DALI — Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation¶
Created: 2026-04-08 (session 91)
Summary¶
DALI (Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation) is PSD's lunar-specific instrument maturation program, targeting TRL 4→6 development of spacecraft-based instruments for future lunar missions including CLPS commercial landers and Artemis crewed missions. DALI is the Moon-specific analog of MatISSE (which covers all planetary destinations).
39 total projects — 28 Completed (71.8%), 11 Active (28.2%). The active cohort (2024-2027 projects) is strongly Artemis III SDT-aligned, with several instruments designed for astronaut handheld operation on the lunar surface.
Program contacts: - Anna Maria T Pal — Program Manager (a.pal@nasa.gov) - Erica N Montbach — Program Director (erica.n.montbach@nasa.gov)
TechPort ID: 92281. Parent: Planetary Science (PSD), SMD.
Portfolio at a Glance¶
| Field | Value | Query |
|---|---|---|
| Total projects | 39 | aggregate by status (2026-04-04 snapshot) |
| Active | 11 (28.2%) | aggregate by status |
| Completed | 28 (71.8%) | aggregate by status |
| Dominant TRL | null (46.2%), TRL 5 (28.2%), TRL 4 (25.6%) | aggregate by trlCurrent |
| TRL end target | 6 (all projects) | project inspection |
| Infused_To records | 0 | find_projects outcome_path filter |
| Lead org: Caltech | 5 projects (12.8%) | aggregate by leadOrg |
| Lead org: U Arizona | 3 projects (7.7%) | aggregate by leadOrg |
| Lead org: JHU | 3 projects | aggregate by leadOrg |
The null TRL rate is elevated because the active cohort (11 projects, 2024-2027) has not yet completed. Completed projects mostly show TRL 4-5 current (several hit TRL 6 end target). All 39 projects share trlEnd=6 — this is DALI's defining mandate.
Technology Themes¶
Raman and Spectroscopy (Largest Cluster, ~7 projects)¶
Multiple independent Raman spectrometer concepts for lunar surface mineralogy and ISRU:
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96496 | CIRS — Compact Integrated Raman Spectrometer (Caltech, in-situ minerals + ISRU screening) | Completed | →5 |
| 182384 | LUSTRA — LUnar Spectroscopic Tool for Raman Analysis (Caltech, astronaut handheld) | Active | →6 |
| 182364 | SUCR — Standoff Ultra-Compact micro-Raman (NASA HQ, standoff from rover/lander) | Active | →6 |
| 145078 | Lunar Raman DUV-Vis Spectrograph (UV Raman for PSR ice+organics) | Active | →6 |
| 96497 | LASVEGAS — Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Volatiles and Evolved Gas (SwRI, IR laser) | Completed | →6 |
| [26] | LIBS — 2LEAD Lunar LIBS Spectrometer (Washington U, elemental rock/regolith) | Active | →6 |
| 182363 | Swath Mapping Lidar (NASA HQ, orbital topography sub-meter) | Active | →6 |
LUSTRA [182384] (Caltech, 2025-2027): Explicitly designed for Artemis III astronaut operation — handheld device for rapid field identification and sample pre-selection. The Artemis III SDT (Science Definition Team) report provides the science objectives driving the requirements. Caltech appears in CIRS (completed), LUSTRA (new), and LCMS mass spectrometer — three distinct Raman/spectrometry lineages.
Raman instrument redundancy: CIRS (in-situ contact), LUSTRA (astronaut handheld), SUCR (standoff rover), Lunar DUV Raman (UV-shifted for ice+organics), iSEE (MatISSE planetary Raman) — five independently developed Raman spectrometers for lunar/planetary science. This reflects competitive parallel development; mission selection will choose one or a few.
Mass Spectrometry and Volatile Detection (~6 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96501 | LCMS — Lunar CubeSat Mass Spectrometer (JPL/Caltech, trace volatiles Xe/Kr) + LETS | Completed | →4 |
| 96934 | ENABLE — Environmental Analysis of Bounded Lunar Exosphere (SwRI, mass spec) | Completed | →6 |
| 96494 | CRATER — Characterization of Regolith And Trace Economic Resources (U Maryland, laser ablation) | Completed | →5 |
| 117309 | PLASMA — Pulsed Laser Ablation Sampling and Mass Analysis (U Maryland) | Completed | →6 |
| 157597 | OKSI Capillary Spectrometer — ultra-low volume water/CO₂ isotope ratios (from SBIR) | Active | →6 |
| 117211 | Water Isotope Tunable Laser Spectrometer (JPL, lunar volatile quantification) | Completed | →6 |
OKSI instrument [157597] (Opto-Knowledge Systems, 2024-2027): Explicitly builds on prior SBIR projects — a cross-program technology path (SBIR→DALI) for developing a low-volume water isotope analyzer. OKSI's laser technology appears in the SBIR heritage path before DALI funding.
