Integrity of sulfur concrete subjected to simulated lunar temperature cycles

In view of potential application as a construction material on the lunar surface the mechanical integrity of sulfur concrete was evaluated after being subjected to simulated temperature cycles. Here, small cubes of sulfur concrete were repeatedly cycled between room (20 °C) and liquid nitrogen (−191 °C) temperatures after which they, and non-cycled cubes, were evaluated by compression testing. The compression strength of the non-cycled samples averaged ∼35 MPa (5076 psi) before failing whereas the cycled samples fractured at about 7 MPa (1015 psi). Microscopic examination of the fracture surfaces from the cycled samples showed clear de-bonding of the sulfur from the aggregate whereas it was seen adhering in those non-cycled. Based on a simple analysis it was concluded that the large strength discrepancy between cycled and non-cycled samples is due to differences between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the materials constituting the concrete.     

Performance of a small and low-cost chamber to simulate lunar surface environment

The performance of a small and low-cost metal chamber built to simulate the pressure and temperature conditions of lunar surface was assessed and the results are presented. This chamber is intended for studying the physical properties of lunar surface and subsurface (using soil simulants) and also to validate the technology readiness of certain newly developed payloads planned for future lunar surface missions (Lander/Rover). It is possible to reach down to ∼10⁻⁷ Pa under specific conditions and maintain the temperature of the sample under investigation to lunar day and night temperatures. The designed system has been subjected to various tests to evaluate its performance and suitability for carrying out experiments in a simulated lunar environment.     

Ground experiments of Chang’e-5 lunar regolith penetrating radar

The Lunar Regolith Penetrating Radar (LRPR) is an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) array-based Ground penetrating radar (GPR) onboard the lander of Chang’e-5 (CE-5) mission. The primary scientific objectives of the LRPR are to probe the thickness and structure of lunar regolith of the landing site, and support the drilling and sampling process. In order to evaluate the performance of the LRPR, a series of ground experiments are performed using the LRPR prototype mounted on a CE-5 lander model. The performance of the LRPR is evaluated by comparing the experimental data with the simulated data. Data processing and imaging method are verified, and the interferences from the lander and other aspects are analyzed. The results of the ground experiments and simulation demonstrate that the LRPR is able to meet the design requirement of 2-m detection depth. They also indicate that the upper and lower interfaces of the stratified structure in the lunar regolith can be well distinguished by the LRPR when the dielectric constant difference is greater than 0.3, and the imaging effect of the location under the dense antennas is better than that of other positions. However, the identification capability of the LRPR to the independent blocky objects is relatively poor mainly due to the clutters caused by the lander, the sparsity of the antenna elements compared to the size of the basalt block, the limited aperture of the antenna array, and the tail of the transmitted waveform.     

绕月微卫星精确撞月轨道设计

为实现约束条件下的精准可控撞月,提出了基于Lambert问题的精确撞月轨道设计方法。通过求解Lambert问题,可得到撞月轨道轨控时刻的速度脉冲初值解,然后通过打靶法迭代得到撞月轨道的精确解。以"龙江二号"微卫星轨道为例,对撞月点经纬度的覆盖性,以及燃料约束下同一撞月点可行的轨控弧段进行全面分析。最后,通过月球南极水冰探测的撞月轨道设计案例,以验证本文提出的轨道设计方法的有效性。     

Energy requirements of a thermally processed ISRU radiation shield for a lunar habitat

The purpose of this study was to establish, on a first principles basis, the order of magnitude of energy requirements for a thermally processed, lunar regolith radiation shield constructed using an in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) approach. This was done by developing a reference scenario habitat and using thermodynamic relationships and specific heat capacity expressions to determine the energy required to bring such a regolith volume up to sintering temperatures (c. 1,375 K). Once the energy requirements were developed some power system architectures were outlined conceptually and a nuclear power plant of c. 400 kW was suggested as a means to supply the necessary energy. This is well beyond current space nuclear applications. The study concludes that it is likely that the most efficient near-term solution is chemical processing of regolith, from an energy requirements perspective. The technology is also more mature and likely to be delivered on near term projects as it does not require such scaled-up power system architectures. Alternatively, bringing storm shelters up with the habitat to provide a means of weathering major solar events, and adding additional radiation protection to habitat quarters, possibly through a water blanket or similar mechanism, could provide a non-ISRU solution with current technology. However, in the longer term, the development of MW-scale power system architectures (fission, solar etc.), may permit a very large volume of material to be processed thermally for construction material, making a large, permanent human presence on the Moon more easily realisable.     

