THE LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER (LADEE) MISSION STEMS DIRECTLY FROM THE NATIONAL RESEARC…

Public award description

THE LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER (LADEE) MISSION STEMS DIRECTLY FROM THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL'S REPORT "SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE MOON." THE LADEE MISSION WILL EMPLOY A SPACECRAFT DEVELOPED BY THE NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER (ARC) TO DELIVER SCIENCE PAYLOADS TO LUNAR ORBIT. IN RESPONSE TO THE LADEE PAYLOAD RFI, A NEUTRAL MASS SPECTROMETER (NMS) PROVIDED BY DR. PAUL MAHAFFY OF NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC), WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THESE SCIENCE PAYLOADS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF PLACING THE NMS IN LUNAR ORBIT ARE TO DETERMINE THE GLOBAL DENSITY, COMPOSITION, AND TIME VARIABILITY OF THE FRAGILE LUNAR ATMOSPHERE BEFORE IT IS PERTURBED BY FURTHER HUMAN ACTIVITY. LADEE NMS WILL USE THE EXISTING CONTOUR NGIMS QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER (QMS) SENSOR AND NEW ELECTRONICS BASED PRIMARILY ON THE MSL SAM ELECTRONICS DESIGN. THE NMS INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT IS MANAGED BY THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER FOR THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, DR. PAUL R. MAHAFFY, ALSO OF GSFC. THE ROLE OF THE CONTRACTOR IN THE NMS IS TO PROVIDE THE DIGITAL ELECTRONICS AND ANALOG ELECTRONICS AND SUPPORT THE COMPLETE NMS ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT. THIS CONTRACT PROVIDES FOR THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PHASE B/C/D FOR THE NMS INSTRUMENT DIGITAL AND ANALOG ELECTRONICS. REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS EFFORT INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: SYSTEM ENGINEERING, DIGITAL ELECTRONICS, DEVELOPMENT ANALOG ELECTRONICS FABRICATION, AND SPACECRAFT SIMULATOR DEVELOPMENT THE SCOPE OF WORK IS BASED ON THE NMS CONCEPT STUDY REPORT DEVELOPED BY GSFC AND THE ELECTRONICS PHASE A REPORT DEVELOPED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN/SPACE PHYSICS RESEARCH LABORATORY (SPRL) FOR THE NMS ELECTRONICS. DURING PHASE B/C/D, THE CONTRACTOR WILL DEVELOP ELECTRONICS, SUPPORT INTEGRATION OF THE ELECTRONICS TO THE NMS INSTRUMENT, AND SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL TEST OF THE INTEGRATED NMS INSTRUMENT.