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。     

嫦娥一号卫星撞月时刻与坐标精确分析

针对CE-1卫星精确的撞月时刻与撞月点坐标,首先通过探测器载波信号的本地相关处理技术,精确分析了载波信号在VLBI各测站的消失时刻,进而推算了卫星的撞月时刻;通过实时单向多普勒频移测量的事后分析,核实了卫星撞月过程中的飞行姿态演化;最后结合VLBI互相关时延与测距资料,经定位归算确定撞月点坐标。分析表明,CE-1卫星撞月时刻的误差为±5μs,撞月点坐标月面切向和三维定位误差分别约为0.274km和0.319km(1σ)。     

光电技术在中国深空探测中的应用

文章简单回顾了中国深空探测已走过的历程和正在进行的项目,展望了今后的发展;分析了深空探测器及其有效栽荷对光电技术的需求;重点对中国已发射的月球探测器"嫦娥一号"、"嫦娥二号"中应用的光电技术和获取的成果,正在研制的"嫦娥三号"探测器中所应用的光电技术,月球探测三期和今后可能发展的深空探测项目中预计采用的光电技术的研制工...     

Comparative study of lunar mission requirements and onboard propulsion system performance

In recent years, the lunar explorer programs, suspended for a long time, have resumed again with the rapid development of low cost and high-level technologies. As a result, several nations have made a success of lunar exploration programs with their own orbiters. Unlike a satellite orbiting the earth, the optimal design of an onboard propulsion system of a lunar orbiter is a major issue because it is not simple to make the orbiter arrive accurately at another planet far from the earth. Hence, a close attention is required to select and develop an appropriate type of the onboard propulsion system based on given mission requirements of a lunar orbiter. To do this, this study first surveys several lunar orbiters launched since 1990 and their major mission requirements. Then, it summarizes the technical trends of the onboard propulsion systems of the recent lunar orbiters and their key design and performance specifications through trade-off studies. By comparing these features, the present study investigates which lunar mission requirements are critically important, and how they can effect on the overall performance of an onboard propulsion system. Based on these investigations the major objective of the present study intends ultimately to set up a fundamental baseline in selecting and developing an appropriate type of onboard propulsion system of a lunar orbiter.     

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.     

首颗自主地月转移微卫星“龙江二号”

本文对世界首颗独立完成地月转移、近月制动、环月飞行的微卫星“龙江二号”进行了介绍。首先阐述了龙江二号的任务目标和总体方案；然后重点分析了轨道设计与控制、复杂电磁干扰的标定与抑制、宽视场三维基线干涉测量等关键技术难点；接着回顾了任务的实施过程；最后详细介绍了低频射电探测仪、沙特光学相机和VHF/UHF通信模块与学生微型CMOS相机等有效载荷，并展示了上述载荷获取的初步成果。     

An ion analyzer for the lunar surface with E-parallel–B

We present a novel instrument concept to measure the energy and mass spectra of ions incident on the lunar surface, based on the E-parallel–B or Thomson-parabola device used extensively as a diagnostic in the plasma fusion community. The Apollo-era Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) was the first instrument package to perform in-situ measurements of ions incident on the lunar surface. The ions can originate from a variety of sources, including the solar wind, the Earth’s magnetotail, and photoionization of the thin lunar atmosphere. The species and energy distribution of ions arriving at the lunar surface depend in a complicated and poorly-understood fashion on the phase of the lunar day, the position of the Moon with respect to the Earth, and on the local plasma environment.