Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS)¶

Peregrine Mission One · failed to land · NASA payload

A small ion-trap mass spectrometer (3.3 kg, mass range 10-150) with a zenith-facing opening and a dust cover. Gas molecules drift in, are trapped and sorted by mass. It was to track water, noble gases, nitrogen and other volatiles in the thin lunar exosphere through a lunar day, including the lander's own exhaust after landing.

PI: Barbara Cohen (NASA Goddard)
Built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (lead and wrapper) with ESA: the mass spectrometer (EMS) was built by The Open University with STFC RAL Space under ESA contract (NASA center)


Technology	science instrument (mass spectrometer)
Moon Base need	DN-013 L (The study's reading, and partial. NASA does not tie PITMS to a data gap. DN-013 L asks about volatiles near the South Pole, including gases that landings and surface activity release; PITMS was to measure exosphere volatiles and lander exhaust at a mid-latitude site, as a point of comparison for polar measurements (NASA's words).)
Route onto CLPS	NPLP; NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads: on the February 2019 list as the 'Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer for Lunar Surface Volatiles', then named PROSPECT Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer, later Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer. Manifested on Astrobotic's first delivery (TO2-AB). In April 2023 NASA kept it on Peregrine to keep its commitment to ESA while moving five other payloads off.; 2019-02-21
Timeline	first funding 2019 (NPLP selection); ESA's EMS funding followed the NASA-ESA MOU, which delayed the start by more than a year; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2019-02-21 (NPLP); manifested on Peregrine in 2019; launch 2024-01-08; landing not in public sources
On the Moon	partly operated
FO	none

Flights before the Moon¶

Earth orbit or deep space: Ptolemy mass spectrometer on ESA's Rosetta lander Philae, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, not in the sources cited here (Rosetta mission). A predecessor by the same Open University and RAL Space team: Ptolemy made the first in situ measurements of volatiles and organics on a comet. PITMS' spectrometer and electronics have direct heritage from it. PITMS itself had no flight before Peregrine.

"The EMS had direct heritage from the Ptolemy mass spectrometer that made the first in situ measurements of volatiles and organics on comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the Rosetta lander, Philae"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 6

"It was previously developed for ESA's (European Space Agency) Rosetta mission and is being modified for this mission by NASA Goddard and ESA."
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA, 22 Jan 2020

Heritage hardware¶

design heritage (Ptolemy, Rosetta): The ion trap and electronics follow Ptolemy's design. Only one flight unit was built (a proto-flight model, with no engineering or qualification unit), plus a ground reference model for calibration and operations planning. It was designed, built, tested and delivered in about 18 months, during COVID-19. Ground tests only: environmental tests, and calibration in vacuum chambers.

"Because there was no qualification or engineering unit developed, the development resulted in a single instrument known as a Proto-Flight Model, or PFM."
— NTRS 20240012926, page 6

"The PITMS electronics were similar to those used on the Ptolemy instrument developed by The Open University and RAL Space for the Philae lander of the ESA Rosetta mission"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 17

pathfinder for a later instrument: The PITMS spectrometer was an early flight pathfinder for the similar instrument in ESA's PROSPECT package, now manifested on IM-4.

"The PITMS EMS also provided an early flight pathfinder for the ongoing development of a similar instrument for the PROSPECT mission"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 6

Funding before the lunar flight¶

NASA SMD NPLP for the investigation and GSFC wrapper, and ESA for the mass spectrometer (approved by ESA's ministerial under a NASA-ESA MOU). The team gives the budget as $1M (US) and €1.25M: a figure from the paper, not from USAspending, so no amount is entered here. (SMD NPLP; ESA; 2019-2021 (build)): amount not in public sources

"on a small budget ($1M US and €1.25M Euro)"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 2

"approved for development by the ESA ministerial under a NASA-ESA MOU"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 9

Dynamics and thermal-vacuum testing of PITMS by UK Research and Innovation (STFC RAL Space), bought by NASA. Linked by the award description, which names PITMS. (NASA purchase order 80NSSC21P0724; 2021-01 to 2021-07): $162,464

"DYNAMICS AND TVAC TESTING ON PITMS INSTRUMENT"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC21P0724, description; amount 162464.48

Johns Hopkins APL task order for PITMS (via NASA Marshall), September 2022 to July 2024, partly after the flight. Linked by the award description. The work is not described. (NASA contract (ARDES II task order 80MSFC22F0132); 2022-09 to 2024-07): $33,830

"PEREGRINE ION TRAP MASS SPECTROMETER (PITMS) TASK ORDER UNDER 80MSFC20D0004 AEROSPACE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT (ARDES) II."
— USAspending.gov, award 80MSFC22F0132, description; amount 33830.0

How it got onto CLPS¶

"The Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer for Lunar Surface Volatiles instrument is an ion-trap mass spectrometer"
— NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 - NASA, release of 21 Feb 2019

"selected for development by NASA under the NASA Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP) solicitation"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 2

"This manifest upholds NASA's commitment to ESA to fly Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS)"
— TO2-AB Science Payloads - NASA Science, update of 6 Apr 2023

On the Moon¶

Peregrine could not land. PITMS ran in four sessions (8.5 hours), applied a software patch, opened its dust cover and took 84 spectra (80 complete) of the spacecraft environment. It saw water it had carried from Earth, and NO and NO2 from the lander's MON-25 oxidizer. The team says the data confirm PITMS was healthy and could make useful measurements on future missions. No lunar surface data.

"PITMS operated for 8.5 hrs and collected ~80 spectra of the Peregrine spacecraft environment"
— NTRS 20240003414, summary slide

"Spectrum includes MON-25 products NO and NO2"
— NTRS 20240003414, oxidizer slide

"The data confirm PITMS was in good health and that the instrument could provide useful measurements of lunar volatile compounds on future missions."
— NASA Science, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission to Conclude - NASA

FO's role¶

Grade: none. No FO project, flight or report names PITMS, its Goddard PI, The Open University or an ion-trap mass spectrometer. Its only earlier flight heritage is ESA's Rosetta mission. The study's earlier traceback grade (none found) stands.

""note": "Nothing in the FO sources.""
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)

Who built it¶

"Payload principal investigator: Dr. Barbara Cohen, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center"
— NASA Sending Five Payloads to Moon on Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander - NASA

"The mass spectrometer and electronics make up the Exospheric Mass Spectrometer (EMS), built by OU in collaboration with RAL Space under contract from ESA."
— NTRS 20240012926, page 2 (PITMS investigation paper, 2024)

"The wrapper, built by NASA GSFC, provided structural elements to mate the EMS to the lander"
— NTRS 20240012926, page 2

Moon Base need¶

"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

"providing a mid-latitude point of comparison for polar measurements planned by VIPER, PROSPECT, and other missions"
— TO2-AB Science Payloads - NASA Science, PITMS section

Open questions¶

PITMS' full cost: the team gives $1M and €1.25M, but NASA's in-house cost and ESA's contract value are not in USAspending.
The as-flown results paper (Cohen, Barber, Gawronska et al., in preparation in 2024) was not found in NTRS.
Has the PITMS ground reference model or spare been used for PROSPECT (IM-4)? Not in public sources.