What is Prospect?

The first European device to land on the Moon this decade will be a drill and sample analysis package.

Water is a key target: there may be concentrations of frozen water at or below the surface.

Prospect is designed to penetrate the Moon’s soil to depths of up to one metre, acquire lunar samples, and deliver them to the mini labs hosted by the lander.

Answering questions such as how much water is present and how accessible it is will help plan future missions involving the use of local resources.

Update: Prospect is no longer flying with the Luna 27 mission, but part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.