Canadensys Aerospace has delivered a Multi-spectral Microscope to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), for the Lunar Vertex Mission. APL is NASA’s prime contractor for this mission, and Canadensys is one of APL’s partners competitively selected to participate in the Lunar Vertex mission.
In 2024, the Lunar Vertex mission will visit the mysterious, unexplored Reiner Gamma region of the lunar surface. It will explore one of the Moon’s swirls, intriguing patterns of bright and dark soil that twist across the surface for hundreds of miles and coincide with swaths of magnetized rock. Scientists believe these areas can help them answer many questions about the Moon’s geologic history, as well as increasing our understanding of current conditions on the Moon and other airless worlds throughout the solar system.
One of the key instruments on the mission, the Canadensys multi-spectral microscope imager will provide information on the fine-scale texture and composition of lunar soil. It will actively illuminate the soil with LEDs that emit light at five specific wavelengths specially chosen for probing lunar composition. The images in the five wavelengths will be used by scientists to understand the texture and make-up of the soil at Reiner Gamma, providing clues to the swirl’s nature and origin. The flight hardware is now at APL and is undergoing final calibration before being integrated with the rest of the mission.
“The Canadensys instrument is proving to be highly capable. I can’t wait to see the science results when we begin operating on the Moon!,” said Rachel Klima, lunar scientist at APL. Jason Kalirai, the Civil Space mission area executive at APL, added “APL is excited to partner with Canadensys to maximize agility in the development of highly valuable space missions.”
“Canadensys was honored that APL and NASA chose our Multispectral Microscope instrument to be part of the Lunar Vertex investigation,” said Frank Teti, General Manager of the Canadensys division that builds the instruments. “With the Flight Model of that instrument now delivered to APL, we are eagerly anticipating the launch of Lunar Vertex to the Moon and the resultant science that this instrument will enable as it explores the lunar regolith across the Reiner Gamma swirls.”
Christian Sallaberger, Canadensys President and CEO, stated “We are thrilled with our collaboration with APL on the NASA Vertex mission. Canadensys and APL have a history of working together on lunar and planetary exploration activities. Looking ahead, we are also excited to have APL provide a science instrument funded by NASA on our own upcoming Canadensys-led Lunar Rover Mission.”
About Canadensys Aerospace
Canadensys Aerospace Corporation is one of Canada’s most innovative space systems companies servicing customers around the world. We blend our advanced space hardware capabilities with smart, ruggedized designs to develop unique solutions for planetary, orbital and terrestrial environments based on modern, commercial business approaches to space program and mission development.
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