Lunar Lidar Technology for Artemis Human Habitation

Fibertek proposes the development of a low size, weight, and power in situ Lunar Lidar in support of NASAs Artemis missions. The lidar will be engineered for the harsh lunar environment and thereby have additional utility to NASA for general planetary exploration. The lidar is vehicle or astronaut mounted; provides high-resolution point-cloud data for developing centimeter-scale terrain maps via simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) processing; and supports real-time, non-GPS navigation, obstacle detection, and hazard avoidance. Phase I testing established feasibility for Phase II by reducing major environmental risks including low temperature survival, operation in a vacuum, and radiation survivability with low Single Event Function Interrupt (SEFI) rates. The lidar operated after thermal vacuum cycles down to -150C and core lidar electronics (lasers, detectors, and custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) exhibited no destructive radiation effects or performance degradation. Phase II will engineer updates to the housing and power supply electronics, as well as perform random vibration and radiation testing. Fibertek’s proposed low size, weight, and power in situ Lunar Lidar will support NASA’s Artemis missions. The lidar will be engineered for the harsh lunar environment and thereby have additional utility to NASA for general planetary exploration. Technical approach leverages mature, available technology. Provide Astronaut or vehicle “vision” in light and dark environments Critically needed in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), complete darkness Provides cm scale terrain mapping, high resolution point-cloud data Enable simultaneous localization and mapping processing Supports real time, non-GPS navigation, obstacle detection, and hazard avoidance Unlike camera based heritage systems, lidar works in all lighting conditions The proposed lunar/planetary lidar is a novel, unique capability that is not currently addressed by any lunar or planetary surface operations. The proposed lunar/planetary lidar enables critical new capabilities for the Artemis missions as well as future planned exploration of other planets and moons. The primary technical objective is to deliver a TRL-6 lunar lidar for a near-term 1-6 month lunar surface technical demonstration. Objectives include: Design spaceflight lidar package that survives and operates in a very low temperature lunar surface environment; Low temp demonstrated in Phase I Update power supply to support extended lunar surface radiation environment. Phase I radiation testing showed good SEFI tolerance and low SEFI rate Conduct TRL6 environmental testing including random vibration and a radiation retest Support post Phase II thermal vacuum testing at very low temperatures Deliver a TRL6 tested lidar unit to NASA

The Lunar Lidar particularly targets the NASA Artemis mission in support of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). NASA Artemis III/ IV. On schedule to support 2028 mission NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle contractors Future NASA Mars and situ exploration of planetary bodies The proposed technology can support multiple commercial and DoD endeavors. Commercial Lunar Surface Economy Companies NASA LIFT 1 Mission Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) Provider and their customers, rovers NASA Human Lander Contractors DoD and Space Development Agency (SDA) are increasingly interested in the Cis-Lunar environment

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