Michael Zanetti (ST13), Paul Bremner (ST13), Mitzi Adams (ST13), Kyle Miller (MSFC-EV42), and Erin Hayward (MSFC-EM41) conducted field work in the highlands of Iceland using the Kinematic Navigation and Cartography Knapsack (KNaCK) LiDAR backpack and KNaCAR autonomous rover from 7/13-31/22. This campaign was in support of the Rover and Aerial Vehicle Exploration Network (RAVEN) NASA Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research (PSTAR) led by the University of Arizona (UA) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) in collaboration with NASA JPL, MDA Canada (MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates), the University of Western Ontario (UWO), University of Tennessee, and the University of Reykjavik, Iceland.
Above: Dr. Paul Bremner () radios confirmation of a rover maneuver to the rover-pilot who was driving using only LiDAR mapping data from Huntsville, AL. Rover-remote-piloting using LiDAR-only was a major project milestone achievement and demonstrated the use case of LiDAR-based terrain navigation in a relevant planetary analog environment (image credit: M. Adams, 7/23/22).
An international team of 30 scientists and engineers conducted field work in the black sands of the Icelandic highlands at the margins of the 2014-2015 Holuhraun volcanic eruption, a site which serves as a remarkable planetary analog site for both lunar and Mars surface conditions. The MSFC team camped 2.5 weeks at the Dreki campsite, near the Askja volcano, and conducted field tests of the KNaCK backpack instrument, collecting ultra-high resolution surface topography data of various terrains for scientific investigation. A surface mobility demonstration and data collection with a small rover using real-time LiDAR-based hazard avoidance was also conducted.
Above: Mitzi Adams (ST13) demonstrates the latest version of the KNaCK instrument in the black glacial sands of the Iceland Highlands near the Holuhraun Lava flow. This region is a remarkable lunar and Mars planetary analog site with many similar features of planetary bodies. (Image Credit: M. Zanetti, 7/24/22).
Data collected will be used to advance the KNaCK system for terrain mapping and navigation in GPS-denied environments, development of MSFC Regolith Field capabilities and mission-operations for rover-based exploration and lunar construction, and science-from-3D LiDAR-mapping. Campaign highlights include successful demonstration and data collection from a new prototype LiDAR unit, comparison of data with commercial state-of-the-art mobile LiDAR (with UWO), and a remote-piloting of the rover in Iceland from the NSSTC in Huntsville, AL. Furthermore, a demonstration of the KNaCK system was given to NASA JSC-xEVA personnel, including astronaut Zena Cardman, using head’s-up display for real-time rover piloting and terrain visualization. Additionally, the KNaCK doppler velocity-sensing LiDAR recorded dust velocities within vortices produced by UAS drone take-off and landing, and (to our knowledge) the first LiDAR velocity recording of dust-devils. This data will be used in collaboration with Udaysankar Nair and students at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, to develop particle tracking models and other small-scale atmospheric phenomena investigations.
Above: Michael Zanetti chases after a dust-devil, a swirling vortex of dust, in the Iceland highlands. The Doppler velocity sensing capabilities of the KNaCK LiDAR demonstrated the first rotational velocity measurement of dust-devils using LiDAR ever made (to our knowledge), expanding the science use case for KNaCK as a Mars-science tool. (Image Credit: Erin Hayward (EM41) field team member. 7/26/22).