Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform (MNP)¶
IM-5 · manifested · NASA payload
A very small, low-power chemical sensor: an array of gas sensors made of treated graphene and graphene oxide, read at the same time, with no sample preparation. On IM-5 it rides on the Australian Space Agency's Roo-ver rover and measures water, hydrogen and hydrocarbons from the lander's exhaust over time and at different distances from the lander, away from the lander's own outgassing. The aim is to understand how plume gases interact with the regolith.
PI: Mahmooda Sultana (NASA Goddard), project manager of the MNP project and lead author of the team's 2025 workshop abstract. NASA's IM-5 release names no PI.
Built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (lead). Northeastern University supplied nanoscale printing work; an APL team supports MNP science. The host rover, Roo-ver, is the Australian Space Agency's. (NASA center)
| Technology | in situ gas sensor array (nanomaterial chemical sensors) on a rover |
| Moon Base need | DN-013 L (The study's reading; NASA names no data gap. DN-013 L asks which gases human activity will release at the South Pole and how volatiles are spread; MNP measures the volatiles a landing leaves, by time and distance from the lander, near the South Pole. NASA says the data will inform 'safer, more sustainable landing systems and surface operations', which also touches the plume-surface gaps (DN-017 L, DN-018 L); those gaps ask for ejecta and site imaging, not gases, so they are not listed. MNP measures at the surface only. A 2030 landing falls in Phase 2 by date, the study's reading.) |
| Route onto CLPS | STMD; No public call names how MNP was matched to the Australian rover. STMD's Game Changing Development program started an MNP project on 1 November 2024 to customize a standalone MNP for 'a small rover provided by the Australian Space Agency'. NASA Marshall ordered an MNP science participation team from APL in September 2025. NASA named MNP, on Roo-ver, among IM-5's payloads in March 2026 (CT-4, an STMD-led delivery by NASA's naming). The route is STMD (funder and delivery lead).; 2026-03-24 |
| Timeline | first funding FY2015 (Goddard IRAD, printed nanosensors, from 2014-10-01); first flight test summer 2024 (NAMASTE drones in Alaska, probably carrying the MNP line's sensor; the study's reading); selected by 2024-11-01 (GCD project for the Australian rover); 2026-03-24 (named in the CT-4 award); launch not in public sources (landing targeted for 2030); landing 2030 (target) |
| On the Moon | not yet flown |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- aircraft (not FO): Autonomous drones of NAMASTE (PSTAR), Fairbanks, Alaska, summer 2024 (second field campaign; the first date is not in the sources). Probably a predecessor flight, the study's reading. Goddard planned to demonstrate its Multifunctional Sensor Platform (the MNP line) with autonomous decision-making during the summer 2024 PSTAR field campaign in Alaska, and NAMASTE's drones flew methane measurements there in summer 2024, through a 'custom methane sensor interface'. No NASA source read here names the sensor on the drones. It tested gas sensing from a moving platform and autonomous search on Earth, not the lunar environment or the IM-5 flight sensors.
"Once successful, we will demonstrate this capability during an upcoming field campaign in Alaska already funded by a Planetary Science and Technology Analog Research (PSTAR) project in Summer 2024."
— TechPort project 146932, description (GSFC CIF, PI Sultana, FY2024)"Due to the challenging terrain, autonomous drones are deployed to navigate the landscape and perform methane measurements"
— NTRS 20240012527, page 5"The NAMASTE mission is currently ongoing, with the second field campaign having been completed in the Summer of 2024."
— NTRS 20240012527, page 5"used a fleet of autonomous drones to measure methane plumes at Alaskan permafrost sites"
— NASA SPAR Lab shares AI tool for spacecraft - SpaceNews, photo caption; the article body is paywalled and was not read
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage (printed nanomaterial sensors): Sensors printed from nanomaterials (graphene, carbon nanotubes, molybdenum disulfide) with a nanoscale offset printing technique from Northeastern University, then made selective with functional groups. The flight version uses functionalized graphene and graphene oxide for water, hydrogen and hydrocarbons. Ground tests: vacuum-chamber characterization and a multiphysics model of the lunar gas flow; the Polaris prototype passed environmental tests to TRL 6 and field campaigns.
