Three Dimensional Situational Awareness Sensor to Assist Descent and Landing of the Mars Lander Spacecraft

In order to address NASA's needs identified in the RFP, TetraVue proposes the use of a unique, non GPS and non-observer position dependent 3D sensor system to achieve both high lateral and depth resolution during the landing phase of the EDL. The system uses a nanosecond-class laser strobe to illuminate the scene and capture the 3D data in a single shot and is thus insensitive to motion of the observe or the scene. The approach can utilize off-the-shelf focal plane arrays to acquire high resolution, 3D data for a rapid and accurate craft landing and topographical hazard assessment. Phase I will result in a laboratory demonstration of TetraVue's technology to address the speed and range requirement of the program and bring the TRL level from 3 to 4. Phase II will demonstrate a breadboard prototype capable of performing demonstration experiments with realistic mission parameters and bring the TRL level from 4 to 5.

This system can be adapted to other NASA EDL missions or medium-range terrain mapping missions to asteroids or moons. This sensor would also be able to provide 3D situational awareness for spacecraft docking maneuvers or obstacle avoidance for rovers. Other applications that would benefit from the unique performance of this sensor are close-proximity surveillance of spacecrafts or space junk.

This technology has the potential to acquire precise 3D data in a small compact package with a resolution that is desirable for many applications. Such applications include corridor mapping or civil infrastructure monitoring.Other potential applications include unattended monitoring, the 3D emerging video market and medium-range terrain mapping.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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