Spacecraft navigation using a grayscale optical correlator

In this paper, recent technical progress in developing a compact high-speed Grayscale Optical Correlator (GOC) for real-time pattern recognition at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be presented. This GOC, under partial sponsorship by the Telecommunication and Mission Operation Directorate (TMOD) program at JPL, is being investigated for spacecraft navigation applications. All up-to-date hardware development, soft simulation and experimental demonstration of real-time landmark tracking during a lander descent sequence will be reported.