Exploration mass spectrometer team

Kayser Italia and ESA team members at the test readiness review of the ESM-L structural thermal module ahead of thermal vacuum testing at Criotec facilities in Chivasso, italy. EMS-L was fitted with a large number of sensors so the team can monitor the temperature of all sensitive instrument parts during the test.

ESA’s Exploration Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX (EMS-L) will investigate the Moon’s extremely thin exosphere, a tenuous mist of atoms and molecules surrounding the lunar surface.  

The instrument will travel to the Moon no earlier than 2028 on the joint Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO).