{"680735":{"#nid":"680735","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Algorithms Developed at Georgia Tech are Lunar Bound","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the past five years, five lunar landers have launched into space, marking a series of first successful landings in decades. The future will see more of these type of missions, including \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/artemis\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENASA\u2019s Artemis program\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and various private ventures. These missions need reliable and quick navigation abilities to successfully complete missions, especially if ground stations on Earth are overburdened or disconnected.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/seal.ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpace Exploration and Analysis Laboratory\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (SEAL) has developed new algorithms that are headed to the Moon, as part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.intuitivemachines.com\/im-2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIntuitive Machine\u2019s\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E IM-2 mission. The mission is sending a Nova-C class lunar lander named Athena to the Moon\u2019s south pole region to test technologies and collect data that aim to enable future exploration. The mission is part of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/commercial-lunar-payload-services\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (CLPS) initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESEAL\u2019s Space Odyssey\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESEAL, led by AE professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/directory\/person\/john-christian\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Christian\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, collaborated with Intuitive Machines to develop algorithms to guide Athena to the Shackleton crater: a region known for its limited sunlight and cold temperatures. In coordination with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.spacex.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpaceX\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, launch of the company\u2019s IM-2 mission is targeted for a multi-day launch window that opens no earlier than February 26 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAthena will transport NASA\u0027s\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/polar-resources-ice-mining-experiment-1-prime-1\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPRIME-1\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1) which includes two instruments: a drill and spectrometer. The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain (TRIDENT) is designed to drill up to three feet of lunar surface to extract soil, while the mass spectrometer (MSOLO) will measure the amount of ice in the soil samples.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter launch, Athena will separate from the rocket and begin a roughly five-to-four-day cruise to the Moon\u2019s orbit. The lander will orbit the Moon for approximately three to 1.5 days before its descent to the south pole.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn Fall 2022, Research Engineer \u003Cstrong\u003EAva Thrasher\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E(AE 2022, M.S. AE 2024)\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Ebegan working on IM-2, developing new algorithms to guide Athena to the Shackleton crater using optical terrain relative navigation (TRN). Her approach looked at developing a crater detection algorithm (CDA) using image processing techniques that capture crater center locations on the Moon which are then used to determine Athena\u0027s position estimations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen, she developed a crater identification algorithm (CIA) to match craters found in the image to a catalog of known lunar craters. By using CDA and CIA in tandem, Athena is able to estimate its location and orientation with a single photo, autonomously, and in real-time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe wanted to strike a balance between creating something that would be done quickly on board, but also something that was reliable,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe ended up using simple crater geometry and knowledge of the sun angle to render what we expect a crater to look like in the image.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CDA finds craters by calculating a similarity score between the image and the rendered crater at each image pixel point. This process, also known as template matching, marks crater centers at points of very high similarity. CIA then uses these crater center locations to match them with known craters in a catalog. By matching pixel locations in an image to known three-dimensional positions on the Moon, the spacecraft is able to produce an estimation of its position.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter two years of research and testing, Thrasher, Christian, and the Intuitive Machines team successfully demonstrated the CDA and CIA on synthetic imagery and Thrasher handed off the algorithms to Intuitive Machines to convert them into flight software for Athena.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe first got involved with optical navigation (OPNAV) research after she took AE 4342: Senior Design with Prof. Christian as an undergraduate student. \u201cI found optical navigation to be really interesting. I liked the idea of being able to figure out where you are and how you\u2019re moving in real-time based on a picture,\u201d she said. In Fall 2022, she started her first graduate semester at Tech and was a new member of SEAL, where she quickly began demonstrating the idea of detecting craters and prototyping the CDA and CIA programmed into Athena. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter she graduated with her master\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering in May 2024, \u0026nbsp;she loved what she did so much, that she decided to stay and work as a full-time research engineer in SEAL. Now, she\u2019s gearing up to see her work make its way to the Moon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u0027s been really exciting and humbling to contribute to the massive task of putting a lander on the Moon. I never really appreciated the scale of work and collaboration needed to make it happen until I was lucky enough to be a part of it. I\u0027ll certainly be watching the launch and tracking the mission with great anticipation of both the engineering and scientific results,\u201d said Thrasher.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIM-1 Makes History\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of a multi-year collaboration, Christian helped \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/georgia-tech-algorithm-headed-moon\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Edevelop a key navigation algorithm for Intuitive Machines\u2019 first space mission (IM-1\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E) which launched a Nova-C lunar lander named Odysseus to the Malapert A crater on the Moon\u2019s south pole region; about 11 miles away from IM-2\u2019s targeted Shackleton crater.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe IM-1 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on February 15, 2024 and soft-landed on the Moon on February 22, 2024---making Odysseus the first U.S. lunar landing since the Apollo program and the first-ever successful commercial lunar landing. Odysseus had a rougher-than-expected soft landing due to an anomaly with the altimeter that was supposed to provide insight into the lander\u2019s height above the lunar surface. In the absence of these altimeter measurements, Odysseus relied critically on the visual odometry technique that was jointly developed by Christian and Intuitive Machines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite these challenges, Odysseus captured images of the Moon during landing and operated on the lunar surface for 144 hours before entering standby mode.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Christian and SEAL have more projects on the horizon to develop new technologies for exploring our Moon, other planets, asteroids, and the solar system. These technologies will enable future scientific missions to safely explore challenging destinations and answer scientific questions that were impossible with yesterday\u2019s technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/seal.ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpace Exploration and Analysis Laboratory\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (SEAL) has developed new algorithms that are headed to the Moon, as part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.intuitivemachines.com\/im-2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIntuitive Machine\u2019s\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E IM-2 mission. The mission is sending a Nova-C class lunar lander named Athena to the Moon\u2019s south pole region to test technologies and collect data that aim to enable future exploration. The mission is part of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/commercial-lunar-payload-services\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (CLPS) initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESEAL, led by Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Christian\u003C\/strong\u003E, collaborated with Intuitive Machines to develop algorithms to guide Athena to the Shackleton crater: a region known for its limited sunlight and cold temperatures. Research Engineer \u003Cstrong\u003EAva Thrasher\u003C\/strong\u003E (AE 2022, M.S. AE 2024) led Georgia Tech\u0027s SEAL team on developing the algorithms used for Athena\u0027s flight software.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"AE researchers have developed new algorithms to help Intuitive Machine\u2019s lunar lander find water ice on the Moon.  "}],"uid":"34736","created_gmt":"2025-02-26 16:19:31","changed_gmt":"2025-02-26 16:27:39","author":"Kelsey Gulledge","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676397":{"id":"676397","type":"image","title":"54284511327_9ca21c7337_o.jpg","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIntuitive Machines\u0027 IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, in the company\u0027s Lunar Production and Operations Center. Credit: Intuitive Machines\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1740586783","gmt_created":"2025-02-26 16:19:43","changed":"1740586783","gmt_changed":"2025-02-26 16:19:43","alt":"Intuitive Machines\u0027 IM-2 mission lunar lander, Athena, in the company\u0027s Lunar Production and Operations Center. 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Credit: Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1740587067","gmt_created":"2025-02-26 16:24:27","changed":"1740587067","gmt_changed":"2025-02-26 16:24:27","alt":"Illustration of the steps used to detect and identify craters to ultimately determine the vehicles state estimation. 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