Alian Wang
Washington University in Saint Louis
LuSTR20 Overview Chart Wang.pdf
WRANGL3R – Water Regolith ANalysis for Grounded Lunar 3d Reconnaissance – is an ultra-compact laser spectroscopy system equipped with a fiber optic sensing probe that is embedded in a drill bit. WRANGL3R includes (1) a rotary-percussive drill with a hollow drill stem (1 m length, 25 mm diameter); (2) a novel miniature (<5 mm diameter; <50 mm length) optical probe to perform in-situ Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS); (3) automated water-content quantitative analyses routines, combining hardware designs and deep learning algorithms to enable unprecedented measurements: rapid, direct, depth-resolved downhole quantitation of water content while drilling.
Mounted on a small rover, WRANGL3R enables in-situ 3D mapping of water content on the Moon surface and subsurface directly with low detection limits (< 1 wt%) and low spatial resolution (< 1 cm depth resolution).
Our R/R&D effort will combine, for the first time, drilling and laser spectroscopy into an integrated tool. Each partner contributes complementary know-how and expertise: (1) Lunar science and spectroscopy by Washington University in St. Louis; (2) Design and development of high-TRL lasers and spectrometers and relevant resource exploration R&D by Impossible Sensing.
