VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — In a small lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, engineering students are putting the final touches on a project three years in the making. If the project is successful, it will last just 15 minutes yet provide information that will help guide missions to the moon and beyond.
The “Eagle Cam” project will send a small box on a lunar probe to the moon in 2022. The camera will jettison from the spacecraft prior to landing, establish a Wi-Fi signal, and capture the first-ever pictures of a lander, landing on the moon’s surface.
“There are so many complex systems at play here, there’s the launch vehicle, you have the lander, and we’re just this small little box, that’s just taking a picture,” said Christopher Hays, a Ph.D. student at ERAU.
Those pictures will provide information about how landers approach the surface from a unique perspective, a perspective that will provide information for future missions.
“It is so exciting to apply what I’m learning in the classroom to something here in the lab,” said Grace Robertson, a senior aerospace engineering student at ERAU.
But the “Eagle Cam” will do more than just take pictures — it’ll also test a new way of fighting moon dust.
“The fourth camera is actually a very neat system, it’s something that the engineers down at Kennedy Space Center have been working on for decades since the Apollo missions, which is called an electrodynamic dust shield,” said Dr. Troy Henderson, of the ERAU Space Technologies Lab. “Lunar dust gets stuck to it and it’s very sharp and abrasive. It’s got electrostatic charge so it sticks to things.”
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Photographers are silhouetted as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon attached lifts off Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Guests watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission with NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer onboard, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, from the balcony of Operations Support Building II at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Astronauts Tom Marshburn, right, and Kayla Barron talk to family members before heading to Launch Pad 39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, of Germany, waves as he gets into a car before a trip to Launch Pad-39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX counted down Wednesday toward a nighttime launch of four astronauts who have been grounded for nearly two weeks by weather and medical delays. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Astronaut Matthias Maurer, of Germany, makes a heart symbol with his hands as he is strapped into a vehicle for a trip to Launch Pad-39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX counted down Wednesday toward a nighttime launch of four astronauts who have been grounded for nearly two weeks by weather and medical delays. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Astronaut Raja Chari stands under an umbrella as he talks to family members before heading to Launch Pad 39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX counted down Wednesday toward a nighttime launch of four astronauts who have been grounded for nearly two weeks by weather and medical delays. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, center, smiles as he stands under an umbrella after leaving the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Astronauts, from left, Tom Marshburn, Matthias Maurer, of Germany, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron wave as they leave the Operations and Checkout building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA Astronauts, from left, Matthias Maurer, of Germany, Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron pose for a photo after leaving the Operations and Checkout Building for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands ready on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The launch is scheduled for Wednesday evening. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule stands ready on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Daragon capsule stands ready on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The launch is scheduled for Wednesday evening. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Photos: SpaceX launches Crew-3 astronauts for NASA From left, European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer of Germany, and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron gather for a photo after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. SpaceX counted down Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 toward a nighttime launch the four astronauts who have been grounded for nearly two weeks by weather and medical delays. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The box will use electricity to essentially “shake” the dust off, something NASA has tested in the lab, but never been able to test in space.
“You’ve got to think about the astronaut’s visors as we start to return humans to the moon, we’ve got cameras on rovers, we’ve got all of the NASA investment in returning to the moon and many, if not all of these, could have this dust shield involved,” Henderson said.
After some more testing by NASA, the box will attach to the Nova-C lunar lander for an expected 2022 mission to the moon.
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