Abstract: In the past, spacecraft landings have been accomplished either with a man in the loop, as in the case of the lunar landings, or by preselecting a relatively safe area, as in the case of the Viking landers. This paper is based on the scenario of an autonomous landing such as that required for the Mars Rover Sample Return (MRSR) mission. An application of laser radar for performing Autonomous Hazard Detection and Avoidance (AHDA) is described. Hazards are defined as boulders, depressions, or slopes which could damage a landing spacecraft. A trade-study has been conducted to identify operational and implementation constraints as well as the state of the art in component technology. Required technological developments in the areas of high-power lasers and detector arrays are then identified.!
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