Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.0)¶
IM-1 · landed · NASA payload
Four small cameras in two stereo pairs around the base of the lander, with a data storage unit and a USB hub. They were to image how the engine plume erodes the surface during descent and after touchdown, so that 3D maps of the crater can check plume-surface models.
PI: Michelle Munk (NASA Langley)
Built by: NASA Langley Research Center (lead), with NASA Marshall and JPL as project partners (NASA center)
| Technology | landing-environment cameras (plume-surface interaction) |
| Moon Base need | DN-017 L, DN-018 L (NASA's own data-gap row DN-017 L names SCALPSS, but for its Blue Ghost flight (SCALPSS 1.1). Tying the IM-1 unit (SCALPSS 1.0) to DN-017 L and DN-018 L is the study's reading.) |
| Route onto CLPS | NPLP; NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads: SMD's 2019 request to NASA centers. Selected in February 2019; manifested on Intuitive Machines' first delivery (task order TO2-IM) in 2019, and listed with the IM-1 payloads in NASA's January 2020 announcement.; 2019-02-21 |
| Timeline | first funding late 2018 (project formed at Langley); SMD NPLP funding from FY2019; first flight test not in public sources; selected 2019-02 (NPLP); manifested on IM-1 in 2019; launch 2024-02-15; landing 2024-02-22 |
| On the Moon | partly operated |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
None found in the public sources.
Heritage hardware¶
- design and parts heritage (Mars 2020 EDLCam, JPL): The data storage unit is a build-to-print copy of the Mars 2020 EDLCam electronics. The USB hub is the same commercial part as EDLCam's, and the cameras are the same make as EDLCam's, in a monochrome model. This hardware came from another team and mission, so it is heritage, not an earlier flight of SCALPSS.
"build-to-print of M2020 EDLCam electronics"
— NTRS 20205006450"utilized heritage flight-qualified hardware from the Mars2020 Entry, Descent, and Landing Cameras (EDLCam)"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 2"SCALPSS leverages camera technology used on the Mars 2020 rover."
— TO2-IM Science Payloads - NASA Science
- commercial instrument: Commercial off-the-shelf cameras, lenses and USB hub, ruggedized and qualified for spaceflight at Langley. Ground tests only before the Moon: environmental tests at Langley and photogrammetry accuracy tests on a flat floor at NASA Marshall.
"The hardware was purchased off-the-shelf and ruggedized/qualified for spaceflight operations at NASA LaRC."
— NTRS 20250010973, page 2"Testing for SCALPSS 1.0 provided data relating camera separation and altitude to photogrammetry accuracy."
— NTRS 20260000603, page 6
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- NASA Science Mission Directorate, NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads (NPLP), as a CLPS TO2 payload (SMD NPLP; 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"Funded by SMD/NPLP (CLPS TO2) beginning in FY19."
— NTRS 20240011651, Sept 2024 slides
How it got onto CLPS¶
"The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies will image the interaction between the lander engine plume as it hits the lunar surface."
— NASA Selects Experiments for Possible Lunar Flights in 2019 - NASA, release of 21 Feb 2019"was selected in February 2019 by the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) NASA Provided Lunar Payload (NPLP) Development Program"
— NTRS 20205006450"was manifested to the Intuitive Machines 1 (IM-1, CLPS Task Order 2-IM)"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 2"SCALPSS will capture video and still image data of the lander's plume as the plume starts to impact the lunar surface"
— First Commercial Moon Delivery Assignments to Advance Artemis - NASA, 22 Jan 2020, under Intuitive Machines Payloads
On the Moon¶
SCALPSS survived launch and passed its transit checkout. During descent it did not power on in time: the lander had bad altitude data and came down faster than planned, then came to rest on its side. So it recorded no plume-surface data. On day 5 of the surface mission it worked from the surface: one camera was too hot, and three returned images, overexposed and partly obscured by dust. The team says the payload showed the hardware works in the lunar environment.
"During descent, the payload was not powered on as expected due to erroneous altitude data on the lander"
— NTRS 20240005561, page 4"Although unable to collect PSI data, the SCALPSS 1.0 payload was able to verify that the hardware could successfully operate in the lunar environment."
— NTRS 20240005561, page 9"Three out of four provided thumbnails and full resolution images from the lunar surface."
— NTRS 20260000603, page 15"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
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO flight of SCALPSS or of its Langley team was found. FO has flown other plume-surface payloads (for example the University of Central Florida's Ejecta STORM on Xodiac), but no source ties them to SCALPSS: same topic only. The study's earlier traceback grade (none found) stands.
"No FO flight of SCALPSS or its Langley team."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)"No FO record or report names SCALPSS, ROLSES, LN-1, the retroreflectors"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"Developed at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS)"
— Tiny NASA Cameras to Picture Interaction Between Lander, Moon’s Surface - NASA"Payload PI: Michelle Munk"
— TO2-IM Science Payloads - NASA Science"Project partners include: NASA Langley Research Center (Lead) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory"
— NTRS 20205006450, SCALPSS project overview, Aug 2020
Moon Base need¶
"SCALPSS instrument suite successfully captured stereo imagery during Blue Ghost's final descent and soft landing"
— 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""Characterize and predict the properties of a plume-surface interaction (PSI) event"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base technology and knowledge challenges, Headline challenge 1, knowledge challenge
Open questions¶
- SCALPSS 1.0's development cost: not in public sources (NPLP amounts are not published). USAspending shows SCALPSS parts purchases only from 2022 on, for later versions.
- Delivery date to Intuitive Machines: October 2020 (2024 slides, NTRS 20240005561) or early 2021 (2026 paper, NTRS 20250010973)?
- Did any SCALPSS hardware fly before IM-1 (aircraft, drone or test lander)? Not in public sources: the papers describe ground tests only.