Lunar Dust Level Sensor and Effects on Surfaces (LDES)

Griffin Mission One · manifested · NASA payload

Dust sensors with a microcontroller, mounted on Astrolab's FLIP rover. Each sensor is a heated coated coupon: as lunar dust settles on it, the heater power needed to hold its temperature shows how much the dust degrades the surface's ability to shed heat. It measures dust build-up on surfaces like radiators and solar arrays, to anchor ground tests and thermal models.

PI: Kathryn M. (Katy) Hurlbert (NASA Johnson); project manager Adrian G. Sorola
Built by: NASA Johnson Space Center, with Texas A&M University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (supporting); cofunded by NASA's Artemis Campaign Development Division (NASA center)

Technology	dust accumulation sensor (thermal effects on surfaces)
Moon Base need	DN-019 L, #0801 (The study's reading, which follows the knowledge base's own match. NASA's Moon Base page says LDES measures how dust accumulates on spacecraft and surface systems; DN-019 L asks for dust flux and charge over time. LDES gives accumulation and its thermal effect, not particle charge. It also serves tech gap #0801 (dust-tolerant systems), which names surface heat rejection and solar power among the affected subsystems. NASA's 2024 dust roadmap calls lunar dust level sensors critical.)
Route onto CLPS	other NASA; No open call. LDES is an ESDMD project (TechPort program EHP, EVA and Human Surface Mobility). NASA's Fall 2024 dust roadmap listed 'Manifest LDES on Lunar Flights' as a decision point and 2025 as a potential selection for a lunar flight, with CLPS and HLS as infusion targets. The decision itself is not public. Astrolab named LDES among the NASA payloads on FLIP on 18 May 2026; NASA's Moon Base page lists LDES for both Griffin-1 and IM-3.; 2026-05-18
Timeline	first funding 2022-10-01 (TechPort 154828 start); a first proposal in November 2019; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2025 at the earliest (roadmap: 'potential selection'); first public listing on Griffin-1 on 2026-05-18; launch target late 2026 (NASA, Aug 2026); landing not in public sources
On the Moon	not yet flown
FO	company-level

Flights before the Moon

None found in the public sources.

Heritage hardware

• design heritage (Mars dust study test sensors): LDES grew out of an earlier JSC Mars dust study and uses its test method; its ground-test sensors (guard heater, Teflon isolator, main heater, coated coupon in an aluminum cup) are heritage from that study. It builds on NASA Glenn's 2010 lunar-simulant tests of radiator coatings (Gaier). The first proposal for a lunar dust payload dates from November 2019. Ground tests with a purpose-built 'Dust Distributor' and thermal vacuum chamber found that even thin, invisible dust layers change a radiator's emissivity in a nonlinear way.

"This work is a legacy project from a previous Mars Dust study that used the same testing methodologies"
— NTRS 20250004744, page 2

"the test sensors used in this round of testing are heritage from the Mars Dust study"
— NTRS 20250004744, page 2

"Proposal: (TBD named) Lunar Dust Payload,” NASA Johnson Space Center, November 2019."
— NTRS 20250004744, reference 14

"lunar simulant coverage impacts the effective emissivity of surfaces in a nonlinear fashion"
— NTRS 20250004744, abstract

Funding before the lunar flight

• ESDMD project 'Lunar Dust level Sensor and Effects on Surfaces' (TechPort 154828, program EHP, Johnson, Oct 2022 to Dec 2026), cofunded by the Artemis Campaign Development Division. TechPort gives no amount. (ESDMD (EVA and Human Surface Mobility program); Artemis Campaign Development Division; FY2023-FY2026): amount not in public sources

"Develop and deliver dust sensors and a microcontroller to measure in-situ dust accumulation"
— TechPort project 154828, description

• Ground-test funding from other Artemis programs: the team thanks Gateway, a Blue Origin collaboration team, and the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and Pressurized Rover teams. No amounts are public. (Gateway; Blue Origin collaboration; LTV and Pressurized Rover projects; not in public sources): amount not in public sources

"the Gateway L2 team, the Blue Origin collaboration team, and the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and Pressurized Rover team for their generous funding of this work"
— NTRS 20250004744, Acknowledgments, ICES-2025-176