月球表层采样样品智能确认方法

表层采样是月球采样探测的重要方式，样品智能确认有助于提升工作效率与复杂问题处理能力。结合月球表层采样铲挖工作过程，分析了铲挖过程中臂载相机图像的特点，模仿有人参与识别过程，提出了层次解耦的月球样品智能识别流程，利用深度学习方法构建了一类深度卷积识别网络，完整地描述了图像、特征、标记在网络中的正反传递关系，并在月球表层采样地面试验中进行了验证，结果表明该方法对不同光照、不同背景、不同过程、不同形态的样品，具有较好的泛化识别能力，误识别率优于8.1%，平均单幅识别时间约0.7 s。     

Mapping lunar surface chemistry: New prospects with the Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)

Surface chemistry of airless bodies in the solar system can be derived from remote X-ray spectral measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. X-rays from planetary surfaces are excited primarily by solar X-rays. Several experiments in the past have used this technique of X-ray fluorescence for deriving abundances of the major rock forming elements. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter carries an X-ray fluorescence experiment named CLASS that is designed based on results from its predecessor C1XS flown on Chandrayaan-1. We discuss the new aspects of lunar science that can be potentially achieved with CLASS.     

月地转移轨道中应急调整异面着陆场的轨道控制及优化方法

摘要： 针对月地返回轨道周期较长、不确定性较大的特点,结合我国主、副着陆场的分布情况,提出一种通过在月地返回轨道中实施双脉冲机动,以实现在应急条件下将再入平面调整至原再入平面以外的异面再入落区方法.应用一种迭代算法实现了在月地系统复杂引力场中求解Lambert问题的精确解;而后,结合最优的必要性判定条件以及模拟退火算法,应用一种交互式脉冲优化方法,可求得双脉冲机动的最优解为0.025 2 km/s,满足工程实际约束.     

View-dependent progressive transmission and rendering for lunar model based on bicubic subdivision-surface wavelet

Given the fact that the back of the digital lunar model is invisible from any viewpoint, a view-dependent progressive transmission and rendering method for lunar model is proposed and a client-server browsing system is implemented. On the server side, the semi-regular lunar surface is partitioned into dozens of segments, and each segment is compressed independently using bicubic subdivision-surface wavelet and SPIHT. For any viewpoint, only the data of the visible segments are transmitted to the client side progressively, then decoded and locally reconstructed there. This approach not only improves the efficiency of transmission, but also reduces the reconstruction time greatly. We can browse the lunar model on the client almost in realtime.     

Calculation of fast neutron removal cross sections for different lunar soils

The interaction of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) with the lunar surface produces secondary radiations as neutrons. The study of the production and attenuation of these neutrons in the lunar soil is very important to estimate the annual ambient dose equivalent on the lunar surface and for lunar nuclear spectroscopy. Also, understanding the attenuation of fast neutrons in lunar soils can help in measuring of the lunar neutron density profile and to measure the neutron flux on the lunar surface. In this paper, the attenuation of fast neutrons in different lunar soils is investigated. The macroscopic effective removal cross section (_ΣR)$({\mathrm{\Sigma }}_R)$ of fast neutrons was theoretically calculated from the mass removal cross-section values (_ΣR/ρ)$({\mathrm{\Sigma }}_R/\rho )$ for various elements in soils. The obtained values of (_ΣR)$({\mathrm{\Sigma }}_R)$ were discussed according to the density. The results show that the attenuation of fast neutrons is more important in the landing sites of Apollo 12 and Luna 16 than the other landing sites of Apollo and Luna missions.