When a spacecraft descends toward the Moon, its engines don't just slow it down — they blast the surface with enough force to send dust, rocks, and regolith flying in all directions. That spray of material can damage equipment, coat solar panels, and create hazards for astronauts working nearby. NASA is now systematically studying exactly what happens in those final moments before touchdown.
In March, researchers captured the first real-world footage of this phenomenon using a new camera system mounted on Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander. But to truly understand the physics — and to make sure future Moon missions land safely — NASA is running a series of controlled tests inside a 60-foot spherical vacuum chamber at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
"If I'm going to move all that regolith while landing, some of it's going to hit my lander," said Ashley Korzun, the testing lead. "Some of it's going to go out toward other things — payloads, science experiments, eventually rovers. Understanding those physics is pivotal to ensuring crew safety."
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The campaign, running through spring 2026, will fire two different propulsion systems into bins of simulated lunar soil at various heights. One system, designed by NASA's Stennis Space Center and built by Purdue University, generates up to 100 pounds of thrust. The other is a 3D-printed hybrid rocket motor from Utah State University that produces around 35 pounds of thrust.
Specialized cameras and instruments will measure crater formation, the speed and angle of ejected particles, and the shape of the engine plume itself. This data feeds directly into predictive models that engineers use to design safer landing systems — not just for the Moon, but eventually for Mars.
The stakes are concrete. NASA's commercial partners are building the human landing systems that will carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface starting with Artemis III. Every detail matters when you're designing hardware that keeps people alive in an environment 240,000 miles away. The tests happening now in that vacuum chamber are the bridge between theory and the moment a spacecraft actually touches down.