How it got onto CLPS

"o 2025: Potential selection for Lunar Flight."
— NTRS 20240013978, page 6, LDES row (TRL 7, 2023-24, infusion target CLPS, HLS)

"a. Manifest LDES on Lunar Flights"
— NTRS 20240013978, page 7, decision points

"NASA payloads aboard FLIP include:"
— Astrolab Announces NASA Payloads for Upcoming Mission to the Moon – Astrolab, 18 May 2026

"Trinity will deliver NASA payloads to the Moon, including:"
— Moon Base Phases - NASA, IM-3; LDES on

On the Moon

Manifested on FLIP for Griffin Mission One. NASA lists a second LDES for IM-3 at Reiner Gamma; the 2024 roadmap planned more than one set of flight hardware. TechPort rates LDES TRL 6 now, with TRL 8 as the project's goal.

"2. Additional LDES Flt H/W sets"
— NTRS 20240013978, page 7, deliverables

"The Lunar Dust Level Sensor and Effects on Surfaces (LDES), developed by NASA’s Johnson Space Center, will measure how lunar dust accumulates on spacecraft and surface systems."
— Moon Base Phases - NASA, under IM-3

FO's role

Grade: company-level. No entry in the earlier traceback (the study's earlier traceback lists Griffin Mission One with no NASA payloads). FO has not flown LDES or a dust sensor of this team. LDES's PI, Kathryn Hurlbert of Johnson, was an FO PI before: SFEM-2, an instrument package that measured the cabin environment (acceleration, temperature, pressure, CO2, sound) on suborbital vehicles for FO, and MFEST, a two-phase flow test on parabolic flights. Same PI, different technology, so company-level. The public sources show no LDES test in reduced gravity, though dust settling and adhesion depend on gravity.

FO flights: 0. No FO investment in LDES. FO bought the SFEM-2 and MFEST flights; their cost is in FO records.

"Suborbital Flight Experiment Monitor-2 (SFEM-2)"
— TechPort project 93961, title (FO, JSC, 2017-2020)

Data: name: Kathryn M Hurlbert
— TechPort project 93961, contacts: Principal Investigator

"This new integrated package provides not only acceleration data, etc., but cabin temperature, pressure, CO2 and acoustic measurements."
— TechPort project 93961, description

Data: date: December 13, 2018
— FO annual report, FY2019, flights of TechPort project 93961 (p. 7, Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo)

"Microgravity Multi-Phase Flow Experiment for Suborbital Testing (MFEST)"
— TechPort project 91346, title (FO, JSC, PI Kathryn M Hurlbert)

Who built it

"NASA Johnson Space Center — Lunar Dust level sensor and Effects on Surfaces (LDES)."
— Astrolab Announces NASA Payloads for Upcoming Mission to the Moon – Astrolab

"Kathryn M Hurlbert"
— TechPort project 154828, contacts: Principal Investigator (EHP program, JSC, 2022-10-01 to 2026-12-31)

"Artemis Campaign Development Division"
— TechPort project 154828, otherOrganizations: Cofunding Partner

"PI: Dr. Katy Hurlbert"
— NTRS 20240014003, LDES poster, 2024

Moon Base need

"will measure how lunar dust accumulates on spacecraft and surface systems"
— Moon Base Phases - NASA

"Accumulation only; DN-019 L also asks for particle charge."
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Architecture data gaps: all 25

"The absence of in-situ measurements introduces uncertainty in predicting dust accumulation"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-019 L: In situ measurement of lunar regolith (dust) particle flux and charge

"of affected subsystems include surface heat rejection, surface solar power, EVA, rovers,"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: ESDMD #0801: Lunar Dust-Tolerant Systems and Dust Mitigation

"Development and deployment of lunar dust level sensors to gather data is critical to crew health and mission success."
— NTRS 20240013978, NASA Lunar Dust Mitigation Roadmap, Fall 2024, page 4

Open questions

• When and how was LDES selected for Griffin-1 and IM-3, and by which office? The 2024 roadmap gives only a 'potential selection' in 2025.
• Has the flight LDES been tested in reduced gravity (parabolic flight) or only in thermal vacuum? Not in public sources.
• Is the Griffin-1 unit the same design as the IM-3 unit? Not in public sources.
• LDES's cost: not in public sources. TechPort has no amounts, and no SBIR or contract names LDES.