Southwest Research Institute — FO Cluster (4 Projects)¶
Type: Federally Funded Research Center (FFRDC-like nonprofit)
Key PIs: Robert E. Grimm (EM Sounding → LMS on Moon), Daniel D. Durda (Box of Rocks asteroid sampler), Craig DeForest (solar pointing), Alan Stern (human-tended suborbital science)
Outcome Category: MISSION INFUSION (Moon) + Asteroid Sampling R&D + FO Infrastructure
Investigated: Session 27, 2026-04-06
Summary¶
Southwest Research Institute has 4 FO projects spanning solar physics, geophysics, asteroid sampling, and human-tended suborbital science — an unusually diverse cluster from a single institution. The headline finding is a newly confirmed mission infusion: Robert Grimm's high-altitude electromagnetic sounding project 106681 (TRL 2→5) led directly to the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), which was deployed on the lunar surface on March 2, 2025 aboard Firefly's Blue Ghost 1 lander via NASA's CLPS program. This is the first extraterrestrial magnetotellurics deployment in history and the 7th confirmed FO technology on the Moon.
The cluster also includes Alan Stern (New Horizons PI) as PI on the human-tended suborbital science project [106734], reflecting SwRI's role as a leading planetary science institution using FO for instrument development and suborbital science.
FO Projects¶
| Project | Title | TRL | Period | PI | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106681 | High-Altitude EM Sounding | 2 → 5 | 2017-01 – 2019-10 | Robert E. Grimm | Completed → MOON |
| 106679 | Box-of-Rocks II (Asteroid Sampling) | 4 → 7 | 2019-11 – 2021-04 | Daniel D. Durda | Completed |
| 91647 | Solar Instrument Pointing | 5 → 6 | 2015-08 – 2020-10 | Craig DeForest | Completed |
| 106734 | Commercial Vehicle Collaboration | 8 → 8 | 2021-03 – 2026-12 | Alan Stern | Active |
1. High-Altitude EM Sounding → Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) — MISSION INFUSION¶
What Was Tested¶
Magnetotelluric sounding uses natural electromagnetic field variations to probe planetary interiors. The technique works at very low frequencies, penetrating to great depths. Grimm's FO project tested high-altitude aerial platform measurements — using balloon flights to validate the EM sounding approach from altitude, establishing that useful magnetotelluric signals could be detected from above the surface.
TRL gain: +3 (2→5) — one of the highest TRL gains in the FO portfolio.
Downstream: LMS on the Moon (March 2025)¶
The FO balloon tests directly informed the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), a CLPS instrument delivered to the Moon aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 lander:
- Landed: Mare Crisium, Moon, March 2025
- Deployed: 5 EM sensors deployed on March 2, 2025
- Capability: Probes lunar interior to depths up to 700 miles (two-thirds of lunar radius)
- Significance: First extraterrestrial magnetotellurics deployment in 50+ years of the technique's history
- PI: Robert E. Grimm (same PI as FO project)
- Funding: NASA CLPS initiative
Follow-on: SwRI is also developing LITMS (Lunar Interior Temperature and Materials Suite) for deployment to Schrödinger Basin on the lunar far side — a NASA-selected instrument suite for a future CLPS delivery.
Library Items Confirming Arc¶
- SwRI press release: "SwRI awarded lunar lander investigation contract" (linked in TechPort)
- VEXAG 2018 abstract: "High-Altitude Electromagnetic Sounding of the Interior of Venus: Stratospheric Balloon Test"
- LPSC 2020 abstract: "A Magnetotelluric Sounder to Probe Terrestrial Planet and Satellite Interiors"
The library items themselves document the progression: FO balloon test → Venus concept → lunar deployment.
Timeline¶
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2017–2019 | FO high-altitude EM sounding balloon tests (TRL 2→5) |
| 2018 | VEXAG abstract on Venus application |
| 2019 | SwRI awarded CLPS lunar investigation contract |
| 2020 | LPSC abstract: "Magnetotelluric Sounder to Probe Terrestrial Planet and Satellite Interiors" |
| 2025-01 | NASA instrument delivered to Blue Ghost lander |
| 2025-03 | LMS deployed on lunar surface — 5 sensors activated |
| TBD | LITMS follow-on to Schrödinger Basin (far side) |
Maturation time: FO start (2017) → Moon deployment (2025) = 8 years
2. Box-of-Rocks II — Asteroid Regolith Sampling¶
Daniel Durda's magnetic asteroid sampling device: petal-like surfaces magnetically collect regolith, then evert to trap material inside. TRL 4→7 (+3 gain) through FO parabolic flights + New Shepard suborbital flight (October 2020).
