Study on passive momentum exchange landing gear using two-dimensional analysis

This paper discusses a landing response control system based on the momentum exchange principle for planetary exploration spacecraft. In the past, landing gear systems with cantilever designs that incorporate honeycomb materials to dissipate shock energy through plastic deformation have been used, but once tested before launch, the system cannot be used in a real mission. The sky crane system used for the Mars Science Laboratory by NASA can achieve a safe and precise landing, but it is highly complex. This paper introduces a momentum exchange impact damper (MEID) that absorbs the controlled object׳s momentum with extra masses called damper masses. The MEID is reusable, which makes it easy to ensure the landing gear׳s reliability. In this system, only passive elements such as springs are needed. A single-axis (SA) model has already been used to verify the effectiveness of MEIDs through simulations and experiments measuring the rebound height of the spacecraft. However, the SA model cannot address the rotational motion and tipping of the spacecraft. This paper presents a two-landing-gear-system (TLGS) model in which multiple MEIDs are equipped for two-dimensional analysis. Unlike in the authors׳ previous studies, in this study each MEID is launched when the corresponding landing gear lands and the MEIDs do not contain active actuators. This mechanism can be used to realize advanced control specifications, and it is simply compared with previous mechanisms including actuators, in which all of the MEIDs are launched simultaneously. If each MEID works when the corresponding gear lands, the rebound height of each gear can be minimized, and tipping can be prevented, as demonstrated by the results of our simulations.     

月球穿透器与月震仪组网探测研究

提出了一种利用月球穿透器实现多点月震仪的布设,对着陆点选取、分离与下降过程、载荷配置及穿透器系统等进行了分析与设计。穿透器与环绕器分离后完成制动,下降并侵彻月球浅表,开展科学探测,并实现大尺度的月震仪布设。研究可为我国未来月球地震仪组网和月球基地建立提供参考。     

Upwards migration phenomenon on molten lunar regolith: New challenges and prospects for ISRU

As part of our research on the feasibility of producing commodities from lunar regolith by thermal-driven processes with minimal terrestrial precursors we need to characterize, reproduce, and understand thermophysical properties of the molten regolith still unforeseen under the lunar vacuum conditions at a scalable sample size. Two unanticipated phenomena, apparently caused by lunar melt’s surface tension under vacuum, have been revealed in our research work, vacuum void formation and upwards migration. In this paper we present our findings and thinkable explanation on the upwards migration phenomenon experimentally observed and consistently replicated as JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant melted at high vacuum. Upwards migration of molten lunar regolith will make future lunar ISRU’s melting processes both challenging as molten bulk material would migrate upwards along the container’s walls, and also promising on new opportunities for alternative ISRU’s sustainable processes as regolith’s upwards migration takes place in uniformed thin-film pattern. Among the potential ISRU’s processes that might use controlled thermal thin-film-based migration without the necessity of terrestrial precursors are production of feedstock for 3D printing, fractional separation of regolith’s component’s (O₂, metals, and alloys) via pyrolysis, film coating, purification of valuables solid crystals including silicon, and fabrication of key elements for microfluidic, and MEMS devices. Thermal upwards migration phenomenon on JSC-1A’s melt is formulated and explained by the authors as due to thermal Marangoni effect (also known as thermo-capillarity) in which temperature gradients within the melt’s bulk and along the crucible’s wall yield the surface tension large enough to supersede the gravitational force and yield the experimentally observed upwards thin-film migration. As far as the authors know, upwards thermal migration of molten JSC-1A (or other lunar simulant regolith) under vacuum has not been reported in the literature. A thermal mathematical model accounting for thermal Marangoni effect on molten JSC-1A agrees with what experimentally was observed, the formation of the meniscus on the melt-wall surface interface along with an incipient upwards migration in thin-film pattern along the crucible wall that, according to the model, experiences large temperature gradient, an important factor to trigger the thermal Marangoni effect along with the fact that surface tension of the molten lunar regolith material is temperature dependent.     

