Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1)¶
Blue Ghost Mission 1 · landed · NASA payload
Six small cameras under the lander, with a data storage unit and a USB hub. Two long-focal-length cameras image the surface before the plume hits it; four short-focal-length cameras image the plume's effect during descent and the surface after landing. Stereo photogrammetry turns the images into 3D maps of plume erosion, to check plume-surface models.
PI: Michelle Munk (NASA); project manager Robert Maddock (NASA Langley)
Built by: NASA Langley Research Center (lead), with NASA Marshall (NASA center)
| Technology | landing-environment cameras (plume-surface interaction) |
| Moon Base need | DN-017 L, DN-018 L (NASA names the link for DN-017 L: the data gap's own row cites SCALPSS's imagery from Blue Ghost's landing. DN-018 L (landing-site alteration) is the study's reading; SCALPSS's post-landing terrain maps are the kind of data it asks for.) |
| Route onto CLPS | STMD; A re-flight of the NPLP-selected SCALPSS 1.0, funded by STMD's Game Changing Development program. The SCALPSS project formed in late 2018 in answer to a call for payloads for the first CLPS flights (IM-1 and Blue Ghost Mission 1). SCALPSS 1.1 was assigned to Blue Ghost Mission 1 (task order 19D) in early 2021; its GCD project started 1 Oct 2020. Who made the assignment is not stated.; by 2021-02-04 |
| Timeline | first funding late 2018 (SCALPSS project formed at Langley; SMD NPLP from FY2019); 2020-10-01 (SCALPSS 1.1 GCD project start); first flight test 2024-02-15 (SCALPSS 1.0 on IM-1, launched after 1.1 was delivered); selected early 2021 (assigned to TO 19D; named in NASA's award release of 2021-02-04); launch 2025-01-15; landing 2025-03-02 |
| On the Moon | operated as planned |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- earlier lunar mission: Intuitive Machines IM-1 (Nova-C 'Odysseus'), SCALPSS 1.0, 2024-02-15 to 2024-02-29 (launch 15 Feb, landing 22 Feb). The four-camera predecessor, same team, same data storage unit, USB hub and camera model. It passed transit checkouts but did not power on during descent, because the lander's altitude data was wrong; on the surface three cameras returned images. It showed the hardware survives launch, transit and landing. This flight came after SCALPSS 1.1 was delivered to Firefly (late 2022), so its lessons could reach operations and analysis, not the 1.1 hardware.
"SCALPSS 1.1 is a slightly enhanced version of the original SCALPSS payload"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science"This iteration included the same DSU and USB Hub, with the same camera model"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 3"SCALPSS 1.0 successfully completed in-transit functional tests and operated from the lunar surface"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 3"This instrument also flew on Intuitive Machine’s first CLPS delivery."
— NASA press kit, Commercial Lunar Payload Services: Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Jan 2025), press kit p. 8
Heritage hardware¶
- design and parts heritage (Mars 2020 EDLCam, JPL): The data storage unit is a JPL design built to print at Langley, and the cameras are commercial units of the kind used in Mars 2020's descent cameras. The team says the payload is not itself advancing TRL: it uses EDLCam's design and parts. This came from another team and mission, so it is heritage, not an earlier flight of SCALPSS.
"Payload utilizes same COTS hardware and design as that used on the Mars 2020 EDLCam (TRL 9)."
— NTRS 20210021364, Technical Assessment"The SCALPSS 1.1 payload is based off the Entry, Descent, and Landing Camera Suite (EDL) used by the Mars 2020 lander"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science
- commercial instrument: Commercial cameras (Teledyne FLIR Chameleon3), commercial lenses (two new lens types for 1.1, including 50 mm Schneider lenses for the long-focal-length pair) and a commercial USB hub, ruggedized and qualified at Langley. Ground tests only: environmental tests and photogrammetry accuracy tests.
"included commercial off-the-shelf and “build-to-print” hardware with previous flight heritage"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 1 (abstract)"SCALPSS undergoing environmental testing in the lab."
