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Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

New Instrument Concepts

The Electrostatic Lunar Dust Analyzer (ELDA) detects the trajectories of dust grains as they move on the Moon's surface. (Courtesy CCLDAS)

CCLDAS experiments are leading to improved tools for future in-situ observations on the lunar surface to characterize the near-surface plasmas, fields, and dust environment. We focus on:

  • The use of Langmuir and emissive plasma probes
  • The measurement of the mass, charge, and velocity distributions of the mobilized lunar soil and impacting meteoroids

Many of these instrument concepts are designed to meet the needs of future lunar missions, including the NASA International Lunar Network (ILN).