Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS); NASA's CS-6 page says 'SCALPSS 1.x', the team's own slides list this unit as SCALPSS 2.0¶
Blue Ghost Mission 4 · manifested · NASA payload
Stereo cameras under the lander that image the ground before, during and after touchdown; stereo photogrammetry turns the images into 3D maps of how the engine plume erodes the regolith. The team lists this unit as SCALPSS 2.0: six higher-resolution Ethernet cameras on new 'Mini-Suite Lite' avionics, plus a laser dot grid and a passive sunlight reflector to light up the ejecta sheet, and particle impact sensors on the lander legs. It would be the first SCALPSS to measure the ejecta itself, not only the crater.
PI: NASA's CS-6 page names Robert Maddock and Joseph Atkinson (Langley) as PIs. The team's own slides name Wesley Chambers (Marshall) as PI and Robert Maddock as project manager.
Built by: NASA Langley Research Center (lead: project management, design, avionics, cameras, illumination, integration and test), with NASA Marshall (principal investigator, cameras and lenses, plume modeling), NASA Glenn (particle impact sensor) and NASA Johnson (camera calibration on the lander, insulation) (NASA center)
| Technology | landing-environment cameras with active illumination and particle impact sensors (plume-surface interaction) |
| Moon Base need | DN-017 L, DN-018 L (Partly NASA's link. DN-017 L's own row names SCALPSS for its Blue Ghost Mission 1 flight and says similar imaging suites could add data for other landers. That this unit answers DN-017 L and DN-018 L is the study's reading. Its laser grid and impact sensors aim at ejecta sheet shape and particle energy, closer to DN-017 L's 'particle sizes, speeds, and angles of ejection' than the camera-only units. It lands at the South Pole, where DN-017 L's data is wanted. A 2029 landing sits on the phase boundary (web: Phase 1 'Now–2029', Phase 2 '2029–2032'; Ignition deck 2: Phase 1 'Now through 2028'); the study reads it as Phase 2.) |
| Route onto CLPS | STMD; No open call. SCALPSS is an STMD Game Changing Development project at Langley. In September 2024 the team planned SCALPSS 2.0 for Blue Origin's second Mk1 lander (Mk1-102); by the CS-6 payload workshop of February 2025 it was planned for CS-6, with a Q3 2028 target. NASA awarded CS-6 to Firefly on 29 July 2025 ($176.7 million) and named SCALPSS among its payloads. NASA's naming makes CS-6 a science delivery led by SMD, so SMD's CLPS office carries an STMD-funded payload. Who placed SCALPSS on CS-6 is not public. The route is STMD (the funder), as for the other SCALPSS units.; 2025-02-24 (listed for CS-6 at the payload workshop); 2025-07-29 (CS-6 award to Firefly) |
| Timeline | first funding late 2018 (SCALPSS formed at Langley; SMD NPLP from FY2019); FY2021 (Langley CIF for SCALPSS 2 diagnostics); FY2024 (STMD GCD PSI Instrumentation Project, SCALPSS 2.0); first flight test 2024-02-15 (SCALPSS 1.0 on IM-1; the 2.0 hardware has not flown); selected by 2025-02-24 (listed for CS-6 at the payload workshop); 2025-07-29 (CS-6 award); launch no earlier than 2029 (Firefly); the team's February 2025 target was Q3 2028; landing 2029 (NASA, target) |
| On the Moon | not yet flown |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- earlier lunar mission: Intuitive Machines IM-1 (Nova-C 'Odysseus'), SCALPSS 1.0, 2024-02-15 (launch); landed 2024-02-22. The first version: four cameras with Mars 2020-derived storage. It survived launch, transit and landing, but no plume data was collected; three cameras returned surface images.
"The SCALPSS 1.0 payload successfully operated during lunar transit, and on the lunar surface, however, no science data was collected."
— TechPort project 116401, description"Cameras and Electronics survived launch, transit, and landing."
— NTRS 20260000603, page 15
- earlier lunar mission: Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, SCALPSS 1.1, 2025-01-15 (launch); landed 2025-03-02. Six cameras with three lens types, on the same lander family as this unit. It worked in transit, in lunar orbit, in descent and on the surface, and met its full measurement objectives. It did not carry the laser grid or impact sensors.
"The SCALPSS 1.1 payload successfully operated during lunar transit, in lunar orbit, during lander descent, and on the lunar surface achieving its full measurement objectives."
— TechPort project 116401, description"Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which also flew on Blue Ghost Mission 1"
— Blue Ghost + Elytra: Lunar South Pole - Firefly Aerospace, SCALPSS paragraph
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage (SCALPSS 1.0 and 1.1): Same team, method and design process (camera placement simulated on the lander's CAD model, then thermal-vacuum, vibration and EMI tests). The 2.0 hardware is new: the Mars 2020 EDLCam-derived data storage unit and USB hub give way to Mini-Suite Lite avionics with six Ethernet camera ports. So the lunar flights prove the method, not this unit's hardware.
"Heritage hardware from Mars 2020 EDLCam (NASA JPL)"
— NTRS 20260000603, page 11"Utilization of a new MSE-lite electronics removes the need for a separate USB Hub."
