Over a span of two years, SBEL supported a NASA project for the upcoming VIPER mission scheduled to go to the Moon in November 2024. The lab contributed advanced terramechanics simulations run in Chrono. These Chrono simulations are capable of going one step beyond Bekker-Wong type models that are typically implemented in terramechanics studies.
Recently, SBEL PI Dan Negrut visited NASA Johnson Space Center to see the VIPER rover, which is almost ready for action. VIPER can be seen in the photo alongside Dan and two SBEL lab students, Stefan Caldararu and Sriram Ashokkumar, who are currently interning at NASA Johnson.
