Standoff ultra-compact micro-Raman (SUCR) sensor for lunar surface exploration

The Raman characterization results of lunar relevant simulants, including liquid water, ice, and organics using NASA Langley developed standoff ultra-compact micro-Raman (SUCR) sensor are presented. The SUCR sensor is designed as an instrument applicable for future lunar surface operations. The SUCR is equipped to be mounted on a lunar lander's platform or on a rover's robotic arm for close Raman inspection of mixed samples on the lunar surface, including mapping the mineralogy, determining water ice distribution, and identifying frozen volatiles. It enables a critical in-situ measurement for future sample return missions by identifying the highest-value samples for return within the vicinity of the lunar Aitken basin. The outcome of this study allows this sensor to be suitable to investigate the variety of mixed lunar samples and in the process helps understand the habitability of the lunar south pole, where there is a broader emphasis on surface chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. In this article, we report the ability of the SUCR sensor to characterize and identify samples, for example, water/ice, sulfur/naphthalene, lunar simulant sample containing pyroxene, plagioclase, and olivine minerals, and in addition to Raman scan map of mixed sulfur, glutamine, and naphthalene.