— NTRS 20250001741, page 8
- ground test heritage (laser grid) and new sensors: The laser dot grid was shown in the laboratory, and a 4-camera, 2-laser SCALPSS system is the erosion measurement for NASA's Human Landing System plume-surface ground tests at Langley. The particle impact sensor is new (TRL 3 in September 2024), with a flight sensor build planned for August 2027 and delivery to a CLPS provider in mid-2028. Commercial parts: Matchbox lasers and FLIR Blackfly S cameras in the 2025 design.
"Laboratory Demonstration"
— NTRS 20250001741, page 5 (ejecta sheet measurement)"Human Landing System
Plume-Surface Interaction
Ground Test (HLS-PSI-
GT) at NASA LaRC"
— NTRS 20260000603, page 17 (SCALPSS GT: 4-camera and 2-laser system)
"Technology is at TRL 3"
— NTRS 20240011651, PIE sensor slide"Final flight sensor build – Aug 2027"
— NTRS 20240011651, PIE sensor slide
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- STMD Game Changing Development, PSI Instrumentation Project (from FY2024): SCALPSS 2.0. No amount public. (STMD GCD; from FY2024): amount not in public sources
"Funded by STMD/GCD beginning in FY24 as part of the PSI Instrumentation Project."
— NTRS 20240011651, SCALPSS 2.0 slide
- STMD Game Changing Development, project 'SCALPSS 2' (TechPort 184628, Langley, 1 May 2025 to 30 June 2030, TRL 5 to 6): new electronics and higher-resolution cameras. No amount in TechPort. (STMD GCD; 2025-2030): amount not in public sources
"The SCALPSS 2.0 payload will utilize new electronics to improve data management and higher resolution cameras for improved science data."
— TechPort project 184628, description; start 2025-05-01, end 2030-06-30
- Langley Center Innovation Fund, FY2021 (TechPort 146339, PI Joshua Weisberger): three diagnostics for a future lander (ejecta sheet, particle tracking, terrain mapping), meant from the start for 'SCALPSS 2'. No amount in TechPort. (STMD Center Innovation Fund (Langley); 2020-10 to 2021-09): amount not in public sources
"Particle Image Velocimetry/Tracking, Ejecta Sheet Monitoring, and Terrain Mapping for SCALPSS 2"
— TechPort project 146339, title"we plan to propose to the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) for their inclusion on the SCALPSS 2 lunar lander in late FY21"
— TechPort project 146339, description
- NASA purchase orders that name SCALPSS 2.0 or its Mini-Suite Lite avionics: Holoor's custom diffractive optical elements (the laser-grid optics) 'for the SCALPSS 2.0 flight payloads' (80NSSC26P1729, Sept 2026, $91,540), and Microchip relays and an FPGA for 'MSE Lite' (80NSSC26P0655, $55,340; 80NSSC26P0636, $44,929.60; May 2026). Total from USAspending. They cover several SCALPSS 2.x units (this one, the CT-4 unit and the CS-8 units) and do not say which, so this is not this unit's cost. (NASA purchase orders (NSSC); 2026): $191,810
"CUSTOM DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENTS (DOES) FOR THE SCALPSS 2.0 FLIGHT PAYLOADS"
— USAspending.gov, award SCALPSS, 80NSSC26P1729; amount 91540.0"MSE LITE RELAYS (SCALPSS)"
— USAspending.gov, award SCALPSS, 80NSSC26P0655; amount 55340.0"MSE/MSE/SCALPSS LITE FPGA"
— USAspending.gov, award SCALPSS, 80NSSC26P0636; amount 44929.6"National Aeronautics and Space Administration"
— USAspending.gov, awards 80NSSC26P1729, 80NSSC26P0655, 80NSSC26P0636, 3 awards, obligated 191809.6
- Cameras bought from Lore Technology for SCALPSS, version not stated: Teledyne FLIR cameras (80NSSC25PB904, Sept 2025) and Basler cameras (80NSSC26P1315, Aug 2026). The 2025 design for this unit used FLIR Blackfly S GigE cameras; linking these orders to the 2.x units is the study's reading. Total from USAspending; not split by unit. (NASA purchase orders (NSSC); 2025-2026): $308,529
"TELEDYNE FLIR CAMERAS FOR THE SCALPSS PROJECT"
— USAspending.gov, award SCALPSS, 80NSSC25PB904; amount 41625.4"SCALPSS BASLER CAMERAS"
— USAspending.gov, award SCALPSS, 80NSSC26P1315; amount 266904.0"LORE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY"
— USAspending.gov, awards 80NSSC26P1315, 80NSSC25PB904, 2 awards, obligated 308529.4
- The particle impact sensor: in September 2024 it had 'No current budget'; the team proposed USD 0.7-1.5 million a year for FY2025-2028. Whether it was funded is not public. (not in public sources; FY2025-FY2028 (proposed)): amount not in public sources
"Proposed cost is 0.7-1.5 M / year FY25-28"
— NTRS 20240011651, PIE sensor slide
- The base design: SMD's NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads paid for SCALPSS 1.0 from FY2019; STMD GCD paid for SCALPSS 1.1 (TechPort 116401, from October 2020). See im1-scalpss and bgm1-scalpss. (SMD NPLP; STMD GCD; from FY2019): amount not in public sources
"SCALPSS 1.0 was funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate through the NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads Program."
