Description: Astrobotic proposes the continued development of “Floatinator,” a one-of-its-kind, tunable lunar and planetary gravity simulator for terrestrial testing of plume-surface interactions (PSI) and cratering. Floatinator will consist of a hot-fire test chamber capable of dropping at a controlled acceleration to simulate a low gravity environment within the test chamber’s reference frame. For example, accelerating the test stand at ⅚g (8.19 m/s²) would provide a ⅙g (1.62 m/s²) lunar gravity reference frame inside the chamber. By providing a relevant gravity environment, Floatinator will control for a major variable—Earth gravity—which limits the applicability of all ground-based PSI and cratering testing to date. This novel test platform will enable collection of valuable data on the effects of lander dust plumes on lander systems, onboard payloads, landing sites, and nearby surface infrastructure. Floatinator will be made commercially available for testing services to the aerospace community, including companies actively developing the landers, surface infrastructure, and services for upcoming CLPS, Artemis, and commercial missions. Floatinator will allow for a range of controlled accelerations, enabling it to simulate the surface gravity of the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and other celestial bodies. Fine tuning the desired acceleration will also result in data that can help validate models that are being developed to predict PSI effects in reduced gravity environments.

Benefits: NASA has an ongoing need for increased fidelity PSI data, both for landing on the Moon and for future missions to Mars, asteroids, and outer icy moons. Floatinator will enable NASA to conduct terrestrial hot-fire testing at a variety of simulated gravity conditions to validate or challenge existing PSI models and generate new models for estimating ejecta and cratering effects of landings on various parts of the Moon. This data will benefit programs ranging from CLPS to HLS, each of which is supporting a variety of new lander designs.

Floatinator offers university researchers a unique, price-effective platform for testing simulated regolith physics in different gravity environments. Floatinator will also benefit private companies developing their own PSI models and/or developing lander propulsion systems, as they seek to mitigate the ejecta created by their thrusters.