基于三维地形匹配的月球软着陆导航方法研究

针对月球探测器定点着陆任务的需要,研究了基于三维地形匹配的导航方法。对三维地形匹配问题,将高程方差图局部极值点作为三维地形特征,在构建地形特征之间的相对位置与角度不变量的基础上,提出了基于投票的三维地形匹配策略。针对测量噪声统计特性的不确定性,将Sage\|Husa噪声估计算子与迭代卡尔曼滤波相结合,通过对测量噪声进行在线估计有效避免滤波精度下降甚至滤波发散的出现。数字仿真结果表明所研究的导航方法能够有效地实现探测器相对位置和姿态的精确估计。     

Towards validation of SCIAMACHY lunar occultation NO2 vertical profiles

Vertical profiles of stratospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) have been retrieved from moderate resolution lunar occultation transmission spectra measured by Scanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) on board the European Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT). These measurements were taken over the high southern latitude of 50°–90° during the period of 2003–2005. To assess the accuracy of the retrieved NO₂ profiles, the SCIAMACHY nighttime NO₂ profiles were compared with NO₂ profiles retrieved from sunrise solar occultation spectra measured by the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiments II (SAGE II) using a photochemical correction model. The validation results show good agreement of SCIAMACHY lunar occultation NO₂ with scaled HALOE and SAGE II profiles. The relative mean differences (rmd) with scaled HALOE profiles are within −13% to +5% and standard deviations (rms) of the relative differences are within 3–19% between 25 and 38 km. The rmd and rms with scaled SAGE II NO₂ profiles are in the range of −9 to +7 and 10–17% respectively between 22 and 39 km.     

Simulation study for the determination of the lunar gravity field from PRARE-L tracking onboard the German LEO mission

A simulation study has been performed at GFZ Potsdam, which shows the anticipated improvement of the lunar gravity field model with respect to current (LP150Q model) or near-future (SELENE) knowledge in the framework of the planned German Lunar Explorations Orbiter (LEO) mission, based on PRARE-L (Precise Range And Range-rate Equipment – Lunar version) Satellite-to-Satellite (SST) and Satellite-Earth-Satellite (SEST) tracking observations. It is shown that the global mean error of the lunar gravity field can be reduced to less than 0.1 mGal at a spatial resolution of 50 km. In the spectral domain, this means a factor of 10 (long wavelengths) and some 100 (mid to short wavelengths) improvement as compared to predictions for SELENE or a factor of 1000 with respect to LP150Q. Furthermore, a higher spatial resolution of up to 28 km seems feasible and would correspond to a factor of 2–3 improvement of SELENE results. Moreover, PRARE-L is expected to derive the low-degree coefficients of the lunar gravity field with unprecedented accuracy. Considering long mission duration (at least 1 year is planned) this would allow for the first time a precise direct determination of the low-degree tidal Love numbers of the Moon and, in combination with high precision SEST, would provide an experimental basis to study relativistic effects such as the periselenium advance in the Earth–Moon system.     

Progress for Spaceborne Microwave Remote Sensing in China

In this paper,technological progress for China's microwave remote sensing is intro-duced.New developments of the microwave remote sensing instruments for meteorological satellite FY-3,ocean dynamic measurement satellite(HY-2),environment small SAR satellite(HJ-1C) and China's lunar exploration satellite(Chang'E-1),geostationary orbit meteorological satellite FY-4M,are reported.      

The high precision gamma-ray spectrometer for lunar polar orbiter SELENE

The high precision gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) is scheduled to be launched on the lunar polar orbiter of the SELENE mission in 2007. The GRS consists of a large Ge crystal as a main detector and massive bismuth germanate crystals as an anticoincidence detector. A Stirling cryocooler was adopted in cooling the Ge detector. The flight model of SELENE GRS has been completed and an energy resolution of 3.0 keV (FWHM) at 1.332 MeV has been achieved. The spectrometer aims to observe nuclear line gamma rays emitted from the lunar surface in a wide energy range from 100 keV to 12 MeV for one year and more to obtain chemical composition on the entire lunar surface. The gamma-ray data enable us to study lunar geoscience problems including crust and mantle composition, and volatile reservoirs at polar regions.     

环月探测器自主天文导航系统的可观度分析

文章提出了在环月段以月球—探测器—恒星、月球—探测器—太阳这两个位置面和月心距等观测信息进行滤波的导航方法。通过对几种非线性系统可观性分析方法的比较,在基于误差协方差阵的可观性分析方法基础上,提出了以谱半径定义的可观度分析方法,并证明了定义的可观度指标与系统导航精度的关系,说明其能够定量描述系统可观的程度。最后仿真验证了这种可观度分析方法的可行性。     

刚性轮与模拟月壤相互作用初步研究

文章在初步总结当前月球车轮与月面土壤相互作用研究成果的基础上,利用自主开发的仿真平台开展了刚性车轮和模拟月壤的相互作用的仿真计算,并与土槽试验结果进行了初步的对比研究。研究表明,仿真结果和试验的测量值误差在30%以内,尤其在车轮的垂直沉陷量的计算上和试验结果一致性较好,从而验证了轮-土相互作用的模型的局部合理性,但是在切向力的计算上还存在一定的误差,需要继续完善。