MAGE, MAPLE and ANIU - Instruments in Development for the exploration of volatiles on the Moon & Mars

Led by the Planetary Volatiles Laboratory at York University with our industrial partners and fellow universities, we have been developing three planetary instruments for the exploration of volatiles on the Moon and Mars. ANIU is a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) camera sensitive to lyman-alpha wavelengths which aims to detect small concentrations of surface frost in the Permanently (and Seasonally) Shadowed Regions (PSRs and SSRs) of the Moon. The camera achieves high SNR by comparing images in the visible (where ice is brighter than regolith) with images in the VUV (where ice is darker than regolith). The camera could be operated from a rover using modestly sized optics and relatively long signal integration times or, using larger optics, could be deployed onboard an orbital platform. MAPLE seeks to develop a compact environmental payload to conduct all-purpose assessments of the near surface aerosol environment of Mars including dust, fog and clouds. The design combines high-dynamic-range all-sky imaging, whole-atmosphere opacity measurement, machine-learning aided cloud tracking and active aerosol backscatter characterization in a small and low-power form-factor. Such an instrument could also be highly effective in other aerosol-rich atmospheres, such as the Giant Planets and Titan. MAGE uses advanced gas absorption technology from an Integrated Cavity-Enhanced Optical Spectrometer (ICOS) to measure the concentration of methane near the surface of Mars on an hourly basis at sub-ppbv levels without a need for enrichment. This unprecedentedly high frequency of measurement will allow this instrument to directly address the current controversy surrounding methane on Mars by observing the ramp-up and decay of plumes and monitoring how methane concentrations change throughout the day in response to atmospheric conditions and micro-seepage from the subsurface. We intend to present our latest results from laboratory experiments & simulations, field deployments and engineering characterization of these in-development instruments. Primarily, this work has been completed with the help of the Canadian Space Agency's Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) program.