Project Officer - PROSPECT Lunar Volatiles; Milton Keynes, ENG, GB, MKAA

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About the Role

The Open University is seeking to appoint a Project Officer to support research activities associated with the ESA PROSPECT (Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Commercial Exploitation and Transportation) payload, which will be deployed to the lunar south polar region as part of a NASA CLPS mission planned for launch in 2027.

The postholder will play a key role in supporting scientific, technical and operational activities related to the characterisation of lunar volatiles, the validation of PROSPECT science requirements, and the preparation of data products for use by the PROSPECT Science Team (PST). The role combines scientific project coordination, experimental oversight, data-handling activities and technical reporting, working closely with academic staff at The Open University, external collaborators, and ESA and industrial partners.

Establishing the in situ utilisation of lunar resources is central to enabling sustainable future space exploration. ESA’s PROSPECT payload is designed to identify, quantify and characterise volatile species, such as water, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and noble gases, within lunar south polar regolith, and to assess their origin, distribution and utilisation potential.

PROSPECT will extract subsurface samples using the ProSEED drill, process them in the ProsPA chemical laboratory, and analyse volatiles released during controlled heating experiments up to ~1000 °C. Measurements will include real-time gas analysis and high-precision isotopic determinations using a magnetic sector mass spectrometer.

Supporting laboratory-based experimental work on lunar soils, lunar soil components, volatile-rich mixtures, and icy regolith analogues is essential for validating ProsPA operational modes and interpreting flight data. This project also includes the development of data reduction and calibration pipelines to enable rapid and accessible use of PROSPECT data by PST members following lunar surface operations.

Key Responsibilities

The person appointed to this post will undertake duties to include:

• Manage, plan, coordinate and perform calibration and analogue experiments in collaboration with the PROSPECT science team and the ProSPA industrial team, including work using the FINESSE mass spectrometer and the Bench Development Model/Qualification Model/Pre Flight Model.
• Monitor experimental progress against project milestones
• Contribute to operational planning for PROSPECT science activities, feeding experimental results into mission operations discussions.
• Make regular presentations to the project team and the wider PROSPECT Science Team to communicate progress and receive scientific and technical feedback.
• Carry out laboratory-based studies of lunar volatile inventories and isotopic compositions, including analyses of Apollo soils, separated soil components, meteorite–soil mixtures, and icy regolith analogues.
• Contribute to experiments investigating sublimation rates and hydrogen isotopic fractionation in icy regolith under vacuum and cryogenic conditions.
• Liaise with external partners, including the University of Manchester, on complementary noble gas analyses.
• Assist in the preparation of user-focused documentation, including “How-To” guides describing data processing steps and data product usage.
• Contribute to monthly progress reports summarising project activities and status.
• Contribute to the preparation of a detailed technical report summarising experimental methods, results and implications for PROSPECT operations; this report may be suitable for inclusion in, or development into, peer-reviewed publications.
• Contribute to the delivery of project outputs, including…