Horizon-Based OpNav with LORRI Imagery

This project implemented horizon-based optical navigation (OpNav) using real flight imagery from the New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby of Pluto. Key Achievements: • Estimated the intrinsic calibration matrix for the LORRI camera using focal length and pixel pitch to compute focal length in pixels • Developed a Python pipeline using OpenCV to preprocess the image, detect Pluto's limb, and fit a circular model to the planet's horizon • Applied similar-triangle geometry to back-calculate the Z-distance from the pixel radius of Pluto's limb and computed x, y offsets to localize the camera-frame position Skills: Python, Optimization (linear and nonlinear)