Mass Spectrometer for Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo)

IM-5 · manifested · NASA payload

A quadrupole mass spectrometer that identifies light volatile gases (mass 1 to 100), such as water, around the lander after touchdown, and tracks how they change. It is a commercial INFICON gas analyzer, ruggedized for spaceflight at NASA Kennedy, with a calibration gas system, a contamination cover and a radiation-tolerant computer. On IM-5 there is no drill: it measures the gases near the lander, including those the landing brings.

PI: Not named for IM-5 in public sources. Janine Captain (NASA Kennedy) manages the MSolo project (TechPort 185745); Jacqueline Quinn and Janine Captain were the PIs on IM-2.
Built by: NASA Kennedy Space Center, with INFICON (the commercial mass spectrometer) (NASA center)

Technology	volatiles mass spectrometer (modified commercial instrument)
Moon Base need	DN-013 L (The study's reading; NASA names no data gap. DN-013 L asks for the composition of volatiles at the South Pole, partly to know which gases human activity (landings, rovers) will release. On IM-5, without a drill, MSolo measures the gases around the lander after touchdown, which is that second question at one site; it does not reach the 1 m depth DN-013 L asks for. NASA's Lunar Surface Technology page lists MSOLO under ISRU. With SCALPSS and MNP on the same lander, IM-5 measures landing effects three ways; that grouping is the study's remark. A 2030 landing falls in Phase 2 by date, the study's reading.)
Route onto CLPS	STMD; MSolo was first on NASA's Peregrine manifest (January 2020; how it was chosen is not stated) and was moved off. In April 2020 NASA put it on Masten Mission One (TO 19C), whose payloads came mostly from the NPLP and LSITP calls; that order was cancelled. It flew instead as half of PRIME-1, the STMD Game Changing Development payload (IM-2, 2025). NASA named MSolo among IM-5's payloads in March 2026. CT-4 is an STMD-led delivery by NASA's naming, and STMD's Game Changing Development program funds 'MSolo for Commercial Partnerships' from February 2026, which is building four more flight units. Whether the IM-5 unit is one of them is not stated.; 2026-03-24
Timeline	first funding not in public sources (the sensor was first tested for Resource Prospector in 2015; NASA bought ruggedized units in 2018); first flight test 2025-02-27 (IM-2 launch; landed 2025-03-06); selected 2020-01-22 (Peregrine manifest); 2020-04-08 (Masten, cancelled); PRIME-1 (IM-2) 2020; 2026-03-24 (CT-4, IM-5); launch not in public sources (landing targeted for 2030); landing 2030 (target)
On the Moon	not yet flown
FO	none

Flights before the Moon

• earlier lunar mission: Intuitive Machines IM-2 (Nova-C 'Athena'), MSolo as part of PRIME-1, 2025-02-27 (launch, UTC); landed 2025-03-06. The same instrument design, from transit to the lunar surface. In transit it 'performed beautifully'. The lander came to rest on its side, so the drill never ran; MSolo was powered on three times on the surface and took 43 scans, seeing only gases the mission brought (Earth air, water, and the lander's vented methane and oxygen). Lessons: Earth air lingered for days in the unsealed sensor, so bake-out or long run time is needed before measuring. The team says the flight validated a space-hardened commercial instrument.

"The first thing to notice is that the instrument performed beautifully."
— NTRS 20260003150, page 10 (MSolo results, April 2026)

"MSolo was powered on 3 times, doing scans at 10 parts per amu, 0-90 m/z."
— NTRS 20260003150, page 19

"Baking out a MS and/or leaving it on for long enough to remove contaminants is necessary to get the best sensitivity."
— NTRS 20260003150, page 21 (lessons learned)

"A COTS instrument, space hardened, can operate well in space and on the lunar surface."
— NTRS 20260003150, page 21

"detected elements likely due to the gases emitted from the lander’s propulsion system"
— NASA Receives Some Data Before Intuitive Machines Ends Lunar Mission - NASA

Heritage hardware

• commercial instrument: The sensor is INFICON's Transpector MPH residual gas analyzer. Kennedy redesigned the power supply with radiation-tested parts, added a ruggedized chassis, calibration gas, a contamination cover and its own software. No source names a spaceflight of the commercial unit before IM-2.

