{"id":116319,"date":"2020-12-18T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//?p=116319"},"modified":"2023-09-08T14:09:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:09:31","slug":"ucf-developed-sensor-passes-first-test-on-track-for-future-moon-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//ucf-developed-sensor-passes-first-test-on-track-for-future-moon-missions/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319//","title":{"rendered":"UCF Developed Sensor Passes First Test, On Track for Future Moon Missions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A prototype sensor that detects Moon dust by shooting lasers through the sky has successfully completed its first hurdle. That means UCF is one step closer to building the real instrument that could fly to the moon on a future space mission./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

UCF researchers designed the Ejecta STORM instrument to scan the area around a lunar lander for moondust and other hazards based on a concept planetary scientist Phil Metzger came up with about 10 years ago. Ejecta STORM stands for the Ejecta Sheet Tracking, Opacity and Regolith Maturity. NASA funded a proposal to study this instrument about a year ago. Earlier this month, a prototype that students helped build went onto a tethered rocket system for a few test flights, courtesy of the commercial partner Masten Space Systems, a space transportation company based in California./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

Understanding how dust behaves on the moon and other planetary surfaces is critical for future space exploration missions. When a spacecraft lands or takes off, the dust it kicks off could damage engines, sandblast a nearby lunar outpost, or even impact a spacecraft orbiting the moon. There is also interest in knowing how dust on the lunar surface will behave when people are walking on it or rovers are driving around, says project co-investigator Adrienne Dove, a planetary scientist and assistant professor with UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u2019s Department of Physics. The movement will likely generate a lot of complicated electrical and dynamical interactions./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

That/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u2019s why NASA funded the Ejecta STORM project, through the Flight Opportunities program which allows researchers to use suborbital flights and other flight platforms to test and refine technology that may one day be used on missions to the moon and beyond./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

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Test Flights/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

In the stillness of the Mojave Desert, Metzger watched as Masten Space Systems fired up its takeoff and vertical landing rocket, which mimics a lunar landing. Aboard the vehicle, UCF/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u2019s laser sensor, which was installed into the top of the rocket along with cameras. A bed of simulated lunar soil had been prepared underneath the rocket. During the flights the cameras collected video of the rocket exhaust blowing the dust across the laser beams./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u201cThe tests went smoothly with four successful flights,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u201d says Metzger. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u201cWe knew the tests were successful because we collected videos where the lasers could be clearly seen in each of the different colors of light so we can use those images to measure how much dust is in the clouds at each point along the lengths of the beams. We are now doing the post-test data processing on the videos to extract information about the dust and dynamics, proving the quality of data that can be collected during a lunar landing./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/116319/n