Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL)¶
Griffin Mission One · manifested · NASA payload
A multispectral camera with its own lighting, plus a small thermal radiometer, mounted facing down on Astrolab's FLIP rover. The camera (4 megapixels, seven color LEDs, 350-940 nm) images the regolith along the rover's path; the radiometer (the Longwave Calibration Sensor) measures its temperature. Titanium (ilmenite) and regolith maturity read from the images are proxies for helium-3, so METAL estimates helium-3 without bringing soil back.
PI: not in public sources. NASA names no PI. The LPSC 2026 abstract is by K. Hoza and E. Frank (Interlune) and seven Ames authors, among them A. Colaprete, PI of NIRVSS.
Built by: NASA Ames Research Center, in partnership with Interlune (Seattle), under a Space Act Agreement. Interlune calls its mission Crescent Moon. (NASA center)
| Technology | resource prospecting imager (multispectral camera with LED lighting, thermal radiometer) |
| Moon Base need | DN-010 L (The study's reading, and loose. NASA ties METAL to no gap, and the knowledge base found no close match. NASA says METAL will inform future ISRU. The closest data gap is DN-010 L (South Pole regolith composition for ISRU): METAL maps titanium-bearing ilmenite and regolith maturity along a traverse, but as optical proxies, not to 0.1 wt%. Helium-3 itself is not a resource any Moon Base gap names. Among its 'depending on resources' science goals, METAL would also image how the landing changed the surface, which touches DN-018 L.) |
| Route onto CLPS | other NASA; No open call found. In August 2025 Interlune announced the camera as its own payload on Astrolab's FLIP rover, built with NASA Ames. By March 2026 the flight unit had been delivered to Astrolab under an Ames-Interlune Space Act Agreement. In May 2026 Astrolab and NASA listed METAL as one of the NASA payloads on FLIP. How the payload became a NASA payload, and who pays for its ride, is not in public sources.; 2025-08-05 |
| Timeline | first funding not in public sources (the NIRVSS line whose camera and thermal sensor it matches began under Resource Prospector; its camera module came from an Ames CIF project of 2013-2014); first flight test not in public sources for METAL; a predecessor design flew in space in NIRVSS on Peregrine, 2024-01-08; selected 2025-08-05 (Interlune-Astrolab announcement); listed as a NASA payload 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¶
- Earth orbit or deep space: Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One, inside Ames's NIRVSS (a predecessor design: NIRVSS's bracket assembly has a 4-megapixel camera with seven LEDs and a four-thermopile Longwave Calibration Sensor), 2024-01-08. Not METAL itself. NIRVSS powered on in space and took images and spectra; Peregrine did not land. That NIRVSS's camera and LCS are METAL's direct predecessors is the study's reading: the specifications and names match, and the METAL team says METAL's flight will de-risk VIPER, whose NIRVSS has the same parts. No public source states it.
"the Science Context Imager (SCI), a 4 megapixel CMOS sensor uses seven LEDs for wavelength discrimination between 340 and 940 nm"
— NTRS 20200001822, NIRVSS bracket assembly"the Longwave Calibration Sensor (LCS) with 4 thermopiles"
— NTRS 20200001822, NIRVSS bracket assembly"NIRVSS also successfully powered on and collected images, spectra, and additional data around the lander."
— NASA Science, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission to Conclude - NASA
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage (NIRVSS, VIPER line; the study's reading): METAL's parts match the NIRVSS bracket assembly: a 4-megapixel CMOS camera with seven LEDs (NIRVSS 340-940 nm, METAL 350-940 nm) and a Longwave Calibration Sensor with thermopiles behind four filters (the filter bands differ). The METAL team cites VIPER's NIRVSS as the kind of instrument behind the partnership and says METAL's flight will de-risk VIPER. No source says in so many words that METAL is a NIRVSS derivative.