JPL volatile/water cluster: LCMS (trace noble gases) + Water Isotope TLS — JPL leads two complementary volatile characterization technologies, consistent with JPL's ISRU/planetary science mission interests.
Geochemistry and Geochronology (~4 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96495 | KArLE — Potassium-Argon Laser Experiment (GSFC, in-situ K-Ar age dating) | Completed | →5 (not 6) |
| 96502 | BECA — Bulk Elemental Composition Analyzer (GSFC, neutron activation) | Completed | →5 |
| 96939 | CDEX — Chemistry and Dating EXperiment (SwRI, Rb-Sr dating + organics) | Completed | →6 |
| 96504 | UCIS — Ultra-Compact Imaging Spectrometer (Caltech, SWIR for volatiles) | Completed | →5 |
KArLE and CDEX represent competing in-situ geochronology approaches: KArLE uses K-Ar (easier chemistry, shorter half-life), CDEX uses Rb-Sr (more robust to thermal metamorphism, better for ancient rocks). Both are GSFC/SwRI efforts. The lunar science community seeks the ability to date rocks on the surface (not just samples returned to Earth).
Cross-program: CDEX lineage — MatISSE [92789] ("Maturing the TRL of a Complete CDEX Dating Instrument," 2017-2020, TRL 4→6) → DALI [96939] ("Preparing CDEX for flight," 2020-2025, TRL 4→6). Two back-to-back grants at the same nominal TRL start point suggest either the TRL 4→6 wasn't fully achieved in MatISSE, or DALI funded lunar-specific qualification work.
CDEX-Peregrine failure story (session 92): CDEX quad chart (fileId 385530) explicitly shows CDEX mounted on an Astrobotic lander and states "We plan to mature CDEX for flight to the moon in 2023-2024." Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One failed January 2024 (propellant leak, did not land). CDEX was designed for the CLPS Peregrine lander as its TRL 6 demonstration platform — the flight was the milestone. With Peregrine's failure, CDEX could not complete its intended TRL 6 demonstration. TechPort shows trlCurrent=4 for CDEX, which cannot be distinguished from no advancement at all.
Seismometers (~4 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96506 | SUBLIME — broadband lunar seismometer (GSFC, human-deployable) | Completed | →5 |
| 96492 | SLN — Seismometer for a Lunar Network (U Arizona, network lander) | Completed | →5 |
| 96503 | Lunar Super Low-Frequency Atomic Seismometer (Caltech, atom interferometry) | Completed | →5 |
| 96493 | LEMS — Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (UMBC, exosphere + environment) | Completed | →5 |
All four seismometer projects ended at TRL 5 (not 6), suggesting lunar seismometry reached TRL 5 but not flight-qualified hardware before this DALI cohort concluded. The Caltech atomic seismometer [96503] is notable — it uses atom interferometry as the inertial reference, achieving sub-ngal sensitivity theoretically inaccessible to conventional MEMS seismometers. Apollo seismometers required high-mass pendulum designs; atomic seismometers could enable 100g form factors.
JPL Planetary Broadband Seismometer [92795] (MatISSE, 2017-2023) explicitly targeted Lunar Geophysical Network AND ocean worlds — suggesting JPL's seismometry development was destination-agnostic and may have fed both the lunar and ocean worlds mission communities.
Imaging (~6 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 117288 | Revelio — high dynamic range camera for polar terrain (Ball Aerospace) | Completed | →6 |
| 145075 | Mahina Color Camera — snapshot multispectral framing (JHU) | Completed | →6 |
| 96930 | AMIM — Advanced Multispectral Infrared Microimager (JHU) | Completed | →4 |
| 96933 | MICR — Multispectral Imaging Compact Radiometer (JHU, thermal IR) | Completed | →5 |
| 96931 | Ultra-compact UV spectrometer for lunar exosphere (Caltech) | Completed | →6 |
| 182363 | Swath Mapping Lidar (NASA HQ, orbital topography) | Active | →6 |
JHU imaging cluster (3 projects): AMIM + MICR + Mahina — JHU applied physics lab develops three distinct multispectral cameras for different wavelength regimes. JHU and Caltech dominate DALI's imaging portfolio.
Revelio [117288] (Ball Aerospace, 2022-2025): Solves the extreme illumination challenge at lunar poles — shadows and illuminated terrain with 10⁵:1 contrast ratio. EMCCD sensor with algorithmic HDR processing. Ball Aerospace's first appearance in DALI (they also appear in H-TIDeS as MEGA [157603]).