Downstream: No confirmed mission selection. Offers "a simple but robust alternative to other means of sampling small bodies like drilling" (Durda). Potential for future asteroid missions. The technique flew on Blue Origin New Shepard in October 2020 alongside SwRI's other FO experiment.
3. Solar Instrument Pointing Platform¶
Craig DeForest's solar pointing platform extends NASA's unmanned solar sounding rocket SPARCS pointing capability to crewed commercial suborbital vehicles. TRL 5→6. Published: "Solar science from the new generation of suborbital vehicles" (2015). Enables arcsecond-class pointing aboard vehicles like New Shepard.
4. Commercial Suborbital Vehicle Collaboration (Alan Stern PI)¶
Alan Stern — PI of NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission — leads this active FO infrastructure project using human-tended suborbital flights for: (1) broadband astronomical imaging through crew capsule windows, and (2) biomedical harness for in-flight physiological monitoring. This is FO as science infrastructure, not technology maturation. Active through December 2026.
Co-I Catherine Olkin (Deputy PI of Lucy mission) and Mark Shelhamer (former NASA Chief Scientist for HRP) are also on the team.
Session 53 Update — LMS Science Results + LITMS Delay + Stern (Apr 2026)¶
SIGNIFICANT: LMS First Science Results — Lunar Mantle Cooler Than Expected¶
After 13 days of surface operations (March 2–16, 2025, ending at lunar sunset), LMS collected "really great swaths of high-rate data" (PI Grimm). The first science result challenges the standard model of lunar volcanism:
Key finding: LMS data suggests the lunar mantle is cooler than expected at ~200 km depth. Radioactive heat-producing elements are concentrated near the surface in the crust, not deep in the mantle. This challenges the standard explanation that radioactive heating drove mare volcanism — instead, magma may have erupted simply because the crust was thinner on the nearside.
Publication pipeline (active but no journal paper yet): - LEAG 2025: "Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder: Overview and Initial Results" - LPSC 2026: Two abstracts — (1) operational lessons learned, (2) "Maximum Upper Mantle Temperatures Beneath the Lunar Procellarum KREEP Terrane" — concluding the mantle was warmer at Apollo 12 site than at the Blue Ghost 1 site, but insufficient past heat production to drive mare volcanism - EGU 2026: Presentation by Johnson, Grimm, Espley, Garrick-Bethel, Howard, Maxwell, Neal, and Stillman on full mission results - A Science (AAAS) article covered this under the headline "First science from private Moon lander challenges lunar divide"
Blue Ghost 1 mission summary: Launched Jan 15, 2025 (SpaceX Falcon 9); landed Mare Crisium March 2, 2025; 14 days / 346 hours of daylight surface operations; ended March 16, 2025 (~5 hours after lunar sunset when batteries depleted). Solar-powered, no RTG — single lunar day by design. All 10 NASA payloads activated. Longest commercial surface operations on the Moon at that time.
LITMS Follow-on: Significantly Delayed (~2030)¶
LITMS (Lunar Interior Temperature and Materials Suite) — the follow-on magnetotelluric sounder + pneumatic drill for Schrödinger Basin — is assigned to CLPS task order CP-12 on Team Draper's ispace-U.S. APEX lander. However, ispace-U.S. switched from the Agile Space Industries engine (failed efficiency specs) to a new "ULTRA" lander architecture, pushing the mission from 2026–2027 to ~2030. Draper awarded ispace an additional $7.7M in March 2025, so the mission is still funded — just significantly delayed by the lander provider.
Alan Stern: Second Suborbital Flight + National Science Board¶
Stern's NASA FO-funded second suborbital research flight is targeting fall 2026 aboard Virgin Galactic's new Delta class space plane. He would be the first private-sector researcher NASA funded to fly twice. Timeline depends on VG Delta development (fall 2026 earliest per VG). His first VG flight (Galactic 5) was late 2023 on VSS Unity, now retired.
Separately, Stern was appointed to the National Science Board — notable for visibility.
Box-of-Rocks (Durda): No Follow-on¶
No new mission selections found for the BORE magnetic asteroid sampling device since the October 2020 New Shepard flight. Durda received the Carl Sagan Medal for public engagement and is involved in the Lucy mission (SwRI-led), which recently surveyed main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson. The BORE technology remains at suborbital-tested TRL stage.
