COBALT: Development of a Platform to Flight Test Lander GN&C Technologies on Suborbital Rockets

Abstract

The NASA COBALT Project (CoOperative Blending of Autonomous Landing Technologies) is developing and integrating new precision-landing Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) technologies, along with developing a terrestrial flight-test platform for Technology Readiness Level (TRL) maturation. The current technologies include a thirdgeneration Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) sensor for ultra-precise velocity and lineof-site (LOS) range measurements, and the Lander Vision System (LVS) that provides passive-optical Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) estimates of map-relative position. The COBALT platform is self contained and includes the NDL and LVS sensors, blending filter, a custom compute element, power unit, and communication system. The platform incorporates a structural frame that has been designed to integrate with the payload frame onboard the new Masten Xodiac vertical takeoff , vertical landing (VTVL) terrestrial rocket vehicle. Ground integration and testing is underway, and terrestrial flight testing onboard Xodiac is planned for 2017 with two flight campaigns: one open-loop and one closed-loop.

Autonomous Surface Site Establishment to Ensure Safe Crew Arrival and Operations

“…The Cooperative Blending of Autonomous Landing Technology (COBALT) [20,21] is a system that enables safe and precise landing by combining the Lander Vision System (LVS) [22] led by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) [23][24][25] developed by NASA Langley. The system uses lidar or a lander vision system along with Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) algorithms to compare in situ images to a priori maps of the landing area to determine position relative to the landing site.…”