Show threadPhil StookeSep 10, 2025
Did I say commercial payloads? At the NASA Exploration Science Forum in July, Ben Bussey (IM's Chief Scientist) listed them: a plant growth experiment from Australia, virtual reality cameras from Canada, an Italian laser reflector and a 'science and testing facility' from a Houston company. That's not all. IM is also flying a lunar relay satellite, the first of a 5 satellite constellation which has its own set of cameras and instruments.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps
Show threadPhil StookeSep 9, 2025

The rover carries a magnetometer to measure the field across the dark lane, plus a microscopic camera to study the regolith microstructure. The lander carries cameras, a plasma instrument and its own magnetometer. Another payload will be deployed, CADRE, whch is described here:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/cadre/

The lander will also carry a laser reflector. Like many CLPS missions it also has some commercial payloads.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps

CADRE

A trio of small rovers will work as a team to explore the Moon autonomously, mapping the subsurface in 3D, collecting distributed measurements, and showing the potential of multirobot missions.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Show threadPhil StookeSep 9, 2025
This set of maps lets us zoom in on the Reiner Gamma area and the sites chosen for Lunar Vertex and IM-3. The second map shows 5 candidate sites and a later addition labelled A. At lower left a closeup has two sites with traverses - the A site came later and is preferred, perhaps because it avoids a crater rim which might complicate the magnetic field analysis. The rover has to be in line of sight to the lander at all times.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps
Show threadPhil StookeSep 8, 2025
Riccioli called the spot Galilaeus after the chap we would call Galileo, but when better views showed it was not a crater that name was moved to a quite small crater nearby, too small really for Galileo. We now call the spot Reiner Gamma. The greek letters were used for hills and mountains in the past (as at Gruithuisen which we'll see) but this is not a hill either. It turns out to be a strong magnetic anomaly and bright swirling shape in a flat area. More tomorrow.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps
Show threadPhil StookeSep 8, 2025

The wonderful Linda Hall Library in Kansas City is a treasurehouse of history of science material, including this:

https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/giovanni-battista-riccioli/

Riccioli was the creator of our modern lunar nomenclature system as the maps on this page show. Here is part of one of them compared with the U.S. Air Force Lunar Earthside Mosaic:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LEM/

I have ringed a feature which Riccioli interprets as a crater and calls Galilaeus. It's really a bright spot.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps

Show threadPhil StookeSep 7, 2025

Lunar Vertex will fly with Intuitive Machines on their third lander. We must hope that it's a case of 'third time lucky'. Here is the website for the lander:
https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-3-lunar-mission

and one for the main payload:
https://www.jhuapl.edu/destinations/missions/lunar-vertex

(notice it says it will fly in 2024... such is life in the space business)

The mission will carry a rover from Colorado-based Lunar Outpost (who also lost a rover in the IM-2 landing mishap). Tomorrow we will look at the site.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps

IM-3 | Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines’ IM-3 mission is slated to deliver groundbreaking science and experimental technology to Reiner Gamma—a swirling magnetic anomaly so bright it’s visible from space, and so strange it defies known geology. The first mission to land at this site, IM-3, carries a diverse suite of international payloads, including autonomous robots, radiation sensors, and a lunar plant experiment.

Intuitive Machines
Show threadPhil StookeSep 7, 2025
Griffin 1 and Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder had been suggested to launch his year but a delay into 2026 is likely for both. The next mission might also fly in the first half of the year so it's anyone's guess which will be the first to go. This is another NASA CLPS mission, this time to a known target which is Reiner Gamma, a magnetic anomaly and unusual bright swirl in Oceanus Procellarum. The CLPS payload is Lunar Vertex.
#moon #lunarvertex #clps
Mary McIntyre AstronomyApr 22, 2024
#PastelSketches of #ReinerGamma, one of several #LunarSwirls, magnetic anomalies that look like bright highland regions but they don't cast shadows. Left is under a lower Sun angle, right fully illuminated. Sketched from my own photos. The #LunarVertex mission will investigate them later this year #PastelDrawing #AstronomySketching #MoonSketch #LunarSketch #MoonDrawing
Mary McIntyre AstronomyMar 9, 2024
#ReinerGamma is one of several #LunarSwirls believed to be associated with magnetic anomalies. The #LunarVertex mission is going to investigate them later this year. Photos taken 26th Feb 2024 with a 70mm refractor + 3x or 5 x Barlow, #ASI120MC camera #Moon
Dave BlewettAug 25, 2023
Earlier this month, I staffed an overnight shift in Johns Hopkins APL’s Space Simulation Laboratory, where the rover for NASA’s Lunar Vertex investigation has been undergoing a campaign of environmental tests. These assessments ensure the rover will properly function while in the harsh environment of space, both on the way to the Moon and on the lunar surface.

The rover was in one of the thermal-vacuum chambers, seen here: the white tank on the hydraulic lift inside the plastic enclosure. The chamber was at a "cold plateau" that night with no specific tests being run, so my job was simple: Just monitor a few temperature and voltage read-outs!

The team from @LunarOutpost (who provided the rover vehicle) working together with our @JHUAPL engineers have been doing a fantastic job verifying operation of the rover's computers, power/battery system, radios, and the science instruments that it carries. I’m very proud to be working with them. #JHUAPL #LunarVertex #LunarOutpost #Artemis