Session 79 Update (April 2026)¶
LMS: Science results gaining major media coverage - LMS results covered the week of April 4, 2026 by multiple outlets: Science/AAAS ("First science from private Moon lander challenges lunar divide"), Science News ("A private moon lander challenges ideas about lunar volcanism"), Space.com, Copernical, SpaceDaily. - Results presented at LPSC 2026 (The Woodlands, TX, March 2026): Grimm et al. showed both Mare Crisium (Blue Ghost 1 site) and Apollo 12 site (Mare Insularum) had cooler mantles than predicted. Only ~230°C temperature difference between sites, vs. ~700°C predicted by Apollo-era thermal models positing a hot Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT) hotspot. - EGU 2026 session scheduled (May 2026, session PS1.4): Johnson, Grimm, Espley, Garrick-Bethel, Howard, Maxwell, Neal, Stillman on full mission results. - No peer-reviewed journal paper yet (Science, Nature, JGR). Results remain at conference-presentation + press-coverage stage. The EGU session or a journal submission may be imminent.
LITMS: Further delayed — ispace ULTRA redesign - March 27, 2026: ispace announced "ULTRA" — a new integrated lander design combining APEX 1.0 (U.S.) and Series 3 (Japan) architectures. The VoidRunner engine (announced May 2025 with Agile Space Industries) underperformed efficiency specs, forcing the redesign. - ispace-U.S. Mission 3 (CP-12, carrying LITMS to Schrödinger Basin) now expected NET 2030 — slipped from ~2027 (VoidRunner announcement) and original ~2025/2026. - LITMS instrument design (LISTER heat-flow drill + LTC telluric electrodes) unchanged; purely a launch vehicle/lander availability problem.
Stern: VG Delta on track for fall 2026 - VG Delta class development progressing: wing assembly completed Q4 2025, fuselage late 2025/early 2026, "feather" assembly ongoing. - First Delta test flights expected Q3 2026; commercial research flights Q4 2026. - Each Delta ship: up to 8 flights/month, 12× payload capacity vs. VSS Unity, two ships in production. - Stern's NASA-funded SwRI astronomical imaging flight "notionally set for fall 2026" per Space.com, contingent on Delta schedule. He was listed as featured speaker at ISDC 2026.
Durda BORE: Still dormant - No new developments found. BORE technology remains at suborbital-tested TRL stage.
Verification¶
- Sample size: 4 FO projects across 4 PIs, 1 confirmed lunar deployment with science results, 1 New Shepard flight
- Query used:
techport_get_project([91647, 106681, 106679, 106734]), web search for SwRI LMS lunar deployment, LPSC 2026 abstracts - Result observed: LMS deployed on Moon March 2025 via CLPS Blue Ghost 1; 13 days of data collected; first science result (cooler-than-expected mantle) presented at LEAG 2025 + LPSC 2026 + EGU 2026; covered by Science magazine
- Counter-query: Does LMS instrument description cite FO project specifically? Yes — TechPort library includes SwRI press release on lunar contract, and PI (Grimm) is identical. VEXAG/LPSC abstracts bridge the gap.
- Confidence: Confirmed for LMS lunar deployment and science results. Confirmed for FO→CLPS arc (same PI, same technique, TechPort library items document progression). Confirmed for LITMS delay (~2030 per ispace-U.S. engine change).
Cross-References¶
- 7th FO technology on the Moon — update FO Technologies on the Moon
- Other FO→Moon technologies: Psionic NDL, GRC RFMG, MSU RadPC, Honeybee PlanetVac, Qascom LuGRE, SET ARMAS
- Other CLPS payloads: Draper DMEN→CP-12, Rhea Space JAM→CP-12
- Other Blue Ghost payloads from FO: MSU RadPC (TRL 9 on Blue Ghost), Honeybee PlanetVac, Qascom LuGRE
- Archetype: FFRDC Basic Science → CLPS Mission Infusion — SwRI used FO balloon flights to validate a geophysics technique at TRL 2, then deployed it on the Moon 8 years later. Similar to Aerospace Corp AMU (FFRDC→orbital) but even more impactful.
Investigated: Session 27 (2026-04-06). Last updated: Session 79 (2026-04-07) — LMS results now widely covered (Science/AAAS, Science News, Space.com, Apr 2026); no journal paper yet but EGU 2026 session scheduled. LITMS now NET 2030 (ispace ULTRA redesign Mar 2026). VG Delta on track for fall 2026 first flight. No BORE follow-on.