"METAL (Figure 1) consists of an LED-based multispectral imager combined with a TIR radiometer (Longwave Calibration Sensor, LCS)."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"4-megapixel panchromatic CMOS camera and bank of seven color LEDs."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"Proving METAL’s resilience to launch and lunar environments will de-risk future missions including VIPER."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"in-house Near Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
- design heritage (method): The helium-3 proxy rests on Apollo samples: helium-3 tracks the amount of titanium-rich ilmenite and how long the soil was exposed to the solar wind (maturity). METAL reads both from its 410, 740 and 940 nm bands.
"The analysis revealed a close correlation between the amount of helium-3 and the amount of titanium in each sample."
— Interlune to Fly Multispectral Camera on Astrolab FLIP Rover to Measure Helium-3 on the Moon - In…"which can be quantified using METAL’s bands at 410nm, 740nm, and 940nm"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- Ames-Interlune Space Act Agreement (Crescent Moon). Its terms and any money exchanged are not in public sources. (NASA Space Act Agreement (Ames); not in public sources): amount not in public sources
"Through a precedent-setting Space Act Agreement, the Crescent Moon partnership"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
- Heritage line, not METAL's own money: NIRVSS, whose bracket assembly has the same kind of LED camera and thermal sensor, began under Resource Prospector (AES/HEOMD); its CLPS version is funded by NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads. Its camera, the Ames Imaging Module, came from an Ames Center Innovation Fund project (TechPort 14633, 2013-2014, PI Colaprete). No amounts are public. (AES/HEOMD (Resource Prospector); SMD NPLP; STMD Center Innovation Fund (Ames); 2012-2024): amount not in public sources
"NIRVSS was originally developed for the former Resource Prospector mission."
— NTRS 20200001822, Acknowledgments (LPSC 2020, 'NIRVSS Aboard CLPS')"The CLPS version is funded by NASA Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP)."
— NTRS 20200001822, Acknowledgments"First use would be as part of the NASA AES Resource Prospector mission in the NIR Volatiles Spectrometer System (NIRVSS)."
— TechPort project 14633, benefits (ARC CIF, 2013-11 to 2014-10)
- Not METAL: Interlune's NASA SBIR Phase III 'Prospect Moon' (80NSSC26C0002, signed 24 Feb 2026, $6,893,204 obligated). It funds a later, larger Interlune payload for a 2028 landing that includes a multispectral camera for helium-3, so it is METAL's successor, not its development money. Linked by Interlune's UEI WBRKDNQJNAL4 and the award text. (NASA SBIR Phase III (successor payload); 2026-2027): amount not in public sources
"SBIR PHASE III - INTERLUNE CORPORATION - PROSPECT MOON: A LUNAR RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION AND PROSPECTING MISSION"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC26C0002, description; obligated 6893204.0; 2026-03-02 to 2027-09-01"a multispectral camera capable of determining helium-3 concentrations"
— Interlune wins $6.9M NASA award to extract gases from moon dirt – GeekWire"then launched to the moon on a commercial robotic lander in 2028"
— Interlune wins $6.9M NASA award to extract gases from moon dirt – GeekWire
How it got onto CLPS¶
"today announced that an Interlune payload will fly on Astrolab’s FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover on its upcoming mission to the Moon."
— Interlune to Fly Multispectral Camera on Astrolab FLIP Rover to Measure Helium-3 on the Moon - In…, 5 Aug 2025"The Interlune payload is a multispectral camera built, tested, and developed in partnership with NASA’s Ames Research Center"
— Interlune to Fly Multispectral Camera on Astrolab FLIP Rover to Measure Helium-3 on the Moon - In…"Through a precedent-setting Space Act Agreement, the Crescent Moon partnership has laid the framework"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"METAL flight unit has been delivered to Astrolab"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"NASA payloads aboard FLIP include:"
— Astrolab Announces NASA Payloads for Upcoming Mission to the Moon – Astrolab, 18 May 2026"Five NASA payloads will be mounted on the Astrolab FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover"
— NASA Provides Updates on Moon Base Cargo Landers, Tech Demonstrations - NASAFacebook logoInstagra…, 4 Aug 2026
On the Moon¶
Manifested on Griffin Mission One, on the FLIP rover. The flight unit was delivered to Astrolab by early 2026. Science data are to go to NASA's Planetary Data System.
