Fiber Optic Spectral Array on a Regolith Probe for Surface and Sub-Surface Mineralogical Profiling: Optical Probe for Regolith Analysis (OPRA)

This program is for the development of an instrument called OPRA (Optical Probe for Regolith Analysis), which will consist of a linear array of near-IR illuminators and sensors along the shaft of a penetrator to enable mineralogical and chemical profiling as a function of depth, including the detection of water. This simple, robust and relatively inexpensive instrument could be deployed from a variety of landers or rovers into any surface that has regolith or icy properties, including the Moon, Mars, Titan, asteroids and comets. OPRA could provide important new science by obtaining highly localized water determination at the Moon’s South Pole – Aitken region, cometary nuclei, and Mars polar regions.