Flight
MoonFall
NET 2028 · Firefly Elytra (drone deploy during descent) · planned
NASA JPL MoonFall sends four propulsive hop drones to the south pole in 2028.
South-pole hop survey in 2028.
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Prime
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Firefly Elytra host (MoonFall deploy)
Firefly Elytra carries the four MoonFall drones from Earth orbit to the Moon and deploys them mid-descent. · Firefly Aerospace · nasa.govLaser retroreflector (MoonFall)
Laser retroreflector array on each MoonFall drone for location, navigation, and potential geophysical experiments. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govLunar Dashcam (JPL)
JPL Lunar Dashcam on each MoonFall drone builds high-resolution digital terrain maps for South Pole Artemis sites, finer than current satellite imagery. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govMoonFall hop-drone fleet (JPL)
Four JPL-built propulsive hop drones for MoonFall. · NASA · nasa.govNeutron spectrometer (MoonFall)
Neutron spectrometer on each MoonFall drone to help measure subsurface water abundance at South Pole scout sites. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govRadiation spectrometer (MoonFall)
Radiation spectrometer on each MoonFall drone to characterize the surface radiation environment for later crew missions. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govSurvive-the-night payload (MoonFall)
After the last hop, each drone activates a long-duration survive-the-night payload and can wake to talk to Earth on later lunar days. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govCargo
MoonFall four propulsive hop drones
Four JPL propulsive hop drones, about 550 lb with propellant each, about 7 feet across and 4 feet tall. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govLunar Dashcam (JPL)
Demo for imaging. JPL Lunar Dashcam on the MoonFall drones builds high-resolution digital terrain maps of later Artemis and Moon Base sites. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govLaser retroreflector (MoonFall)
Demo for navigation. A laser retroreflector array on the MoonFall drones for location, navigation, and possible geophysical work. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govNeutron spectrometer (MoonFall)
Demo for science. A neutron spectrometer on the MoonFall drones to help measure subsurface water at the south pole. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govRadiation spectrometer (MoonFall)
Demo for science. A spectrometer on the MoonFall drones to measure the radiation environment for later crew. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govSurvive-the-night payload (MoonFall)
Demo for survive_the_night. After the last hop, each drone turns on a long-duration payload that can wake and talk to Earth on later lunar days. · NASA · jpl.nasa.govRelated flights
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