P084-06
The Mid- and Long-wave Infrared Point Spectrometer (MLPS): A Miniature Planetary Science Instrument for Small Spacecraft
Wednesday, 16 December 2020: 07:15
Virtual
William R Johnson1, Xiangwen Chen2, Matthew E Kenyon3, Jordana Blacksberg4, Daniel W Wilson2, Carol A Raymond5 and Bethany L Ehlmann6, (1)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States, (3)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (4)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (5)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States
Abstract:
The Mid- and Long-wave Infrared Point Spectrometer (MLPS) was conceived as an instrument for a single or multi-spacecraft small body cubesat missions to provide quantitative answers to three specific questions relevant to how these bodies (asteroids, Martian moons, comets, etc.) formed, and what information they reveal about the dynamical evolution of the solar system: (1) What is the quantity of water in each object? (2) In what phase(s) is the water incorporated (ice vs. hydrated silicate minerals)? and (3) Are organics or other volatiles present, and if so, what types and in what form? Highly capable imaging and point spectrometers have been demonstrated recently on the Dawn, Hayabusa2, and OSIRIS-REx missions to asteroids. However, separate instruments are used to assess the reflected and emitted light ranges, and these large instruments are not compatible with the emerging classes of small satellites and small landers. The Mini-Neutron Spectrometer developed for in LunaH-Map, can quantify H abundance coarsely for a slow asteroid flyby, but precise estimates require weeks to months of integration, making volatile heterogeneity assessment for asteroid flybys difficult to impossible with this technique. In contrast, a point spectrometer with integrated wavelength range coverage is both feasible and scientifically compelling in this situation.
The MLPS simultaneously acquires high resolution MWIR and LWIR measurements from a single, integrated instrument. Quantitative compositional and thermal information from reflected and emitted light from a planetary surface enables robust compositional and mineralogic interpretations from a single data set that are applicable to a wide range of spectroscopic investigations from small satellites and landers. MLPS is built upon three key technologies: bi-faceted gratings, barrier infrared detector (BIRD), and thermopile detector, which have been customized for this instrument to make it possible to measure the MWIR (2–4 μm) and LWIR (5.5–12 μm) simultaneously with the BIRD and thermopile, respectively, in a payload that fits in a 2U volume.
Part of this work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government sponsorship acknowledged.
