NASA Allocates DALI Grants to Foster Lunar Science and Exploration Innovations

NASA Allocates DALI Grants to Foster Lunar Science and Exploration Innovations
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2024

In a significant push to enhance lunar research and exploration, NASA has awarded Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) grants to five leading scientists and engineers. These grants are a cornerstone of NASA's initiative to advance lunar science through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services and the Artemis campaign.

The announcement was made at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) on March 13, in The Woodlands, Texas, during NASA's Technology Development Plan plenary session. Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, emphasized the pivotal role of these grants in bolstering innovation and research, stating, "These tools must demonstrate new technologies that significantly enhance instrument measurement capabilities for addressing high-priority lunar science questions."

With a funding model that allocates approximately $1 million annually to each recipient, the DALI grants are aimed at developing instruments that not only promise potential for future NASA missions but also are ready for hardware construction post a three-year development period. The grantees span a diverse range of institutions across the United States, highlighting the widespread expertise involved in the endeavor.

The awarded projects include a variety of pioneering technologies. Stuart George from NASA's Johnson Space Center is working on the Compact Electron Proton Spectrometer (CEPS), aimed at providing critical space weather and radiation data. Meanwhile, Jason Kriesel of Opto-Knowledge Systems, Inc (OKSI), in collaboration with Honeybee Robotics and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, is advancing a prototype to measure lunar water and volatiles.

David Stillman's Synthetic Pulse Artemis Radar for Crustal Imaging (SPARCI) project at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) promises enhanced subsurface lunar imaging. Jeffrey Gillis-Davis from Washington University in St. Louis focuses on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to analyze lunar material chemistry. Lastly, Hao Cao at the University of California, Los Angeles, is developing a fluxgate magnetometer system for comprehensive lunar magnetic field studies.

These efforts are part of NASA's broader goal to deepen our understanding of the Moon, leveraging innovative tools and technologies to prepare for future manned and robotic missions. With the DALI24 Step-1 submission deadline set for April 12, 2024, NASA continues to invite contributions to its expanding lunar science and exploration initiatives.

The deadline for NASA's DALI24 Step-1 submissions is April 12, 2024.