Building components for an outpost on the Lunar soil by means of a novel 3D printing technology

3D-printing technologies are receiving an always increasing attention in architecture, due to their potential use for direct construction of buildings and other complex structures, also of considerable dimensions, with virtually any shape. Some of these technologies rely on an agglomeration process of inert materials, e.g. sand, through a special binding liquid and this capability is of interest for the space community for its potential application to space exploration. In fact, it opens the possibility for exploiting in-situ resources for the construction of buildings in harsh spatial environments. The paper presents the results of a study aimed at assessing the concept of 3D printing technology for building habitats on the Moon using lunar soil, also called regolith. A particular patented 3D-printing technology – D-shape – has been applied, which is, among the existing rapid prototyping systems, the closest to achieving full scale construction of buildings and the physical and chemical characteristics of lunar regolith and terrestrial regolith simulants have been assessed with respect to the working principles of such technology. A novel lunar regolith simulant has also been developed, which almost exactly reproduces the characteristics of the JSC-1A simulant produced in the US. Moreover, tests in air and in vacuum have been performed to demonstrate the occurrence of the reticulation reaction with the regolith simulant. The vacuum tests also showed that evaporation or freezing of the binding liquid can be prevented through a proper injection method. The general requirements of a Moon outpost have been specified, and a preliminary design of the habitat has been developed. Based on such design, a section of the outpost wall has been selected and manufactured at full scale using the D-shape printer and regolith simulant. Test pieces have also been manufactured and their mechanical properties have been assessed.     

Study on JAXA elements for international lunar vicinity mission

JAXA has commenced technical research for contributing as a part of international partnership for the space exploration in Lunar vicinity. One of the candidates is the cargo transport mission with the combination of Cryogenic Propulsion Stage(s) (CPS) and a transfer vehicle derived from Japanese un-manned vehicle used for ISS. The CPS needs advanced technologies to keep the propellant for long mission duration and they will be useful in further missions beyond moon. This paper reports the profile of the mission, vehicle configurations, and the transport capabilities.     

Quantifying lunar soil composition with partial least squares modeling of reflectance

Retrieval of lunar soil composition is commonly achieved through optical remote sensing in which spectral characteristics of returned lunar samples are related to their constituents. Partial least squares (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) were applied to the dataset characterized by the Lunar Soil Characterization Consortium (LSCC) to estimate the content of FeO, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ in the soils. The goal of this study was to test whether the conversion of reflectance to single scattering albedo (SSA) via Hapke’s radiative transfer model is able to improve the performance of PLS and PCR. Results from PLS and PCR modeling of SSA spectra indicate that the conversion does not necessarily improve the performance of PLS and PCR, and this depends on the chemical considered, the way to select the number of optimal factors, and how the data were pretreated. The conversion failed to accommodate the large deviation of highland samples with low FeO, TiO₂ and high Al₂O₃.     

The present status of the Japanese Penetrator Mission: LUNAR-A

The scientific objective of the LUNAR-A Japanese Penetrator Mission is to explore the lunar interior by seismic and heat-flow experiments. Two penetrators containing two-component seismometer and heat-flow probes will be deployed from a spacecraft onto the lunar surface, one on the nearside and the other on the farside of the moon. The data obtained by the penetrators will be transmitted to the ground station by way of the LUNAR-A mother spacecraft orbiting at an altitude of about 200 km. The seismic observations are expected to provide key data on the size of the lunar core, as well as data on the deep mantle structure. The heat-flow measurements at two different sites will also provide important data on the thermal structure and bulk concentrations of heat-generating elements in the Moon. These data will provide much stronger geophysical constraints on the origin and evolution of the Moon than has ever been obtained. The LUNAR-A mission was supposed to be launched in 2004. However, a malfunction of spacecraft subsystem and technical issues for penetrator system occurred during the course of the qualification level test. Therefore, further improvements and some modifications were considered to be required for reliability and robustness. The development of the mother spacecraft was temporarily suspended, while we have put a three-year program into effect to solve the penetrator technology issues.     

The Japanese lunar mission SELENE: Science goals and present status

The Japanese lunar mission SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) has been in development to target launch scheduled 2007 summer by H-IIA rocket. The SELENE is starting final integration test after SAR (System Acceptance Review), SRR (System Reliability Review) and instrument environment test. The SELENE is a remote-sensing mission orbiting 100 km altitude of the Moon for nominal one year and extended some months to collect the data for studying the origin and evolution of the Moon. Fourteen instruments and experiment systems are preparing for studies of the Moon, in the Moon, and from the Moon; global element and mineral compositions, topological structure, gravity field of whole moon, and electromagnetic and particle environment of the Moon. The new data center SOAC (SELENE Operation and data Analysis Center) are completed to construct in JAXA Sagamihara campus, and end-to-end test will be carried out between SOAC and data downlink stations.     