Environmental Sensing (~4 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 182369 | LWA — Lunar Weather Array (Honeybee Robotics, surface deployable, dust + environment) | Active | →6 |
| 96505 | EDA — Electrostatic Dust Analyzer (dust transport on surface) | Completed | →5 |
| 96500 | SSOLVE — Submillimeter Solar Observation Lunar Volatiles Experiment (THz water) | Completed | →5 |
| 157033 | Compact Electron-Proton Spectrometer (JSC, human health radiation monitoring) | Active | →6 |
Compact E-P Spectrometer [157033] (JSC, TX06.5.4 Space Weather): Not a planetary science instrument — it's a radiation health protection tool for crew on the lunar surface. Uses Timepix technology heritage (7 REM detectors on ISS, BIRD on Orion EFT-1, HERA on ISS, Artemis 1). The only non-science instrument in DALI's portfolio, reflecting the program's "commercial ventures" scope language.
Honeybee Robotics recurring presence: LWA (DALI) plus multiple PICASSO projects — Honeybee appears to be a specialist small company building environmental monitoring and sampling hardware for planetary surfaces across multiple PSD programs.
Subsurface Radar and Sounding (~3 projects)¶
| Project | Technology | Status | TRL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 145074 | SESAR-LITE — P-band SAR for subsurface imaging (U Arizona) | Completed | →6 |
| 157595 | SPARCI — Synthetic Pulse Artemis Radar for Crustal Imaging (Artemis III SDT) | Active | →6 |
| 117291 | CoRaLS — Cosmic Ray Lunar Sounder (U Hawaii, buried ice detection) | Completed | →6 |
SESAR-LITE→SESAR lineage confirmed: SESAR-LITE (DALI, U Arizona, 2023-2026) is an explicit descendant of SESAR (MatISSE [95802], U Arizona, 2019-2023). P-band radar demonstrated in MatISSE for general planetary subsurface, then adapted in DALI for specific lunar crustal/regolith targets.
CoRaLS [117291] (U Hawaii, 2021-2025): Uses ultra-high-energy cosmic ray radio pulses to probe buried ice deposits — completely different physical mechanism from active radar. This is a receiver-only instrument (passive) that detects the radio signals when cosmic rays hit the lunar regolith, with the signal being modified by subsurface ice. Novel concept.
Non-TX08 Projects¶
| Project | TX | Technology | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 182396 | TX04.3 | Lunar sample manipulation+containment (Caltech, TRL→6) | Sample return hardware for CLPS/Endurance/Artemis rovers |
| 96931 | TX04.1 | UV spectrometer (Caltech) — listed TX04, likely mis-classified | TX04.1 is Sensing and Perception |
| 157597 | TX08.3 | OKSI volatile spectrometer | — |
| 157033 | TX06.5.4 | Compact E-P Spectrometer (Space Weather) | Crew health, not planetary science |
| 157596 | TX03.3 | UCLA Magnetometer — listed TX03.3 (Power), likely TX08.3 mis-classification | Measures lunar magnetic anomalies |
| 157598 | TX07.1 | LIBS spectrometer (ISRU application) | In-situ resource elemental characterization |
| 145076 | TX07.1 | SpIRRL — IR reflectance LIDAR (U Hawaii, water ice absorption bands) | Orbital ISRU prospecting tool |
Active Cohort (2024-2027): Artemis III Alignment¶
All 11 active projects cite Artemis III SDT science goals in their descriptions. The current solicitation round is explicitly building instruments for the first crewed lunar surface science mission: - Astronaut-operated tools: LUSTRA (handheld Raman), LIBS/2LEAD (elemental LIBS), SUCR (standoff Raman) - Lander/rover science payloads: LWA (Honeybee dust), SPARCI (SAR), Swath Lidar, magnetometer - Crew safety: Compact E-P Spectrometer (radiation monitoring) - Sample return support: Lunar Sample Manipulation (Caltech)
TRL Achievement Gap¶
0 of 28 completed DALI projects show trlCurrent=6 in TechPort. Every completed DALI project targets trlEnd=6, but none record TRL 6 achievement.
| TRL Group | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| trlCurrent=5 | 11 | 39.3% |
| trlCurrent=4 | 9 | 32.1% |
| trlCurrent=null | 8 | 28.6% |
| trlCurrent=6 | 0 | 0% |
Query: portfolio_aggregate(group_by="trlCurrent", filter={"program":"DALI","status":"Completed"}) — 2026-04-04 snapshot, session 92.
