Astrobotic teams with German space agency to take radiation detector to moon

When two Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 became the first humans to walk on the moon, there were tremendous risks involved, including potential exposure to high levels of radiation.

With an upcoming NASA mission to carry the next two American astronauts to the moon in the planning stages, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic is helping to take a radiation detecting device to the moon.

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, or DLR) is joining a mission with Astrobotic later this year to land a special German-built instrument on the lunar surface. The device is designed to measure key radiation data on the flight to the moon and on the lunar surface ahead of the upcoming NASA Artemis missions carrying the first woman and next man to the moon.

With this agreement, DLR becomes Astrobotic’s third international space agency customer to ride aboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One lunar lander. The German payload will also make history as the first DLR instrument to be commercially delivered and operated on the surface of the moon.

“We are excited to welcome DLR aboard our historic Peregrine mission,” said Astrobotic CEO John Thornton. “It’s just another way Astrobotic is paving the way for NASA’s mission to send the first woman and the next man back to the moon, while opening the moon to new nations and new customers.”

The radiation detector is a complement to another scientific experiment riding aboard NASA’s Artemis I mission. That experiment implements similar DLR radiation sensors to female human mannequin torsos sitting inside the ORION capsule as it flies around the moon as part of the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment.

These sensors will precisely measure the level of radiation a human body will encounter on a trip to the moon and back. This is particularly important since Artemis astronauts will be going to latitudes on the moon not previously visited by Apollo astronauts, as well as staying beyond the duration of the Apollo surface missions.

“DLR is delighted to have this opportunity to send this payload to the lunar surface with Astrobotic. The technical maturity of their lander program and their commercial service offering was a perfect fit for delivering this key experiment in a mutually beneficial scientific-commercial mission,” said Thomas Berger of the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine.

The DLR sensor will be operated at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine supported by the Microgravity User Support Center in Cologne, Germany, with commands and data going to and from the moon via the Astrobotic Mission Control Center in Pittsburgh.

The radiation sensor will be integrated with Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, set to launch in late 2021 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.