Mission Control is excited to announce their involvement in the PHOENIX (Portable Handheld combined
RamaN-LIBS-XRF) project, awarded by ESA.
Mission Control is working with, INTA, University of Leicester, and the University of Valladolid, to produce two types of hand-held spectrometers for astronauts to do field geology on the lunar surface.
The spectrometers developed for PHOENIX, under ESA’s PANGAEA program, will combine LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy), XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) imaging, and Raman spectroscopy, along with visual context imaging. The instruments will be used by astronauts on the Moon to help them rapidly characterize geological features of interest.
In the PHOENIX project, Mission Control’s software, Spacefarer, is being adapted for this instrument, to be used by astronauts or Earth-based controllers for on-site or remote operations in the future. Mission Control is excited to enable the next chapter of lunar exploration.
