Your Mission. Landing Secured.
Guaranteed Upright Landings on 45° Terrain. Reduces Impact Load by 70%.
A Shift in Lunar Thinking
Past missions relied on rigid designs built to conquer the lunar surface.
The Moon, however, demands partnership.
LS2 rises from this lesson—harnessing omnidirectional stability to flow with lunar physics, not fight it. LS2 ensures mission success with every upright landing.
Energy Absorbing Vertex
Introducing LS2:
LS2 is a patented, polyhedral framework that delivers impact mitigation and self-righting.
Its high-strength carbon fiber struts (7 GPa) are interconnected at energy-absorbing vertices that absorb up to 3.05 kJ each, achieving a 70−85% peak load reduction compared to rigid legs.
Key Features:
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Passive Stabilization: The 360° gimbal requires no power, sensors, or complex flight software for operation.
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Risk Mitigation: Designed to eliminate mission compromises that have led to industry losses exceeding $150M+ per incident.
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Scalable Architecture: Adapted for landers from 800 kg to 10,000 kg. Ensures stability on slopes up to 45°.
FRAME
Polyhedral Structure
The Structural Integrity.
Distributes impact forces omni-directionally.
The foundation for
45° stability.
VERTICES
Energy Dampers
The Impact Mitigator.
Absorbs up to 3.05 kJ per vertex, reducing
peak load by
70−85%.
GIMBAL
Passive Stabilizer
The Self-Righting System.
360° mechanism
requires no power,
sensors, or complex
flight software.
CAMERAS
Integrated Navigation
The Critical View.
Provides necessary visual data
for final descent
and post-landing assessment.
LS2 in Action:
The Four Phases of
Secure Upright Landing
LS2 Mission Profile
Phase 1: Controlled Descent
LS2 maintains structural alignment for a gentle touchdown speed of 1 to 6 m/s, utilized by the lander's thrusters.
Phase 2: Impact Mitigation
Upon touchdown, the system absorbs 70−85% of peak forces across its structure, fully protecting the lander and sensitive payload.
Phase 3: Gimbal Activation
Frangible links shear upon soft landing, freeing the passive gimbal to provide adaptive self-righting stability.
Phase 4: Roll & Stabilization
The frame and gimbal passively rotate, achieving omnidirectional balance on extreme, rugged slopes.
Landing Complete: Mission Ready
The lander is secure and upright. LS2 is rated to enable high-value, multi-site exploration hops of 10 to 50 meters.
Why LS2?
The Definitive Advantage in Mission Assurance.
The LS2 System turns $150M+ mission risk into success. Engineered as a passive, high-integrity structural partner for CLPS and Artemis landers, we eliminate the industry's 45∘ slope constraint and deliver reliability unmatched by rigid systems.
Leadership & Mission
Fueling the Return to the Moon: A Mandate for Reliability
CrescentTide was founded on a necessary mandate:
The current mission success rate is unacceptable.
After 7+ years and over a billion dollars invested in the CLPS program, the lack of reliable landings threaten America's leadership in the new space race.
Our diagnosis is simple: the failure lies in the rigid, leg-based systems themselves. We set out to replace the legs with a guaranteed upright solution.
CrescentTide is the agile, high-leverage aerospace engineering consulting firm dedicated to solving this fundamental unreliability.
Our value extends beyond the patented hardware; our leadership is committed to serving as a critical integration partner and technical expert throughout the manufacturing and mission-planning phases.
The CrescentTide Team
Nick Herberger
Founder and CEO
Inspired by the Apollo 11 Moon landing and his Southern California surfing roots, Nick is the founder of CrescentTide Technologies and the inventor behind LS2.
His background in complex, high-performance design and fabrication is the foundation of LS2's low-complexity structure. Passionate about solving the industry's fundamental problem of unreliable landings, he develops solutions to ensure successful mission landings and protect critical payloads where traditional systems have failed.
Abbie Herberger-Compher
VP of Engineering
and Logistics
With a background in mechanical engineering and Nick's daughter, Abbie drives the engineering, and logistics of CrescentTide Technologies. She focuses on company operations, consulting with aerospace engineering firms, and applying her mechanical engineering expertise to the design, refinement and manufacturing of LS2.
Tyler Lafferty
VP of Business
Development
As a serial entrepreneur, Tyler has an extensive background in identifying, funding, and scaling high-value ventures. His strategic vision and market expertise for LS2 fuels our business and commercialization strategy, focusing on tapping into the $500M+ space and terrestrial robotics markets.
Partner with CrescentTide
Tailored Solutions for Mission-Ready Landers
TECHNICAL CONSULTING
The Expert Partner
Use our leadership team for integration, flight software planning, and TRL advancement support.
IP LICENSING
Strategic Access
Secure flexible licensing agreements for the patented LS2 polyhedral framework and gimbal mechanism.
CO-MANUFACTURING
Scalable Production
Partner with our supply chain experts to integrate LS2 into your domestic manufacturing pipeline.