Prospects in the orbital and rotational dynamics of the Moon with the advent of sub-centimeter lunar laser ranging

Lunar laser ranging (LLR) measurements are crucial for advanced exploration of the laws of fundamental gravitational physics and geophysics as well as for future human and robotic missions to the Moon. The corner-cube reflectors (CCR) currently on the Moon require no power and still work perfectly since their installation during the project Apollo era. Current LLR technology allows us to measure distances to the Moon with a precision approaching 1 mm. As NASA pursues the vision of taking humans back to the Moon, new, more precise laser ranging applications will be demanded, including continuous tracking from more sites on Earth, placing new CCR arrays on the Moon, and possibly installing other devices such as transponders, etc. for multiple scientific and technical purposes. Since this effort involves humans in space, then in all situations the accuracy, fidelity, and robustness of the measurements, their adequate interpretation, and any products based on them, are of utmost importance. Successful achievement of this goal strongly demands further significant improvement of the theoretical model of the orbital and rotational dynamics of the Earth–Moon system. This model should inevitably be based on the theory of general relativity, fully incorporate the relevant geophysical processes, lunar librations, tides, and should rely upon the most recent standards and recommendations of the IAU for data analysis. This paper discusses methods and problems in developing such a mathematical model. The model will take into account all the classical and relativistic effects in the orbital and rotational motion of the Moon and Earth at the sub-centimeter level. The model is supposed to be implemented as a part of the computer code underlying NASA Goddard’s orbital analysis and geophysical parameter estimation package GEODYN and the ephemeris package PMOE 2003 of the Purple Mountain Observatory. The new model will allow us to navigate a spacecraft precisely to a location on the Moon. It will also greatly improve our understanding of the structure of the lunar interior and the nature of the physical interaction at the core–mantle interface layer. The new theory and upcoming millimeter LLR will give us the means to perform one of the most precise fundamental tests of general relativity in the solar system.     

行为控制月球车的虚拟主体避障技术

论述了基于行为代理体的月球车避障技术。由月球地形高程图得到当地水平面下二色障碍图及着色障碍图，利用月球车代理体在障碍图及着色障碍图中进行避障学习与控制，将获得的控制量投影到月球车体坐标系下得到真实地形上的控制量，达到避障控制与运动规划的目的。利用障碍入侵月球车安全线的径向距离作为避障控制器输入，并由月球车目标趋向行为及避障行为输出融合突现出趋向目标的避障行为。仿真结果表明基于代理体的避障控制器设计方法使运行于真实环境下月球车的避障具有很高的可靠性。     

月球探测器转移轨道的中途修正

月球探测器的中途制导指的是在其转移轨道中途对轨道进行修正，使其按预定轨道飞行。本文研究的中途修正问题是确定所需的速度修正脉冲，使探测器不断接近标称轨道，并以预定状态到达月球，完成预定的飞行任务。本文首先建立中途修正的模型，其中月球和太阳的位置由DE405得到。然后，采用精确的数值积分方法找出满足预定条件(近地点高度、近月点高度及转移时间)的转移轨道。以该轨道作为标称轨道，分析中途修正所需要的速度修正脉冲与发射入轨时的初始误差(近地点速度误差、入轨高度误差、发射窗口误差等)和修正时刻的关系。最后分析两次中途修正的速度修正脉冲和修正时刻的关系，并得出适合的中途修正时刻。     

Scientific Progress in China's Lunar Exploration Program

Chang'E-1, the first lunar mission in China, was successfully launched on October 24,2007, which opened the prelude of China's Lunar Exploration Program. Later on, the Chang'E-2 and Chang'E-3 satellites were successfully launched in 2010 and 2013, respectively. In order to achieve the science objectives, various payloads boarded the spacecraft. The scientific data from these instruments were received by Beijing and Kunming ground stations simultaneously. Up to now, about 5.628 Terabytes of raw data were received totally. A series of research results has been achieved. This paper presents a brief introduction to the main scientific results and latest progress from Chang'E-3 mission.     

基于Zernike矩的高精度太阳图像质心提取算法

在基于太阳观测的月球车天文导航系统中,针对太阳传感器中图像噪声以及典型图像退化的不良影响,提出了一种基于Zernike矩的高精度太阳质心提取算法。采用Sobel算子进行边缘检测,Zernike矩重定位亚像素边缘,用最小二乘法拟合圆心。而当图像存在退化时,进行有效圆边缘点检测后,再用该法提取质心。从理论上分析了Zernike矩亚像素边缘检测对圆拟合法的改进作用。利用仿真图像和地表实验图像,将本文方法与传统的重心法、带阈值的重心法和圆拟合法进行了比较。结果表明,本文方法精度更高,具有更好的稳定性,可以对月球车天文导航精度的提高起良好作用。