"We use a suite of sensors made of functionalized graphene and graphene oxide that are selective for the target species."
— hou.usra.edu: 5035.pdf"The response of MNP has been characterized in the presence of various gases in a vacuum chamber in the laboratory environment."
— hou.usra.edu: 5035.pdf"The prototype was also tested in field campaigns to environmental characterization."
— TechPort project 116434, outcome
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- STMD Game Changing Development, 'Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform (MNP)' (TechPort 184622, NASA Goddard, 1 Nov 2024 to 31 July 2032): the flight instrument for Roo-ver. No amount in TechPort. (STMD GCD; FY2025-FY2032): amount not in public sources
"The sensors within the instrument are customized to make sensitive measurements of the exhaust plume expected in the lunar environment."
— TechPort project 184622, description
- ESDMD Polaris project (Mars Campaign Office; TechPort 116434, May 2021 to Aug 2024): a standalone prototype for hydrogen, methane, ammonia and water, environmentally tested to TRL 6. No amount in TechPort. (ESDMD Polaris (Mars Campaign Office); 2021-2024): amount not in public sources
"The integrated prototype went through environmental testing to achieve TRL 6."
— TechPort project 116434, outcome, closed out 2024-08-01
- STMD Early Career Initiative, 'Autonomous Multifunctional Sensor Platform' (TechPort 95575, PI Sultana, Oct 2018 to Sep 2020), building on Goddard CIF work of 2017-2018. It led to Polaris and to NAMASTE. No amount in TechPort. (STMD Early Career Initiative; FY2019-FY2020): amount not in public sources
"Follow on funding within ESDMD, through a competitive opportunity they called Polaris."
— TechPort project 95575, outcome, 2020-02-01"We will leverage the exciting progress made on the 3D printed sensors under CIF 2017 and 2018 (PI Sultana)."
— TechPort project 95575, description
- Earlier Goddard seed funding for the printed nanosensors: IRAD (TechPort 17386, FY2015), Center Innovation Fund (93983 and 93927, FY2017-2018), IRAD (146878, FY2022, machine learning for MNP) and CIF (146932, FY2024, autonomy). No amounts in TechPort. (GSFC IRAD and Center Innovation Fund; FY2015-FY2024): amount not in public sources
"We use 3D manufacturing techniques to fabricate sensors based on nanomaterials."
— TechPort project 17386, 17386 (GSFC IRAD, 2014-10-01 to 2015-09-30)"an ultra-compact in situ chemical analysis tool called the Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform (MNP)"
— TechPort project 146878, 146878 (GSFC IRAD, 2021-10-01 to 2022-09-30)
- SMD PICASSO, 'Volatile-sensing Array for Planetary Onsite Research (VAPOR)' (TechPort 97165, PI Sultana, with Northeastern University, Oct 2021 to Sep 2024): the same printed nanomaterial sensor approach for planetary trace gases. No amount in TechPort. (SMD PICASSO; FY2022-FY2024): amount not in public sources
"We propose to develop the first nanomaterial based sensor platform with highly sensitive, stable, wireless sensor system"
— TechPort project 97165, description
- NASA purchase order to Northeastern University, 'Multifunction Nanosensor Platform' (80NSSC22PC264, Sep 2022 to Sep 2025). Linked by the description. (NASA purchase order (NSSC); 2022-2025): $249,942
"MULTIFUNCTION NANOSENSOR PLATFORM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC22PC264, description; obligated 249942.0
- NASA purchase order to MIT, 'Autonomous Multifunctional Sensor Platform' (80NSSC21P0025, Oct 2020 to Oct 2021), the title of the ECI project. Linked by the description. (NASA purchase order (NSSC); 2020-2021): $139,999
"AUTONOMOUS MULTIFUNCTIONAL SENSOR PLATFORM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC21P0025, description; obligated 139999.47
- NASA Marshall delivery order to Johns Hopkins APL for an 'MNP Science Participation Team' (80MSFC25F7048, signed 30 Sep 2025, Nov 2025 to Oct 2028). Science support for the lunar flight, not hardware. (NASA delivery order (MSFC), under IDIQ 80MSFC20D0004; 2025-2028): $50,000
"MULTIFUNCTIONAL NANOSENSOR PLATFORM (MNP) SCIENCE PARTICIPATION TEAM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80MSFC25F7048, description; obligated 50000.0
- SMD Planetary Science and Technology Analog Research (PSTAR): NAMASTE, a 2022-2025 drone campaign led by Sultana to map methane at Alaskan permafrost sites. The MNP line's work continued under it. No amount public. (SMD PSTAR; 2022-2025): amount not in public sources
