Images are an important source of information for spacecraft navigation and for three-
dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of observed space objects. Both of these applications take …

As small celestial body exploration advances, higher requirements with regard to system
safety and landing precision are proposed for future landing and sample return missions …

In this paper, we present the vision-aided inertial navigation (VISINAV) algorithm that
enables precision planetary landing. The vision front-end of the VISINAV system extracts 2 …

The driving precision landing requirement for the Autonomous Landing and Hazard
Avoidance Technology project is to autonomously land within 100 m of a predetermined …

It is often necessary to identify a pattern of observed craters in a single image of the lunar
surface and without any prior knowledge of the camera's location. This so-called “lost-in …

In this paper we describe an extended Kalman filter algorithm for estimating the pose and
velocity of a spacecraft during entry, descent, and landing. The proposed estimator …

The detection and identification of impact craters on a planetary surface are crucially
important for planetary studies and autonomous navigation. Crater detection refers to finding …

This paper provides an approach of crater detection and matching to visual navigation in
planetary landing missions. The approach aims to detect craters on the planetary surface …

Image-based terrain relative navigation is expected to play an important role in the safe
operation of upcoming lunar exploration missions. This work provides a detailed treatment of …

Interest in autonomous planetary precision landing missions has been increasing in the
scientific and engineering community, and is likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable …