Optical and Laser-based Measurements for NASA’s Artemis Program

Abstract

NASA and their partners are on the cusp of embarking on a series of space missions to the moon and beyond, collectively known as the Artemis Program. The Artemis I mission is scheduled for launch in late November 2022. This talk briefly summarizes the upcoming Artemis missions and describes laser and optical measurement technique development and application to ground and flight tests related to, or inspired by, the Artemis program. In particular, development and application of three different measurement techniques (planar laser-induced fluorescence [PLIF], femtosecond laser electronic excitation and tagging [FLEET] and photogrammetry) are described. These techniques have been applied to study vehicle launch, lunar landing, and earth entry. Such optical and laser-based instrumentation can provide unique qualitative and quantitative information to inform the underlying physics of space flight while also providing benchmark data for validating ever advancing predictive codes.