"The base instrument is the commercially available Transpector® MPH residual gas analyzer (RGA) from INFICON"
— NTRS 20240015183, VIPER's MSolo, 2025

"The components used on the NASA-designed power supply have undergone radiation testing"
— NTRS 20240015183

• flown design (flight computer): MSolo's Space Hybrid Computer is closely based on the CHREC Space Processor of the NSF's SHREC center, which has flown on the ISS several times. Another team's design, so heritage, not an earlier flight of MSolo.

"The circuit schematic is nearly identical, and the CSP has been used on the ISS several times"
— NTRS 20240015183

• flight design and sister units: Units built to the PRIME-1 configuration: MSolo-1 (delivered for Peregrine, 2020), the IM-2 unit (flown), VIPER's unit (on Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 2), and four more in build from 2026. Its software has been adapted to four CLPS providers.

"The MSolo software has already been adapted to interface with four different Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) providers"
— TechPort project 185745, benefits

"which has been officially delivered to the launch and landing provider"
— TechPort project 97206, outcome (MSolo-1, for Peregrine Mission One)

Funding before the lunar flight

• STMD Game Changing Development, 'MSolo for Commercial Partnerships' (TechPort 185745, NASA Kennedy, Feb 2026 to Sep 2027): four more flight units, built, calibrated, thermally tested and stored for upcoming missions. No amount in TechPort; which unit flies on IM-5 is not stated. (STMD GCD; FY2026-FY2027): amount not in public sources

"These instruments will be flight-ready and will be stored appropriately, ready for rapid integration into upcoming missions."
— TechPort project 185745, benefits

• STMD Game Changing Development, PRIME-1 (TechPort 116360, Feb 2020 to May 2026), which built and flew the IM-2 MSolo. No amount in TechPort. (STMD GCD; FY2020-FY2026): amount not in public sources

"MSolo, a ruggedized quadrupole mass spectrometer adapted from commercial-off-the-shelf technology"
— TechPort project 116360, description

• KSC Center Independent R&D: the Space Hybrid Computer, MSolo's flight computer (TechPort 97206, 2019-2020). No amount in TechPort. (KSC IRAD; 2019-2020): amount not in public sources

"The SHC is the primary computer for a completed KSC science payload known as MSolo-1"
— TechPort project 97206, outcome, closed out 2020-12-31

• Early MSolo purchases by NASA: three ruggedized Transpector MPH analyzers and spares from INFICON (80NSSC18P3128, 2018, $198,000) and 'INFICON mass spectrometer instruments and support services' for Kennedy (80KSC019P0030, 2019-2022, $363,458). Neither names MSolo; linked by instrument and dates, as in im2-msolo. They paid for the first units (Peregrine/PRIME-1, perhaps Masten), not clearly the IM-5 unit. A larger INFICON order (80KSC020P0002, $1,264,972) is for VIPER and is not counted here. (NASA purchase orders (NSSC, KSC); 2018-2022): amount not in public sources

"3 100 AMU OPEN IS RUGGEDIZED TRANSPECTOR MPH"
— USAspending.gov, award INFICON, 80NSSC18P3128; amount 198000.0

"INFICON MASS SPECTROMETER INSTRUMENTS AND SUPPORT SERVICES"
— USAspending.gov, award INFICON, 80KSC019P0030; amount 363458.0

"INFICON SUPPORTS VOLATILES INVESTIGATING POLAR EXPLORATION ROVER (VIPER)DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OCCURRING AT NASA"
— USAspending.gov, award INFICON, 80KSC020P0002; amount 1264972.0 (VIPER, not counted)

