Kacey Roberts
Draper has completed flight and payload testing to gather data and validate algorithms for its vision-based navigation and hazard detection technology, the Draper Multi-Environment Navigator, designed for precise and safe lunar landings.
Testing efforts
In the first test, conducted in fall 2024, DMEN was deployed on Astrobotic’s Xodiac rocket lander to validate a hazard detection system software compatible with existing DMEN hardware to advance its technology readiness level, Draper said Tuesday.
The second test, completed in early February, involved flying DMEN on Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-29 as a research payload to collect data and refine algorithms in preparation for CP-12, a NASA-funded delivery under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
Both tests were partially funded by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program.
Brett Streetman, a distinguished member of the technical staff at Draper, commented the tests help “move DMEN from the laboratory into space,” adding, “By gathering data in multiple environments with different vehicles, we improve multiple aspects of our technology.”
