DORN, the French instrument of the Chang’e 6 lunar mission

The lander of China’s Chang’e 6 space mission to the Moon will be equipped with the DORN instrument dedicated to radon measurement. Its launch is scheduled for 2023.
Objectives: to study the outgassing of the regolith but also the transport of this radioactive gas in the Moon’s exosphere with possible extrapolations to other species such as water.

DORN will be realized at the Research Institute of Astrophysics and Planetology IRAP (University of Toulouse III, CNRS, CNES) under the supervision of CNES, in collaboration with CEA (including LNE-LNHB), SUBATECH, Arronax PIG and, abroad, with the support of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Beijing University of Geosciences, the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and the Planetary Science Institute in the United States.

More information on CNES website.