EMILIA-3D was one of three instruments selected for an upcoming Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission (the commercial vendor and launch timeframe has not been announced yet) under the NASA solicitation for Payloads for Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon–Stand-Alone Site-Agnostic (PRISM-SALSA).

Dr. Andy Ryan led the proposal, which was supported in part by the Arizona Space Institute.

The proposal call required that the instrument had to be accommodated by any lander (stand-alone) and the science goals had to be achievable anywhere on the Moon (site-agnostic).

Overview

EMILIA-3D integrates a thermal camera and a stereo pair of visible cameras on a single-axis stage to deliver co-registered thermal and topographic data from the lunar surface. EMILIA-3D will provide unprecedented insight into near-surface regolith properties and the complex interplay between small-scale topography, illumination conditions, and near-surface temperatures.

Instrument Payload Summary

The Integrated Sensor Package (ISP) contains the Thermal Infrared Imager (TIR) for measuring the temperature of the nearby lunar surface and the Stereo Visible Imaging System (SVIS) for creating a digital terrain model. The ISP is mounted on a tilt gimbal to increase the total effective field of view of the cameras.

Science Objectives 1. Characterize regolith physical and thermal properties. 2. Quantify the effects of surface roughness on brightness temperature and the lunar emission phase function (EPF). 3. Constrain polar-like thermal conditions in the shadows and at grazing solar angles. 4. Evaluate the impacts of exploration on lunar surface temperatures and regolith properties.

EMILIA-3D will achieve these objectives by imaging repeat sequences every ~8 hours, acquiring stereo and thermal images from the surface near the base of the lander, out towards the horizon via the tilt mechanism. Thermal imaging acquired throughout the lunar day will fill the phase space for lunar emission phase function by measuring the temperature of the surface under different illumination angles. Stereo images will be acquired at scales that fill the resolution gap between orbital data and Apollo imaging (from <1 mm to <100 m/px). Stereo images acquired under varying illumination will mitigate any gaps in the resulting topographic model that might occur due to shadows. EMILIA-3D will be able to observe the lunar regolith within the zone affected by the lander's thruster plume, and undisturbed regolith outside of this zone, to understand the effects of exploration on the near-surface properties.

The integrated sensor package, consisting of a thermal-IR camera and two optical stereo cameras, will be built by Northern Arizona University (NAU) and delivered to the UA for integration with a one-axis tilt gimbal provided by Rocket Lab Robotics. The UA will build the ISP and gimbal interface and instrument mounting plate and will lead integration and environmental testing, geometric calibration, and operations.

Operations will be for the duration of one lunar day (daytime only, no survive-the-night capability) or about 2 weeks.