US Patent Issued to ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY on Jan. 13 for "Landing pad and in-flight methods of manufacturing a landing pad" (California Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,380, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY INC. (Pittsburgh).

"Landing pad and in-flight methods of manufacturing a landing pad" was invented by Matthew Kuhns (Mojave, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Described herein is a method of constructing a landing pad using a rocket engine while in-flight. Among other benefits, this method can reduce ejecta that otherwise would occur during landing on an unimproved surface. While a spacecraft is hovering over an unimproved surface, the spacecraft can inject particles into its rocket engine, after which the particles absorb heat from the engine and are projected at ball...