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- STMD Game Changing Development, project 'Stereo CAmera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies' (TechPort 116401, Langley, from 2020-10-01). Amount not public. (STMD GCD; from FY2021): amount not in public sources
"is funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development program"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 7, Acknowledgments"Stereo CAmera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies"
— TechPort project 116401, title; GCD, start 2020-10-01
- Parts order in the SCALPSS 1.1 build period: aerospace USB 3.0 cables and harness for the cameras, USB hub and data storage unit, from Alysium-Tech. Linked by the award description; the date (Jan-Apr 2022, after SCALPSS 1.0 was delivered in 2021) points to 1.1, but the record does not name the version. (NASA purchase order 80NSSC22PA152; 2022-01-27 to 2022-04-07): $53,789
"AEROSPACE USB 3.0 CABLE/HARNESS FOR SCALPSS CAMERA/USB HUB/DATA STORAGE UNIT"
— USAspending.gov, award 80NSSC22PA152, description; amount 53789.49
- SCALPSS 1.0 (the base design, reused): SMD's NASA-Provided Lunar Payloads program, from FY2019. See im1-scalpss. (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
How it got onto CLPS¶
"The SCALPSS 1.1 project is funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Changing Development Program."
— Tiny NASA Cameras to Picture Interaction Between Lander, Moon’s Surface - NASA"in response to a call for payloads to be manifested on the first CLPS contracted flights (Intuitive Machines Mission 1 and Blue Ghost Mission 1)"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 2"was assigned to the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 (BGM1, CLPS Task Order 19D) flight in early 2021"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 3"SCALPSS 1.1 was formally selected for development as part of the CLPS 19D mission awarded to Firefly Aerospace"
— TechPort project 116401, description"Project start was 1 October 2020"
— NTRS 20210021364, FY21 GCD annual review, 14 Sep 2021"Stereo CAmeras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1), which will capture video and still images of the area under the lander"
— NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023 - NASA, release 21-012, 4 Feb 2021
On the Moon¶
SCALPSS 1.1 worked in transit, in lunar orbit, during descent and on the surface. It took about 1,800 images during descent and landing and several thousand more in the 14-day surface mission (NASA's release says about 9,000 in all); it also watched LISTER drilling. The team says it met its full measurement objectives. A firm plume-erosion estimate is still being worked on; an ejecta sheet was seen during the landing.
"The SCALPSS 1.1 payload successfully operated during lunar transit, in lunar orbit, during lander descent, and on the lunar surface achieving its full measurement objectives."
— TechPort project 116401, description"During descent and landing on March 2, 2025, the payload acquired and transferred to the lander approximately 1800 images"
— NTRS 20250010973, page 1 (abstract)"instrument captured about 9,000 images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown on the Moon"
— NASA Science Continues After Firefly’s First Moon Mission Concludes - NASA"Further efforts are needed to assess whether the observed post-landing terrain features were a result of plume-surface interaction from the landing"
— NTRS 20250010922, page 11
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO flight of SCALPSS, its cameras or its Langley team was found. FO has flown other plume-surface payloads by other teams; no source ties them to SCALPSS, so that is the same topic only. The study's earlier traceback grade (none found) stands.
"no FO flight of the instrument or its Langley team; other FO plume-surface payloads are a topic match only"
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"Lead Development Organization: NASA LaRC"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science"Payload PI: Michelle Munk"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science"Robert Maddock"
— TechPort project 116401, contacts: Project Manager; supporting organization Marshall Space Flight Center
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 (the data-gap row's own words)"Characterize the landing site alteration caused by rocket exhaust plumes interacting with"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: DN-018 L: In situ measurement of landing site alteration imaging at small scale on the lunar surface, Description"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¶
- Who decided to put SCALPSS 1.1 on Blue Ghost Mission 1 (CLPS office, STMD or SMD), and under what call? The sources say only that it was assigned in early 2021.
- What did SCALPSS 1.1 cost? STMD GCD's budget for it is not in public sources; USAspending shows only parts orders that name SCALPSS.
- How much did the plume erode the surface under Blue Ghost? The team's estimate was still in work in the latest papers (NTRS 20250010922).