This is consistent with Issue 35 (TRL records frozen for ROSES grants) — the same pattern seen in MatISSE (0/33 TRL-6), COLDTech (0/32 TRL-6), and HOTTech (1/19 TRL-6). TechPort trlCurrent is not reliably updated for ROSES PIs.
Causes of TRL shortfall are heterogeneous — not a single failure mode:
| Project | trlCurrent | Expected | Root cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| KArLE 96495 | 5 | 6 | Ambitious 5-component integrated system (laser+MS+LIBS+camera+sampler); COVID disrupted 2020 lab milestones |
| SUBLIME 96506 | 4 | 6 | Novel MET (Molecular Electronic Transducer) liquid seismometer — 5-year project, TRL 6 qualification tests planned Jun 2023 but not reflected in TechPort |
| SLN 96492 | 5 | 6 | Mission coupling: 7-year project (2018-2025) likely extended waiting for CLPS deployment; Peregrine Mission One failed Jan 2024 |
| AMIM 96930 | 4 | 6 | Cryocooled IR microimager (RICOR cryocooler required); YR3 milestone was only "testing of integrated instrument" — ambitious 4-year timeline |
| CDEX 96939 | 4 | 5-6 | Mission failure story: Quad chart shows CDEX on Astrobotic lander with "We plan to mature CDEX for flight to the moon in 2023-2024." Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One failed January 2024 — CDEX lost its intended TRL 6 demonstration platform |
CDEX-Peregrine linkage significance: CDEX is the strongest documented case of mission failure directly causing a TRL shortfall record. The instrument probably completed most of its TRL 5-6 development work (the quad chart milestone list describes a 3-year program of laser development, integration, and environmental testing). But without the flight demonstration, TechPort shows trlCurrent=4 — indistinguishable from a project that never advanced.
Against-narrative: The Caltech atomic seismometer [96503], ENABLE mass spectrometer [96934], PLASMA [117309], Water Isotope TLS [117211], Revelio [117288], Mahina [145075], and SESAR-LITE [145074] all show trlCurrent=5 or null despite "→6" targets in project metadata. Whether these represent genuine TRL shortfalls or reporting gaps is unverifiable from TechPort alone.
Confidence: confirmed for the aggregate (0/28). Root cause analysis is suggestive based on quad chart reads and project metadata.
Outcome Tracking¶
0 Infused_To records. DALI is a ROSES grant program. Outcomes (TRL 6 instruments, mission proposals) are not tracked in TechPort.
Confidence: confirmed (find_projects(program="DALI", outcome_path="Infused_To") → 0 results, 2026-04-04 snapshot, session 91). See topics/field-completeness.md Issue 34.
Cross-Program Connections¶
| Source Program | Technology | DALI Receipt | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| MatISSE [95802] | SESAR P-band SAR (U Arizona) | [145074] SESAR-LITE | Same PI institution, SAR technology, sequential dates |
| MatISSE [92789] | CDEX dating instrument (SwRI) | [96939] CDEX for flight | Same institution, sequential dates, matching description |
| MatISSE [95804] | Swath Mapping Lidar (GSFC) | [182363] Swath Lidar | GSFC origin, lunar adaptation 2025 |
| SBIR (OKSI) | Laser spectrometer components | [157597] OKSI volatile analyzer | Explicit SBIR heritage cited in description |
Open Threads¶
- ~~TRL 5 vs 6 completions:~~ Investigated session 92. 0/28 completed DALI projects show trlCurrent=6 (not just a few shortfalls — total absence). Causes are heterogeneous: COVID delays (KArLE), novel technology challenges (SUBLIME), mission dependency/Peregrine failure (CDEX, SLN), cryocooler integration complexity (AMIM). See TRL Achievement Gap section above and Issue 35 in field-completeness.md.
- Active cohort outcomes (2024-2027): Will the Artemis III-aligned instruments reach TRL 6 before Artemis III mission date? Track completion vs mission readiness.
- Honeybee Robotics recurring theme: Appears in LWA (DALI), PICASSO (multiple), COLDTech (drills, samplers), HOTTech (Venus actuator). The most program-diverse small company in the PSD instrument portfolio.
- Lunar Weather Array [182369] Honeybee scope: Combines dust flux measurement, environmental monitoring, and surface power — is this designed for the Artemis III deployed science station concept?
Related Pages¶
- programs/matisse.md — MatISSE: the universal planetary maturation step, sources technology to DALI
- programs/picasso.md — PICASSO: early concepts, some lunar instruments begin here
- programs/coldtech.md — COLDTech: ocean worlds parallel track
- programs/hottech.md — HOTTech: Venus parallel track
- topics/field-completeness.md — Issue 34: outcome tracking gap; Issue 35: TRL record accuracy (DALI 0/28 TRL-6)