NASA successfully tested new technology to help spacecraft land safely on the moon and other planets. An Alta-X drone used the SPLICE payload to map terrain and find safe landing spots on August 27. Project manager Davis Adams said, "This flight raised the technology readiness level, priming it for integration."
NASA has successfully demonstrated technology designed to help spacecraft autonomously navigate to safe landing sites on the moon and on other planets. An Alta-X drone equipped with the agency's Safe and Precise Landing—Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) guidance, navigation and control payload completed simulated lunar descent and landing maneuvers Aug. 27. The flight took place at Rogers Dry Lake near NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
During the tests, the SPLICE payload used an advanced guidance system to map the terrain and assess potential landing areas. If the system determines the targeted landing area is unsafe, the system diverts the drone to a safer location. The system generates high-resolution digital elevation maps from light-detection and sensor data.
Researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston developed the SPLICE payload and partnered with specialists at NASA Armstrong to integrate, test and fly it aboard the Alta-X drone in June and July. Those tests verified communications, data handling, telemetry and command-and-control performance between the SPLICE payload and the drone to prepare for a full-scale test at Voyager Technologies in Mojave, California, later this month.
"This flight test is the culmination of almost a decade of work for the SPLICE project," said Davis Adams, NASA project manager. "This flight raised the technology readiness level, priming it for integration into future robotic and crewed lunar flights. Validation of the guidance and navigation systems is applicable to terrestrial, lunar and Martian descent and landing missions."
NASA has worked with a number of commercial lunar lander providers to implement iterations of SPLICE into their platforms. A number of the landers slated for upcoming Moon Base missions leverage data collected by NASA through the development of systems like SPLICE to execute soft touchdowns on the lunar surface.
"We are coordinating with industry regarding the usage of the guidance system once the system is available in the NASA software catalog, currently planned for this fall," Adams said. "Some of the companies also are evaluating the system's navigation capabilities for precision landing applications, as well as potential extensions for autonomous surface mobility."