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Image of an artists rendition of the lunar rover by Lunar Outpost, MIT, and NASA Ames. The rover includes the FIG instrument RGB depth sensor that was integrated onto IM-2 lander. The novel contribution of this instrument is to take the first depth images on the moon.
Image of the Flight Instrument Groups Team gathered for the preflight Functional testing of payload at Hurley Hangar, Aerostar, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Flight Instrument Group

The Ames Flight Instrument Group (FIG) advances the technology readiness of instruments and sensors for spaceflight missions. These efforts are critical within the Agency and traceable to Planetary Science and Earth Science Decadal Surveys, as well as strategies outlined by LEAG, MEPAG, and OPAG.

FIG employs “agile” prototype-to-test cycles to accelerate instrument development, specializing in flight ruggedization of both custom and COTs instrumentation. The group also has developed a custom family of electrical systems designed for cross-compatibility between payloads. 

This website highlights current efforts and describes the instruments and their technical readiness levels (TRLs).

Capabilities about Flight Instrument Group

Location

Ames Research Center

Principal Investigator

Tony Colaprete

FIG Team

Photo of Anthony Colaprete

Tony Colaprete

Principal Investigator for FIG

Amanda Cook

Technical Director

Portrait photo of Don Banfield, a research scientist at NASA Ames.

Don Banfield

Research Scientist

nancy rustemeyer

Nancy Rustemeyer

Portfolio Manager

Profile photo of Bruce White in front of a blue background.

Bruce White

Electronics and Instrumentation Engineer

Portrait photo of Abraham Rademacher

Abraham Rademacher

FIG Lead Mechanical Engineer

Photo of NASA Ames systems engineer Jared Shimada standing next to a model spacecraft.

Jared Shimada

I&T and Systems Engineer

Vandana Jha

Space Scientist and Flight Instrument Engineer

Studio Portrait of Emmett Quigley.

Emmett Quigley

Manager, Space Science Instrument Development Laboratory (SSAIDL)

Alexander Sehlke

Alex Sehlke

Research Scientist

Portrait photo of Arwen Dave, a research scientist at NASA Ames.

Arwen Dave

Project Engineer

Portrait photo of Eldar Noe-Dobrea, a Senior Scientist at NASA Ames.

Eldar Noe-Dobrea

Senior Scientist

Portrait photo of NASA Ames scientist Aidan Ramey. He is standing in a green field wearing a white collared shirt.

Aidan Ramey

Electrical Engineer/ Systems Engineer

Portrait photo of NASA Ames scientist Andres Mora Vargas.

Andres Mora Vargas

Robotics and Electrical Engineer

FIG Launches Balloon Flight to Advance Planetary Atmospheric Structure Investigation

FIG is developing the Atmospheric Structure Investigation (ASI) instrument as a sensor suite for descent probes entering any planetary atmosphere.

June 2025

Mission Announcement

Image of a powerpoint slide about a scientific project at NASA Ames by the Flight Instrument Group. The text describes a balloon launch to test the readiness of space hardware.

FIG Instruments

Photo of the Mars Sonic Anemometer instrument, a sonic based instrument using ultrasonic transducers to emit chirps for precise in situ wind measurement, including wind direction, speed and temperature. Achieved validation in chamber environment.

Mars Sonic Anemometer

A sonic based instrument using ultrasonic transducers to emit chirps for precise in situ wind measurement, including wind direction, speed and temperature. Achieved validation in chamber environment.

Photo of the RGB Depth Sensor. This sensor was Integrated onto IM-2 lander. The novel contribution of this instrument is to take the first depth images on the moon.

RGB Depth Sensor

Flight ready and Integrated onto IM-2 lander. The novel contribution of this instrument is to take the first depth images on the moon.

Image of an animation of the Flight Instrument Group, FIG, Surface Radiometric Sensor Package (SuRSeP).

Surface Sensor Radiometric package (SuRSeP)

Fundamentally an 8-channel thermal radiometer; we use it to measure outgoing visible and IR flux, surface temperature, vertical integrated dust and water ice clouds.

Photo of the Flight Instrument Group's (FIG) Atmospheric Structure Instrument. The ASI is threshold sensor suite for descent probes entering any planetary atmosphere, principally for the giant planets like Saturn, Uranus, Venus, Titan, and Earth-specific missions.

Atmospheric Structure Investigation

A threshold sensor suite for descent probes entering any planetary atmosphere, principally for the giant planets like Saturn, Uranus, Venus, Titan, and Earth-specific missions. 

Nephelometer (NephEx)

The 2-color backscatter nephelometer (NephEx), uses NIR diode lasers and photodiode sensors. After successful lab trials, prototypes were tested on Aerostar balloons in 2021 and 2025.

DMD (Digital Micromirror Devices for spectroscopy)

A DMD is an array of 1024×768 microscopic mirrors that can each be flipped between two directions. Using this technology, one can simultaneously observe a real-time image of a surface and extract specific parts of the scene to measure with the spectrometer.

Animation of the Flight Instruments Group's Saltation Sensor.

Saltation Sensor

Detects the critical wind stress threshold for sand motion, which is believed to be a key aspect of dust lifting at Mars.

DWTS technique (Gordley and Marshall, 2011) uses Doppler Scanning with Gas Filers to infer wind speed and measurement. The technique has advantages in signal to noise, along track resolution and altitude coverage.

DWTS (Doppler  Wind and Thermal Sounder)

DWTS technique (Gordley and Marshall, 2011) uses Doppler Scanning with Gas Filers to infer wind speed and measurement.  The technique has advantages in signal to noise, along track resolution and altitude coverage.

Image of the NASA Ames GLOW instrument, a Mission Concept to Explore Venus' Upper Atmospheric Dynamics by monitoring night glow and cloud motion. The Glow mission will study the planet’s atmospheric winds at three different altitudes encompassing the 100 km using two instruments.

GLOW AIR

A Mission Concept to Explore Venus' Upper Atmospheric Dynamics by monitoring night glow and cloud motion. The Glow mission will study the planet’s atmospheric winds at three different altitudes encompassing the 100 km using two instruments (AIR and LUV). Photo: Ella Sciamma-O’Brien

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