SCIENCE · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
NASA's Flight Research Lab Pioneers Precision Landing Tech for Moon and Mars
WHY IT MATTERS
The development of precision landing technology is crucial for future NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, enabling safer and more efficient landings and paving the way for further space exploration.
What happened
At NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, a team of engineers and pilots led by Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Justin Link are working on advanced navigation systems for future landings on the Moon and Mars. The team, with a shared passion for flight, has been building and flying radio-controlled aircraft since childhood.
Their expertise in technical oversight, management, and system design is now being applied to the development of the Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) experiment. This experiment, installed on the Alta-X drone, will help spacecraft land precisely and detect and avoid potential hazards.
The team's work continues to support NASA's missions across aeronautics, science, and exploration.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Passion Meets Precision at NASA’s Flight Research Lab
NASA · Dede Dinius · NASA media usage guidelines; third-party material excluded