• Small NASA orders that name MSolo: avionics boards (Sierra Circuits, 80NSSC19P1218, June 2019, $18,138.55) and interface hardware to Astrobotic's lander (Xometry, 80NSSC20P0462, January 2020, $31,146.80). Both were for the first unit (Peregrine), not the IM-5 unit. (NASA purchase orders (NSSC); 2019-2020): amount not in public sources

"FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY OF AVIONICS BOARDS TO SUPPORT MSOLO"
— USAspending.gov, award MSOLO, 80NSSC19P1218; amount 18138.55

"MASS SPECTROMETER OBSERVING LUNAR OPERATIONS (MSOLO) TOASTROBOTIC (AB) INTERFACE HARDWARD"
— USAspending.gov, award MSOLO, 80NSSC20P0462; amount 31146.8

How it got onto CLPS

"MSolo will identify low-molecular weight volatiles."
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA, 22 Jan 2020, Astrobotic payloads

"is a device to measure potentially accessible resources on the Moon’s surface"
— NASA Awards Contract to Deliver Science, Tech to Moon Ahead of Human Missions - NASA, Masten award, 8 Apr 2020

"TO 19C: Awarded to Masten Space Systems; the payloads are now being re-manifested on other TOs."
— ntrs.nasa.gov: CLPS2025LPSCv1.pdf

"STMD’s Game Changing Development program funds PRIME-1."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Land Water-Measuring Payload on the Moon - NASA

"The mass spectrometer demonstrated its gas analysis capabilities in lunar conditions during Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission in 2025."
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA, IM-5 payloads, 27 Mar 2026

""CT-#" task orders indicate a CLPS Technology delivery led by Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)."
— Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Deliveries - NASA Science

"NASA is currently building four additional MSolo units using the same configuration-controlled processes developed for Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1)."
— TechPort project 185745, benefits (GCD, 2026-02-01 to 2027-09-30)

On the Moon

Manifested on IM-5 (Nova-D), targeted for 2030 at Mons Malapert. Intuitive Machines says MSolo 'characterizes the lunar exosphere and monitors volatile species'.

"A quadrupole mass spectrometer that characterizes the lunar exosphere and monitors volatile species."
— Intuitive Machines Expands Lunar Surface Operations with

FO's role

Grade: none. No FO project, report or page names MSolo, INFICON or the Kennedy MSolo team, and the instrument had no flight before IM-2. Its first flight taught a lesson ground tests had missed: Earth air lingered in the unsealed sensor for days. A pre-CLPS flight of the kind FO offers might catch such lessons; that is the study's remark, not the team's. Grade: none, as for IM-2.

"No FO record or report names SCALPSS, ROLSES, LN-1, the retroreflectors,"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)

"We seemed to be seeing air in"
— NTRS 20260003150, page 11

Who built it

"Lead organization: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida"
— NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon - NASA

"MSolo is a modified commercial off the shelf (COTS) instrument based on a gas analyzer from INFICON"
— TechPort project 185745, description; contacts: Janine E Captain, Project Manager

"PI: [Dr. Jacqueline Quinn]"
— PRIME-1 Science - NASA Science, IM-2, with Dr. Janine Captain

Moon Base need

"Mass Spectrometer for Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) will characterize the makeup of volatiles (things that easily evaporate) in the environment around the lander following touchdown."
— 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

"Volatile abundance to at least 1 m depth, with a 0.1 wt% detection limit."
— 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

"MSOLO (mass spectrometer, operated on IM-2)"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Lunar surface technology for the Moon Base, ISRU row

Open questions

• Is the IM-5 MSolo one of the four new units, the unit built for Masten, or another? Not in public sources.
• Who is MSolo's PI for IM-5? NASA names only Kennedy.
• What MSolo costs per unit: not in public sources. 'MSolo for Commercial Partnerships' gives no amount.
• Will the bake-out lesson from IM-2 change the IM-5 operations plan? Not in public sources.