John M. Carson
Papers
11
Total Citations
130
H-Index
7
About
John M. Carson is a leading aerospace engineer whose research has fundamentally advanced autonomous planetary landing technologies, with a particular focus on precision landing, hazard avoidance, and guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) systems for spacecraft. His most significant contributions center on NASA's Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) project, where he helped develop and mature a sophisticated suite of LIDAR-based sensors, software, and avionics capable of enabling safe, autonomous landings on the Moon, Mars, and other planetary bodies under challenging terrain and lighting conditions. His work on integrating these technologies aboard the Morpheus rocket-propelled testbed — demonstrated in landmark 2014 flight tests — earned 32 and 25 citations respectively, reflecting their foundational importance to the field. Carson subsequently extended this work through NASA's SPLICE (Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capability Evolution) project, helping define navigation requirements for future human lunar and Martian missions. His research on Navigation Doppler Lidar for GPS-denied environments further underscores his expertise in self-contained spacecraft sensing systems. Collectively, his papers have accumulated over 125 citations, establishing him as a key figure shaping NASA's strategy for next-generation precision landing capabilities essential to humanity's return to the Moon and eventual exploration of Mars.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 5Defining Navigation Requirements for Future Precision Lander Missions9 citations · 2019
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