LandCam-X: a lunar landing camera
Although more missions are heading to the Moon, landing safely and precisely on its treacherous terrain remains a challenge. Craters and varying sunlight leave little room for error during the final moments before touchdown. LandCam-X, ESA’s lunar landing camera, is helping to tackle that challenge.
LandCam-X is a compact European camera that will help mature the technologies needed for landing on the Moon autonomously. Flying aboard Voyager’s Griffin-1 lunar lander, currently scheduled to go to the Moon later this year, it will capture high-resolution imagery of the Moon’s surface as the lander orbits and then descends over several hours until touchdown.
During the landing sequence, LandCam-X will record images while Griffin’s navigation system simultaneously records its position, velocity, attitude and angular rate. By combining these datasets, ESA and European users can reconstruct the landing trajectory and recreate the lunar landing on Earth, helping them to validate and improve vision-based navigation algorithms.
This data is valuable because autonomous landing systems rely on cameras and image-processing software to determine their position, identify hazards and navigate safely to the surface. LandCam-X will provide a rare opportunity to test and improve these techniques using data collected during an actual lunar landing.
LandCam-X is also ESA’s first payload flown through a commercial lunar delivery service, an important milestone in ESA’s approach to lunar exploration.
The camera was developed and built by OIP Space Instruments in Belgium. ESA selected French company Lunar Logistics Services to arrange its delivery to the Moon, who partnered with US lander Voyager Technologies.
Earlier this year, the camera was integrated onto the Griffin lander and began an environmental testing campaign ahead of launch.