Leonardo: contract signed with ESA for the realization of PROSPECT, the auger and the scientific laboratory to discover the secrets of the Moon
Leonardo signed a € 31,5 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the construction of PROSPECT, the drill and the mini-laboratory for Luna-27, a mission of ESA and Roscosmos, with the support of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the British Space Agency (UK Space Agency). After the 2016 contract for the development model design, Leonardo has now been entrusted with the task of working on the final design and implementation of the PROSPECT flight model. More than 50 years after the first man on the moon landed in 1969, Leonardo begins 2020 with an exciting challenge for his space robotics activities.
Leonardo's PROSPECT (Package for Resource Observation, in-Situ analysis and Prospecting for Exploration Commercial exploitation and Transportation) will search for ice, volatile and chemical substances below the surface, in the southern polar regions of the Moon, where extremely cold temperatures - up to -150 ° C - may increase the chances of finding traces of water.
"There are vast unexplored regions on the moon, the PROSPECT auger will allow scientists to learn more about the terrain and prepare missions where lunar soil can be used, for example, to create oxygen or fuel," said David Parker, Director of Exploration ESA Human and Robotics, "The auger is a component of many exciting missions ESA is working with international partners to advance to the moon."
"The contract for the development and implementation of PROSPECT is a further demonstration of Leonardo's engineering and design skills in complex space systems, based on the experience and know-how of the augers of the Rosetta and ExoMars missions," said Marco De Fazio, Deputy Managing Director of the Electronics division and head of Leonardo's Electronics Italy business unit, “Leonardo's leadership in the production of key technologies for space missions also passes through the Nerviano plant, where instruments such as the atomic clock, robotic systems are born and photovoltaic panels with applications such as space exploration, Earth observation and navigation systems ".
PROSPECT consists of two elements: an auger (ProSEED) and a mini laboratory with a suite of scientific instruments (ProSPA). This complex system will drill the Moon's soil down to a depth of one meter, taking samples to be distributed to the scientific instruments on board for analysis. PROSPECT includes collaboration with the British Open University, which leads the consortium responsible for the ProSPA scientific laboratory.
The new scientific results, which will also be obtained thanks to Leonardo's PROSPECT, will provide valuable resources to pave the way for future lunar exploration missions.
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Leonardo's space robotics
Leonardo's drilling technology contributes to other important international missions.
The space mission Rosetta equipped with Leonardo's sophisticated drill, with the aim of perforating the comet's surface up to 30 centimeters and extracting samples. The mission aimed to study the origin of comets and to understand the origin of the solar system. More recently, the same auger was developed for the ExoMars2020 space mission. The auger, for the first time in history, will dig the surface of the Red Planet, up to a depth of 2 meters, in search of traces of life. Designed to operate in extreme conditions, at a temperature of 80 degrees below zero, it will collect about 20 rock samples.
After the design and construction of the auger for a comet and for Mars, Leonardo will develop the PROSPECT auger for the Luna-27 mission.
The moon missions
The mission is carried out in collaboration between ESA and Roscosmos to reach the Moon through the "Luna" missions. For the next few years, three Luna missions are planned and European technology, science and infrastructure will be part of the adventure.
Luna-25 will be the first spacecraft to land on the moon and capture images of the terrain with a camera. The collected data will be used for the preparation of the next ESA business: the high precision landing on the moon. Two years after Luna-25, Luna-26 will be sent to the lunar orbit for remote scientific measurements and as a possible communication transmitter for the mission. Luna-27, with the PROSPECT tool, will be launched a year after Luna -26 and will be larger than its predecessor Luna-25. It will fly to a landing site located at the lunar South Pole.