NASA selects two CU Boulder instruments for Artemis IV mission to the moon

NASA will award the University of Colorado Boulder $24.8 million to build two space instruments that the agency has selected to fly on the Artemis IV mission to the south pole of the moon in 2028.

The instruments, which will be built for the mission by researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, will aim to improve scientists’ understanding of the moon’s environment and support further space exploration.

CU Boulder’s proposal, which consists of two instruments mounted on a small rover, is called the DUst and plaSma environmenT survEyoR, or DUSTER. It will study the moon’s plasma environment and the moon’s dust, which sticks to everything it touches and is abrasive. Plasma is a state of matter that’s similar to gas, but contains charged particles. The knowledge gained