Bold claim: NASA is advancing lunar science by arming Artemis IV with two new surface instruments that could reshape how humans study and survive on the Moon. These tools, designed for deployment by astronauts in the Moon’s south polar region, aim to deepen our understanding of the lunar environment and pave the way for future missions to Mars.
Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, emphasizes that the Apollo era taught a hard lesson: as distance from Earth grows, reliance on science to protect and sustain human life increases. By placing these two instruments on the Moon, NASA intends to lead the way in creating a practical interplanetary survival guide that safeguards both spacecraft and explorers as humanity accelerates its return to the Moon and onward to Mars.
Dust has long been recognized as a formidable challenge for lunar exploration. After Apollo 17, astronauts and mission planners acknowledged how lunar dust clings to everything and is highly abrasive. The DUSTER (DUst and plaSma environmenT survEyoR) mission will be mounted on a small autonomous rover to study dust and plasma around the landing site. Its findings will advance knowledge of the Moon’s natural dust and plasma behavior and reveal how this environment responds to human activity, including disturbances from crew movement and lander liftoff. Xu Wang of the University of Colorado Boulder leads the DUSTER team, with a contract valued at $24.8 million over three years.
Data from the SPSS (South Pole Seismic Station) will illuminate the Moon’s interior structure and the geologic processes shaping rocky bodies like it. The seismometer will quantify impact rates, monitor real-time seismic activity to inform astronaut operations, and characterize the Moon’s deep interior. An active-source experiment involving a “thumper” will probe the shallow structure around the landing site. Mark Panning of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads SPSS, with a three-year award of $25 million.
NASA notes that these two science investigations will be placed on the Moon by human explorers to achieve scientifically strategic goals endorsed by NASA and the broader scientific community. The Artemis IV Science Team will integrate the instrument teams as part of the mission’s planning and execution. While these payloads are selected for further development toward Artemis IV, final flight manifest decisions remain to be made later.
Artemis programs aim to answer high-priority science questions that are best tackled through on-site human exploration, leveraging the Moon’s unique environment alongside robotic surface and orbital assets. The missions seek to enable scientific discovery, economic benefits, and the foundational experience needed for the first crewed Mars missions.
For more information on Artemis, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov/molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
