HAMPTON — Two technologies developed at the Langley Research Center in Hampton will launch to the moon in the coming weeks aboard two flights under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
NASA discussed the new technologies at an event on Thursday, Jan 4 at the Hampton facility.
The CLPS flights will mark the United States’ first return to the Moon’s surface since the Apollo era, NASA said, adding that through the CLPS initiative, NASA is also supporting the development of a lunar economy by working with American companies to deliver scientific, exploration, and technology payloads to the Moon’s surface and lunar orbit.
The two technologies, Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) and Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), were both invented at the Hampton campus.
According to NASA, Navigation Doppler Lidar is a laser-based sensor capable of providing precision vector velocity and altitude of space vehicles. NDL data is used to precisely navigate the vehicle and execute a gentle touchdown on the surface of the Moon, Mars, or other destinations in the solar system.
Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies, or SCALPSS, is an array of small cameras placed around a lunar lander to take images of the interaction between the lander’s engine plume and the Moon’s surface, according to NASA. This will help researchers more accurately predict the effects from landing larger, heavier payloads in proximity to one other on the Moon and eventually Mars, according to the agency.
NDL is currently scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida no earlier than Jan. 8 on Astrobotics’ Peregrine 1 lander aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket. Though this launch is part of NASA’s CLPS program, NDL is a critical system provided to Astrobotic by NASA and is not considered a CLPS payload. Peregrine 1 is expected to land on the Moon in late February.
NDL and SCALPSS 1.0 are currently scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in February on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Both NDL and SCALPSS 1.0 are NASA CLPS payloads on this flight. Transit time to the Moon will take 4 to 5 days.
For more information on the CLPS initiative, visit NASA.com.
