DURING LUNAR AND PLANETARY LANDINGS ROCKET PLUMES INTERACT WITH THE SURFACE EJECTING SOIL AND OTHER PARTICLES INTO THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT. THESE PARTICLES TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEEDS POSE MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE SUCCESS OF THE MISSION. THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO DAMAGE THE LANDER INHIBIT VISIBILITY AND SPOOF SENSORS. THIS IS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS BOTH DURING MANNED AND UNMANNED MISSIONS AND THEREFORE THE INTRICATE SURFACE-PLUME INTERACTIONS MUST BE WELL CHARACTERIZED TO FOR THE SUCCESS OF FUTURE MISSIONS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO PERFORM HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATIONS OF ROCKET PLUME-SURFACE INTERACTIONS TO OBTAIN THE NECESSARY INFORMATION REQUIRED TO MITIGATE THEIR NEGATIVE EFFECTS DURING LANDING. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY (I) CONDUCTING DETAILED SIMULATIONS OF ROCKET-PLUME INTERACTIONS AT SCALES FAR BEYOND WHAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (II) DETERMINING THE MECHANISMS THAT LEAD TO THE EJECTION OF SURFACE PARTICLES AND (III) USING THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE SIMULATIONS TO DEVELOP SIMPLIFIED MODELS THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO EXISTING NASA CODES.