"is a three-year (2022-2025) research campaign led by Dr. Mahmooda Sul- tana (NASA GSFC) for characterizing the methane distribu- tions in the permafrost sites of Alaska (funded by Planetary Science and Technology Analog Research (PSTAR))"
— NTRS 20240012527, page 5 (OnAIR paper, 2025)"Continued work under "Network for Assessment of Methane Activity in Space and Terrestrial Environments (NAMASTE)""
— TechPort project 95575, outcome, 2022-10-01
How it got onto CLPS¶
"Under this project, a completely standalone MNP instrument is customized to interface with a small rover provided by the Australian Space Agency"
— TechPort project 184622, description (GCD, start 2024-11-01)"the MNP instrument will be integrated into the Australian Space Agency’s rover (“Roo-ver”), a foundation services technology demonstration"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA""CT-#" task orders indicate a CLPS Technology delivery led by Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)."
— Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Deliveries - NASA Science"The MNP will be integrated into the Australian Space Agency’s Lunar Rover (Roo-ver)."
— Intuitive Machines Expands Lunar Surface Operations with
On the Moon¶
Manifested on IM-5 (Nova-D), on the Australian Space Agency's Roo-ver, targeted for 2030 at Mons Malapert. Roo-ver itself is a technology demonstration of mobility and autonomy.
"Roo-ver will validate key mobility and autonomy technologies in the lunar environment while serving as the enabling platform for MNP’s scientific objectives"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO project, flight or report names MNP, its Goddard team, its Northeastern partner or the Australian rover. The study's earlier traceback did not grade IM-5 payloads (none were named when it was built). Grade: none. MNP's only flight-like test found is on drones in Alaska (PSTAR), on Earth. Its lunar measurement depends on sensing very low gas levels in vacuum and on a rover moving away from the lander, neither of which it has done in flight; that is the study's remark.
"Six more missions have been awarded with no NASA payloads named in the sources"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"Lead organization for MNP: NASA’ Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA"Multifunctional nanosensor platform for in situ measurements of lander-generated lunar volatiles M. Sultana"
— hou.usra.edu: 5035.pdf, Lunar Surface Science Workshop 25, abstract 5035"Multifunctional Nanosensor Platform (MNP) is an ultra-compact, light, low-power and highly sensitive instrument for the in situ detection of gases and volatiles."
— TechPort project 184622, description; contacts: Mahmooda Sultana, Project Manager"MULTIFUNCTION NANOSENSOR PLATFORM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC22PC264, recipient Northeastern University"MULTIFUNCTIONAL NANOSENSOR PLATFORM (MNP) SCIENCE PARTICIPATION TEAM"
— USAspending.gov, award 80MSFC25F7048, recipient Johns Hopkins APL; awarding office NASA Marshall
Moon Base need¶
"It will investigate how exhaust plumes from a lander’s engines interact with the lunar regolith by measuring volatile compounds over time and at varying distances from the landing site."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA"informing the design of safer, more sustainable landing systems and surface operations"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA"better understand the population of gases that may become volatilized/released during"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-013 L: In situ measurements of the composition, distribution, and abundance of volatiles in the near-surface lunar south pole, description"any landing under these programs will release a substantial amount of nonindigenous volatiles"
— hou.usra.edu: 5035.pdf
Open questions¶
- How was MNP chosen for the Australian rover, and by whom? Not in public sources (the GCD project already named the rover in November 2024).
- Did the NAMASTE drones carry an MNP-line sensor? The plan says so for summer 2024, but no NASA source read here names the sensor flown.
- What MNP costs: not in public sources (GCD gives no amount; the purchase orders found are small).
- The Australian Space Agency's Roo-ver pages could not be fetched from here (time-outs); Roo-ver's builder, funding and tests are not covered.
- Will MNP fly in a vacuum or reduced-gravity test before 2030? Not in public sources.