{"id":12774,"date":"2024-12-20T00:03:50","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T04:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-cameras-to-capture-interaction-between-blue-ghost-moons-surface\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T00:03:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T04:03:50","slug":"nasa-cameras-to-capture-interaction-between-blue-ghost-moons-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-cameras-to-capture-interaction-between-blue-ghost-moons-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Cameras to Capture Interaction Between Blue Ghost, Moon\u2019s Surface"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA Cameras to Capture Interaction Between Blue Ghost, Moon\u2019s Surface<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>
\n
The six SCALPSS cameras mounted around the base of Blue Ghost will collect imagery during and after descent and touchdown. Using a technique called stereo photogrammetry, researchers at Langley will use the overlapping images to produce a 3D view of the surface.\u202f<\/div>\n
Image courtesy of Firefly.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Say cheese again, Moon. We\u2019re coming in for another close-up.<\/p>\n

For the second time in less than a year, a NASA technology designed to collect data on the interaction between a Moon lander\u2019s rocket plume and the lunar surface is set to make the long journey to Earth\u2019s nearest celestial neighbor for the benefit of humanity.<\/p>\n

Developed at NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) is an array of cameras placed around the base of a lunar lander to collect imagery during and after descent and touchdown. Using a technique called stereo photogrammetry, researchers at Langley will use the overlapping images from the version of SCALPSS on Firefly\u2019s Blue Ghost \u2014 SCALPSS 1.1 \u2014 to produce a 3D view of the surface. An earlier version, SCALPSS 1.0, was on Intuitive Machines\u2019 Odysseus spacecraft that landed on the Moon last February. Due to mission contingencies that arose during the landing, SCALPSS 1.0 was unable to collect imagery of the plume-surface interaction. The team was, however, able to operate the payload in transit and on the lunar surface following landing, which gives them confidence in the hardware for 1.1.<\/p>\n

The SCALPSS 1.1 payload has two additional cameras \u2014 six total, compared to the four on SCALPSS 1.0 \u2014 and will begin taking images at a higher altitude, prior to the expected onset of plume-surface interaction, to provide a more accurate before-and-after comparison.<\/p>\n

These images of the Moon\u2019s surface won\u2019t just be a technological novelty. As trips to the Moon increase and the number of payloads touching down in proximity to one another grows, scientists and engineers need to be able to accurately predict the effects of landings.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

How much will the surface change? As a lander comes down, what happens to the lunar soil, or regolith, it ejects? With limited data collected during descent and landing to date, SCALPSS will be the first dedicated instrument to measure the effects of plume-surface interaction on the Moon in real time and help to answer these questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re placing things \u2013 landers, habitats, etc. \u2013 near each other, we could be sand blasting what\u2019s next to us, so that\u2019s going to drive requirements on protecting those other assets on the surface, which could add mass, and that mass ripples through the architecture,\u201d said Michelle Munk, principal investigator for SCALPSS and acting chief architect for NASA\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cIt\u2019s all part of an integrated engineering problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Artemis campaign, the agency\u2019s current lunar exploration approach, NASA is collaborating with commercial and international partners to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. On this CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative delivery carrying over 200 pounds of NASA science experiments and technology demonstrations, SCALPSS 1.1 will begin capturing imagery from before the time the lander\u2019s plume begins interacting with the surface until after the landing is complete.<\/p>\n

The final images will be gathered on a small onboard data storage unit before being sent to the lander for downlink back to Earth. The team will likely need at least a couple of months to<\/p>\n

process the images, verify the data, and generate the 3D digital elevation maps of the surface. The expected lander-induced erosion they reveal probably won\u2019t be very deep \u2014 not this time, anyway.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>
\n
One of the SCALPSS cameras is visible here mounted to the Blue Ghost lander.<\/div>\n
Image courtesy of Firefly.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEven if you look at the old Apollo images \u2014 and the Apollo crewed landers were larger than these new robotic landers \u2014 you have to look really closely to see where the erosion took place,\u201d said Rob Maddock, SCALPSS project manager at Langley. \u201cWe\u2019re anticipating something on the order of centimeters deep \u2014 maybe an inch. It really depends on the landing site and how deep the regolith is and where the bedrock is.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this is a chance for researchers to see how well SCALPSS will work as the U.S. advances human landing systems as part of NASA\u2019s plans to explore more of the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are going to be much larger than even Apollo. Those are large engines, and they could conceivably dig some good-sized holes,\u201d said Maddock. \u201cSo that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re collecting data we can use to validate the models that are predicting what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SCALPSS 1.1 project is funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate\u2019s Game Changing Development Program.<\/p>\n

NASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface under the CLPS initiative. Through this opportunity, various companies from a select group of vendors bid on delivering payloads for NASA including everything from payload integration and operations, to launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Share<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n