NASA has successfully tested the algorithm for automatically selecting a new landing site on the Xombie rocket

Xombie is a rocket developed by Masten Space Systems in 2009. The company with this project won the NASA contest (Lunar Lander Challenge lunar contest).

So, NASA recently conducted an interesting test of this rocket, with a pre-installed control system with an algorithm for selecting a new landing site. According to the plan, if something goes wrong, the rocket can change the landing site to another, having calculated all the landing parameters on its own.
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True, "spare" landing sites must be determined in advance. NASA launched a rocket, and when it reached a height of 365.8 meters, the control unit of the rocket received a command to cancel landing at the starting point. The rocket itself was able to choose a new landing site and all the necessary parameters for landing, given the available fuel reserves. All calculations took about a second.

After that, the rocket changed course and began to decline. In this new landing site was located 800 meters from the starting point. The error during landing was only 22.9 centimeters.

If the subsequent tests are successful, the new algorithm will be installed into the control blocks of the spacecraft in the future, which will improve the accuracy of the landing, as well as provide for situations when the intended landing site is unsuitable for some reason.



Via nasa.gov