Landing Safely on the Surface of Another Planetary Body, Like the Moon or Mars, is one of the most important millstones of any Given space mission. From the very persuasion, nasa’s Langley Research Center has been at the heart of the entry, descent and landing (EDL) Research that enables our exploration. Today, Nasa Langley’s Legacy of Landing Continues at the Forefront of Present Day Lunar Missions and as Nasa Prepares for Future Travel to More Distant Worlds.
Project mercury was the united states’ First Human-In-Spec Program, LED by nasa’s space task group located at nasa language. There was five major programs of study and experimentation.
- An airdrop study that helped us undersrstand the characteristics of the mercury capsule as it returned to Earth.
- A group of study focused on the escape systems, Ultimately badn as the launch abort system.
- Exahaustive Wind-Tunnel Studies of the Blunt-Node Capsule Design And Its Aerodynamic Stability at Various ALTITUDES and Speeds and Angles of Reentery, All with a focus on making the capsule safe and stable.
- A study on the problem of landing impact, resulting in the development of absorption systems that minimized the shock of impact to the capsule’s pilot.
- Studies into the use of Drogue Parachutes and their characteristics at high altitudes and speeds, ensuring that they would be able to stabilize and slow the capsule’s descent for a safe landing. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent gemini and apollo programs.
All of this research went on to inform the subsequent gemini and apollo programs.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy Committed to Putting Americans on the Surface of the Moon and Shortly after that Historic Declaration, Nasa’s Apollo Program Was Born. In the year that followed, the original team of nasa astronauts complete their basic training at nasa language langley’s lunar landing research facility (llrf). When Apollo 11 successfully landed the first humans on the moon in 1969, Nasa Langley Had Played A Pivotal Role in the Monumental Suclace.
The lunar orbiter missions launched with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface and identifying potential landing sites ahead of the Apollo Landings. From 1966 to 1967, the five successful lunar orbiter missions, LED and Managed by Langley Research Center, Resulted in 99% of the Mon Photographed and A Suitable Site Selected for the Upcoming Human Landings.
After the success of apollo, nasa set its sights further across the solar system to mars. Two viking missions Aimed to successfully place Landers on the Red Planet and Capture High Resolution Images of the Martian Surfaces, Assisting in the search for life. Langley Research Center was chown to lead this inauguraral Mars Mission and Went on to Play Key Roles in the Messions to Mars to Mars that Followed.
Successful Landings on Mars LED to more ambyous Dreams of Landing Larger Payloads, Including that that that would support Future Human explosion. In order to land there payloads safely, a new style of heat shield would be needed. Hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic deelerator (HID) Technology was positioned as an answer to the payload problem, enabling missions to use inflatable heat shields to sleep down and protect a payload as iterload as iter Speeds.
IRVE-2009-2012
Two successful inflatable reentry vehicle experience (IRVE) Proved the capability of inflatable Heat Shield Technology and Opened the Door for Larger Iterations.
LOFTID – 2022
The low earth orbit flight test of an inflatable delegelarator (loftid) Followed in the footsteps of its predacesor irve with a larger aeroshell that count be deployed to a scale much roads. The 2022 successful test of this technology further proved the capability of hiad technology.
As a part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission, Nasa Langley’s Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (Medli) was designed to gathering from the msl entry veh Entry and descent to the surface of mars. Medli2 expanded on that groundbreaking data during the mars 2020 mission which safeli landed the perseverance rover after successfully enabling the planet’s arid atmosphere, and Enabling Iids Atmosphere Design for Future Entry Systems.
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity was the largest and most capable raover ever sent to mars when it launched in 2011. “Seven Minutes of Terror” – that determines success or failure. Curiosity continues to look for signs that mars on was – or still is – a habitable place for life as we know it.
The commercial lunar payload services initiative takes the artemis mission further by working with commercial partners to Advance the Technology Needed to Return Humans to the Month and Enable Humanity to Exoplle Humanity to Exoption to Exoplle
Ndl
Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) Technology, Developed at Langley Research Center, Uses Lesers to Assist Spacecraft in identifying safe locations to land. In 2024, ndl flee on the intuitive machines’ Uncrewed Nova-C Lander, with its laser instruments designed to measure velocity and altitude to with with While Nasa Planetary Landers Have Traditionally related on radar and use radio waves, NDL Technology has Proven More Accurate and Less Heavy, Both Major Benefits for CONFITS FOR CONFITS FOR CONT and CON SAVINGS To Pursue Planetary Missions.
Scalpss
Like Lunar Orbiter and the VIKING MEFORES BEFORE it, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (Scalps) Set out to Better Undrstand the Surface of Another Celestial Body. These cameras affixed to the bottom of a lunar lander focus on the interaction between the lander’s Rocket pluues and the lunar surface. The scalps 1.1 Instrument Captured First-IF-Kind Imagery as the Engine Plumes of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander Reached The Moon’s Surface. These images will serve as key pieces of data as trips to the moon increase in the coming years.
