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.