, is Co-I on Strata-2P). These FO flights tested regolith-behavior hardware: sensors and a penetrometer in regolith simulant at lunar and Martian gravity, tribocharging sensors, and a laser plume-ejecta instrument. None is a Lunar-VISE instrument or its predecessor, and no source says the FO work shaped Lunar-VISE, so the study does not grade it 'related'. The subjects overlap with Lunar-VISE's exploration goal (regolith geotechnical properties) and its descent camera (landing plume effects); a colleague who knows the team may judge it 'related'. In the team's words, Strata-2P's sensor results were to 'advance designs for lunar regolith probe suites for use on rovers and landers'.
FO flights: not in public sources. FO bought flights for these UCF experiments (FO records); the cost per flight can't be split per payload in public data, and none of it was for a Lunar-VISE instrument.
"Initial sensor results will be used to advance designs for lunar regolith probe suites for use on rovers and landers"
— TechPort project 106648, description, Summary of Flight Test 2021-12-07 (PI Adrienne Dove, Co-I Adam LaMee)"Significant advancements were made on a penetrometer subsystem, capable of measuring the bearing strength and sheer stresses in the upper-most layers of lunar regolith"
— TechPort project 106648, description, flight summary 2023-2024 (as printed)"Our laser-based instrument Ejecta STORM was operated on the Xodiac rocket"
— TechPort project 106706, description, Summary of Flight Test 2020-11-12 (PI Philip Metzger, Co-I Adrienne Dove)"Strata-S1 - Testbed to Evaluate Regolith Behavior"
— FO annual report, FY2019, p. 7: T0182, University of Central Florida, PI Adrienne Dove, New Shepard, May 2, 2019"The Blue Origin P-13 flight provided a clean microgravity environment in which to observe the experiment"
— TechPort project 106614, description, flight summary 2023-12-19 (PI Adrienne Dove)"No FO flight of Lunar-VISE or its PI."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"The principal investigator is Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna of the University of Central Florida, Orlando."
— More NASA Science, Tech will Fly to Moon Aboard Future Firefly Flight - NASA"Deputy-Principal Investigator"
— LunarVISE, under Adrienne Dove"Lunar-VISE GRNS sensors and electronics are designed at Arizona State University (ASU)"
— hou.usra.edu: 2258.pdf, LPSC 2024 abstract 2258"The Compact Infrared Imaging System (LV-CIRiS) is a multispectral imaging radiometer used to map variations in silicate composition and thermophysical properties of rocks and regolith at high spatial resolution."
— CLPS CP-21 Science - NASA Science, credit: Ball Aerospace"Firefly Aerospace has engaged Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin Company, to provide the rover."
— hou.usra.edu: 1750.pdf, LPSC 2025 abstract 1750
Moon Base need¶
"Lunar-VISE and Heimdall will teach us about the way regolith behaves when affected by plumes, which will inform future mission and instrument design."
— CLPS CP-21 Science - NASA Science"LV-DC will image the surface at a very high frame rate during the landing, allowing us to study and monitor the behavior of lunar surface material at the landing site."
— CLPS CP-21 Science - NASA Science"Exploration goal: to understand the geotechnical properties of the lunar regolith on the Gruithuisen Domes."
— LunarVISE, goals"Characterize the landing site alteration caused by rocket exhaust plumes interacting with"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-018 L: In situ measurement of landing site alteration imaging at small scale on the lunar surface, Description"Characterize lunar regolith physical and mechanical properties as a function of depth (min"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-008 L: Geotechnical properties of highland regolith at the lunar south pole, Description
Open questions¶
- Did the Deputy PI's FO regolith work (Strata-2P, ERIE, Ejecta STORM) feed into Lunar-VISE's geotechnical or plume measurements? No source says so; the team could settle the grade.
- Has Ball's GeoSpace Camera, the basis of LV-VIC and the lander cameras, flown? Not in the sources read.
- Was a Lunar-VISE instrument or engineering unit ever flown or field-tested on a vehicle? Only a ground field study with a portable gamma-ray and neutron detector turned up in search; not saved or read.