Lunar Raman Deep-Ultraviolet Visible Spectrograph (LR-DUV-VIS)

Lunar volatile delivery and subsequent modern-day transport, is of great interest for in situ resource utilization. Measurements of the relative compositions volatile ices in Permanently Shaded Regions (PSRs) are needed to constrain the importance of key processes and sources. As Mandt et al. (2022) demonstrated, the relative ratios of C-H-O-N-S volatile species are diagnostic of the key source and loss processes for lunar volatiles. The mineral inventory of individual rocks and full regions can distinguish the influence of numerous geophysical processes (e.g., impacts, volcanism, and space-weathering/maturity). Assessments of lunar mineral trace species, hydration states, and space weathering (npFe0/SMFe) related alterations of olivine and plagioclase feldspar provide relative chronological constraints for investigating surface evolution. Raman spectroscopy is well suited for both volatile and mineralogical studies, making it destined to become a core lunar payload instrument. The Lunar Raman Deep-Ultraviolet Visible Spectrograph (Lunar Raman DUV-VIS; e.g., “du-viz”) concept advances a dual-laser Deep-UV+Visible Raman system capable of detecting complex molecules and performing compositional assays with a fiber-fed focusing lens sensor. Lunar Raman DUV-VIS is suitable for lunar landers, rovers, Artemis EVA stations, and the lunar terrain vehicle, as it constrains volatiles in PSRs, mineral hydrated states, and key mineral abundances. A breadboard Raman spectrograph has been developed through SwRI IR&D. Our multi-fiber spectrograph approach combines a standard focusing lens sensor for contextual spot sampling, with two channels, Deep-UV (DUV) and Visible (VIS), for disentangling Raman and fluorescence signals from each species. Our two-channels-in-one Raman approach uses the same multi-fiber fed spectrograph with one sensor frontend, offering the advantages of both DUV and VIS Raman techniques to mission concepts according to science objectives. Advantages for DUV Raman excitation include substantial molecule resonance enhancement and avoidance of the autofluorescence spectral region, ideal for detecting trace amounts of carbonaceous volatiles and determining deuterium to hydrogen ratios in water ice. The VIS laser channel is well suited to surveying relative abundances of oxygen bearing minerals, complementing the DUV channel. A key attribute is its coverage of phonon modes at low wavenumbers and higher spectral resolution, probing crystallinity and further constraining mineral types. Two spectrograph channels feed one CMOS detector for compactness. The compact design and low resources for LR-DUV-VIS enable it to be a core part of a PRISM suite. LR-DUV-VIS’s focusing lens sensor, e.g., at the end of a robotic arm, samples spots of diameter 50-100 um in the workspace of a lander, rover, or Artemis workstation. A GoPro camera is added to the sensor head for context imaging of the focusing lens target. A TRL 4 system level breadboard built using SwRI IR&D funds has demonstrated basic functionality for key components with example spectra (Moore et al., SPIE, 2018). Our DALI project builds a prototype and measures Apollo samples in-house at SwRI, demonstrating exit TRL 6 and direct relevance to DALI. Several instrument components are already at TRL 6, with environmental testing achieving TRL 6 with the fully assembled system for successful TRL 6 demonstration. Tasks include customization of the instrument concept for continuous wave DUV 266 nm and VIS 633 nm Raman lasers, developed for flight by Fibertek in partnership with TOPTICA Photonics. A clear TRL advancement plan is provided for each component and the full prototype by our experienced team.

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