NASA reported successful tests of a technology that will allow spacecraft to independently choose safe landing sites on the Moon and other planets. The Alta-X drone, equipped with the SPLICE payload (Safe and Precise Landing - Integrated Capabilities Evolution), on August 27 performed a simulation of descent and landing on the Moon. The flight took place at Rogers Dry Lake near the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
During the tests, the SPLICE system used advanced guidance to map the terrain and evaluate possible landing sites. If the chosen site turns out to be unsafe, the craft is redirected to a more suitable zone. The system builds high-resolution digital elevation maps based on light detection data and sensor readings.
The SPLICE payload was developed by researchers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Together with specialists from the Armstrong center, they integrated it onto the Alta-X drone in June and July and conducted flights. These tests confirmed the operation of communications, data processing, telemetry (transmission of measurements to the ground) and command control between the payload and the drone - ahead of a full-scale test at Voyager Technologies in Mojave, California, later this month.
"This flight test is the culmination of almost ten years of work on the SPLICE project," said NASA project manager Davis Adams. "The flight raised the technology readiness level, preparing the system for integration into future robotic and crewed lunar missions. The verification of guidance and navigation systems is applicable to descent and landing on Earth, the Moon and Mars."
NASA is cooperating with a number of commercial lunar lander suppliers, integrating various versions of SPLICE into their platforms. Some craft intended for upcoming Moon Base program missions use data collected by NASA in developing such systems to make soft landings on the lunar surface.
"We are coordinating with industry on the use of the guidance system when it becomes available in NASA's software catalog - that is planned for the fall," Adams noted. "Some companies are also evaluating the system's navigation capabilities for precise landings and possible expansion to autonomous surface mobility."
NASA's Flight Opportunities project, based at the Armstrong center, provided flight tests of SPLICE at an early stage of development. This laid the foundation for raising the technology readiness level to its current state. In 2019, the tests included a descent from altitude and a landing trajectory close to that expected in a lunar mission, and in 2020, a demonstration of two NASA-developed precision landing sensor systems.