NASA is interested in the ability of an autonomous spacecraft lander to safely touch down on a Martian surface. This is a non-trivial task in that there is evidence from Viking II data that the Martian terrain contains areas that are hazardous for landing. Depending on the resolution, satellite image data acquired prior to deorbit may not provide sufficient resolution to reliably determine safe landing areas. In this case the task of hazard detection and avoidance would have to be performed autonomously and in real time on board of a spacecraft lander. This paper describes in detail the sensor simulation, the image processing hazard detection algorithms, and a planned parametric study designed to estimate hazard detection performance of a 3-D laser radar as a function of the critical parameters that effect spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio.
3-D laser radar simulation for autonomous spacecraft landing
3-D-Laserradar-Simulation für eine autonome Landung von Raumfahrzeugen
1991
9 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 6 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Application of laser radar to autonomous spacecraft landing
Tema Archive | 1991
|Optical guidance for autonomous landing of spacecraft
IEEE | 1999
|Optical guidance for autonomous landing of spacecraft
Tema Archive | 1999
|