Development of a prediction sensor for lunar water ice

Based on the absorption and reflection difference of the near-infrared lasers with different spectral bands for lunar soil and water-ice, an in-situ rapid prediction method for lunar water ice is proposed. Through the coaxial design of transmitting optical path/receiving optical path and the optical path time-sharing multiplexing design for different lasers, the miniaturization design of the multimode laser optical system is realized, and the engineering prototype of lunar water ice in-situ rapid prediction sensor based on multimode near-infrared laser is developed. The sensor performance tests for simulated lunar soil with low moisture content have been carried out, and the test results show that the detection limit is better than 0.39wt%, the single detection time is about 1s, the spot diameter @ detection distance is 5cm@50cm, which show that the sensor has the in-situ rapid prediction ability to lunar soil with low moisture content.