Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS)

The Neutron Measurement System (NMS-Lunar) is an instrument payload manifested on Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One (M1). Astrobotic Mission One will land at Lacus Mortis (~44oN, 254oE). Astrobotic will fly up to fourteen NASA payloads to the lunar surface in addition to other payload customers on M1. NMS-Lunar is a re-design of the MSFC Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FNS) currently operating on the ISS. The design of NMS-Lunar enables operation on the lunar surface, integration onto the Peregrine lander, and measurement of thermal neutron count rates on the lunar surface. The primary science objectives for NMS-Lunar is to provide ground truth of mapped neutron data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Prospector missions. Neutrons are created when galactic cosmic rays interact with the lunar regolith, and can provide valuable elemental composition information.