NASA AND OTHERS ARE PURSUING BOLD CONCEPTS OF LANDING A SCIENTIFIC CRAFT ON THE SURFACE OF PLANETARY BODIES…

Public award description

NASA AND OTHERS ARE PURSUING BOLD CONCEPTS OF LANDING A SCIENTIFIC CRAFT ON THE SURFACE OF PLANETARY BODIES TO PERFORM IN-SITU SCIENCE. THESE MISSION CONCEPTS REQUIRE EXTREMELY PRECISE LANDING AT PRE-DESIGNATED SITES OF HIGH SCIENTIFIC INTEREST WHILE AVOIDING HAZARDOUS TERRAIN THAT COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT THE LANDER OPERATION. THE PLANETARY LANDING LIDAR SENSOR (PLLS) REQUIRES ADVANCEMENT IN RESOLUTION, RANGE, AND PROCESSING RATE IN COMPARISON TO OTHER LANDING/PROXIMITY LIDARS. FIBERTEK S TECHNICAL APPROACH IS CAPABLE OF MEETING PLLS REQUIREMENTS FOR A RANGE OF MISSION REQUIREMENTS. OUR INNOVATIVE PLLS ARCHITECTURE INCORPORATES THE FOLLOWING STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY: 1) RADIATION HARDENED SINGLE PHOTON, OPTIMAL EFFICIENCY LIGHT DETECTION AND HIGH-PRECISION ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION. 2) NOVEL REAL-TIME PROCESSING ALGORITHMS IMPLEMENTED IN READILY SPACE-QUALIFIABLE HARDWARE, GENERATING HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL ELEVATION MAPS IN NEAR-REAL TIME. 3) A APACE-QUALIFIED LASER TRANSMITTER LASER SYSTEM WITH INHERENTLY RADIATION HARD COMPONENTS.