— Tiny NASA Cameras to Picture Interaction Between Lander, Moon’s Surface - NASA
How it got onto CLPS¶
"SCALPSS 2.0 (Blue Origin Mk1-102)"
— NTRS 20240011651, slide 7 (Lunar Surface Science Workshop, 17 Sep 2024)"CLPS CS-6: Q3 CY2028 target"
— NTRS 20250001741, page 7, SCALPSS 2.0 column (Feb 2025)"Firefly Aerospace Blue
Ghost Mission 4"
— NTRS 20260000603, page 17, under SCALPSS 2.0 (27 Jan 2026)
"Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies will use enhanced stereo imaging photogrammetry, active illumination, and ejecta impact detection sensors"
— NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon - NASA, 29 Jul 2025"CS-3 is a CLPS Science delivery, the 3rd led by Science Mission Directorate (SMD)."
— Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Deliveries - NASA Science, note on CLPS naming"Funding: NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate, Game Changing Development."
— NTRS 20260000603, page 2
On the Moon¶
Manifested on Blue Ghost Mission 4, targeted to land in 2029 about 40 km south of Mons Malapert on the rim of Haworth crater. In January 2026 the team reported the payload configuration design under way. Other SCALPSS units (Blue Moon Pathfinder Mission 1, IM-5, the four late-2028 landings) may fly first.
"Payload configuration
design underway."
— NTRS 20260000603, page 17, SCALPSS 2.0
"approximately 40 km south of Mons Malapert on the rim of the Haworth Crater"
— Blue Ghost + Elytra: Lunar South Pole - Firefly Aerospace, Our Destination
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO flight of SCALPSS, its 2.0 parts (cameras, laser grid, impact sensor) or its Langley-Marshall-Glenn team was found in FO's TechPort records, reports or pages. FO has flown plume-surface work by other teams, such as Auburn University's parabolic-flight photogrammetry of craters (TechPort 106726); no source ties it to SCALPSS, so that is the same topic only, as the study's earlier traceback found for the earlier units. Grade: none. The study's remark, not the team's: the team says full-scale ground tests of plume-surface interaction do not exist, and the laser grid and impact sensor have no flight before this landing; those are the parts a pre-CLPS flight test could reach.
"No FO flight of SCALPSS or its Langley team."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)"Three-Dimensional Plume-Surface Interaction and Crater Formation Dynamic Measurements in Reduced Gravity Environments"
— TechPort project 106726, title (FO; lead Auburn University)"Facilities and/or capabilities for ground testing (e.g., full scale engines in a vacuum into lunar regolith) do not currently exist."
— NTRS 20250001741, page 3
Who built it¶
"PIs: Robert Maddock and Joseph Atkinson, LaRC"
— CS-6 Science - NASA Science"Lead development organization: NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia."
— NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon - NASA"Principle Investigator: Wesley Chambers"
— NTRS 20250001741, page 2 (CLPS CS-6 Payload Workshop, 24-25 Feb 2025)"NASA Glenn Research Center: - particle impact sensor"
— NTRS 20250001741, page 2"camera calibration (post lander integration)"
— NTRS 20250001741, page 2 (NASA Johnson)
Moon Base need¶
"captured stereo imagery during Blue Ghost's final descent and soft landing. Similar imaging"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-017 L: In situ measurement of particle velocity during lunar plume surface interaction (PSI) phenomena, Current state of data, the data-gap row's own words""Regolith particle sizes, speeds, and angles of ejection caused by rocket exhaust interacting"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-017 L: In situ measurement of particle velocity during lunar plume surface interaction (PSI) phenomena, target measurement parameters"Characterize the landing site alteration caused by rocket exhaust plumes interacting with"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-018 L: In situ measurement of landing site alteration imaging at small scale on the lunar surface, description"Data provided by SCALPSS will help guide lunar lander design for the next generation of lunar exploration."
— CS-6 Science - NASA Science"Phase 1 "Now through 2028", Phase 2 "2029–2033""
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base phases, Ignition deck 2
Open questions¶
- Which version flies on Blue Ghost Mission 4? NASA's CS-6 page says 'SCALPSS 1.x'; NASA's release and the team's slides describe SCALPSS 2.0 with active illumination and impact sensors.
- Who is the PI? NASA's CS-6 page names Robert Maddock and Joseph Atkinson; the team's slides name Wesley Chambers (with Maddock as project manager).
- What SCALPSS 2.0 costs, and whether the particle impact sensor got the budget it lacked in 2024: not in public sources.
- Will the laser grid or the impact sensor be flight-tested (aircraft, drone, test lander or suborbital) before the Moon? Not in public sources; the papers describe laboratory and ground tests only.
- Which SCALPSS 2.x unit flies first (this one, IM-5's 2.1, or the CS-8 units), and will results from one change the others? Not in public sources.