Testing and Validation of High-Speed Imaging for Lunar Plume-Surface Interaction

The interaction of how a rocket plume displaces lunar regolith during its descent is a topic that is not very understood now but holds high importance to the future of lunar and planetary landings. Understanding how the regolith will be launched and being able to design propulsion systems to mitigate that will be one of the requirements for consistent extra-terrestrial landings. Data surrounding this topic were initially captured on the Apollo 11 moon landings in 1969, but since the return of moon landings the only data captured have been 8 frames per second (FPS) footage recorded by NASA’s SCALPSS system on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander. Although useful information for plume patterns on the surface, the FPS is too low to evaluate the extremely high-speed particles being ejected. The goal of this camera is to record $\sim$750 FPS footage of these particles interacting with the surface of the lander to better understand the boundary layer interaction. The imaging system created for this purpose will need to have two important hardware selections, the camera and lens, and two software selections, the resolution and frame rate. To ensure the best performing combination is chosen, various tests will be performed including environmental, TVAC, vibration, and a multitude of optical clarity tests. This testing and validation will be crucial for the selection of a well-performing system to accurately capture the crucial data. The results of these tests produced a < 1% error in calculated velocity from blur streaks, as well as the ability to contain small partials focused and within a single frame.