"METAL flight unit has been delivered to Astrolab"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf"from METAL will be made available to the community through NASA Planetary Data System (PDS)."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
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 METAL or its camera. Two company-level links: Interlune, METAL's partner, flew a regolith milling prototype (CRUMBLE) on FO parabolic flights in 2024; and A. Colaprete, an Ames author on METAL and PI of NIRVSS, led FO's Nephelometer Experiment, a cloud-particle instrument flown on a balloon in 2021. Neither is the same technology. Interlune's 2028 successor payload, Prospect Moon, builds on its parabolic flights, but those tested processing hardware, not the camera.
FO flights: 0. No FO investment in METAL. The costs of the CRUMBLE and NephEx flights are in FO records.
"Comminution of Regolith Using Milling for Beneficiation of Lunar Extract (CRUMBLE)"
— TechPort project 158666, title (FO, Interlune, 2024-04 to 2026-05)"with a prototype of Interlune’s regolith processing device on a parabolic flight on October 30, 2024."
— Flight Summaries - NASAData: name: Anthony Colaprete
— TechPort project 106600, contacts: Principal Investigator (Nephelometer Experiment)Data: date: Jun. 11, 2021
— FO annual report, FY2021, flights of TechPort project 106600 (p. 9)"The project builds on Interlune’s previous efforts to build payload prototypes and test them on parabolic airplane flights that simulate lunar gravity."
— Interlune wins $6.9M NASA award to extract gases from moon dirt – GeekWire
Who built it¶
"NASA Ames Research Center — Moon Exploration for Titanium with Active Lighting (METAL). A multicolor camera and radiometer developed by NASA Ames in partnership with Interlune"
— Astrolab Announces NASA Payloads for Upcoming Mission to the Moon – Astrolab, 18 May 2026"developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in partnership with Interlune"
— Moon Base Phases - NASA"The METAL multispectral imager and TIR radiometer developed by NASA Ames."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf, Figure 1 caption"K. Hoza1, R. Bielawski2, B. White2, J. Benton2, E. Noe Dobrea2, S. Gyalay2, A. Cook2 , E. Frank1"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf, authors; A. Colaprete on"Interlune’s first surface mission, Crescent Moon, will operate a multispectral imager at the lunar south pole"
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
Moon Base need¶
"METAL will study the abundance of helium-3 in the lunar regolith, helping scientists better understand the Moon’s resources and informing future in-situ resource utilization efforts."
— Moon Base Phases - NASA"Griffin-1's METAL (helium-3) payload matches no gap closely"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Architecture data gaps: all 25"Characterize site-specific and depth-resolved mineralogical and elemental composition of"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-010 L: South polar lunar regolith elemental and mineral composition, description"Using local lunar resources to enable exploration requires both detailed knowledge of resource availability"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base technology and knowledge challenges, ISRU systems"METAL will quantify these effects by collecting multispectral measurements in a profile as FLIP drives away from the lander."
— hou.usra.edu: 1370.pdf
Open questions¶
- Who is METAL's principal investigator? NASA names none.
- Is METAL's camera and LCS a copy or adaptation of the NIRVSS bracket assembly? The specifications match; no source says so.
- What do the Ames-Interlune Space Act Agreement's terms say about cost sharing? Not in public sources.
- How did an Interlune payload (August 2025) become a NASA payload (May 2026), and who pays Astrolab for the ride? Not in public sources.
- Did METAL or its camera fly on any aircraft, balloon or rocket before delivery? Not in public sources.
- NASA's cost for METAL: not in public sources.