California (Web Desk): The US space agency NASA has successfully tested advanced technology that will enable spacecraft to autonomously select safe landing sites on the surfaces of the Moon and other planets.
NASA is making rapid progress on its plan to establish a permanent space base on the lunar surface. As part of these efforts, simulated lunar landing tests were successfully conducted using a drone equipped with an advanced guidance and navigation system in California’s Mojave Desert.
The system uses data collected by sensors that measure distances and surface features through light to create highly detailed digital maps. These maps are then used to assess potential landing sites.
A key feature of the technology is that if a landing site appears dangerous, the system changes the drone’s direction and guides it towards a relatively safer location.
The advanced system has been named “Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution” (SPLICE). It was developed by researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.