MSolo Connectivity Test

Kevin Smith, software team and science team liaison for NASA’s Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations (MSolo), takes part in a joint simulation of the Peregrine One Mission on March 26, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where MSolo connected from inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to Astrobotic’s mission control facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and it will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. This was the first mission round of simulations for Peregrine Mission One to develop and refine procedures between Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander and MSolo. Later, there will be other simulations with multiple instruments. Peregrine Mission One will be one of NASA’s first Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service (CLPS) missions where under the Artemis program, commercial deliveries beginning in 2021 will perform science experiments, test technologies and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human missions.