Plasma electron temperature variability in lunar surface potential and in electric field under average solar wind conditions

The Moon is immersed in plasma environment. The most interesting challenge of the lunar plasma– field environment is that it is alternatively dominated by the extended but variable outer atmosphere of the Earth – the magnetosphere – and by the extended but highly variable solar atmosphere – the solar wind. Understanding the plasma environment and its interaction with the lunar surface will be beneficial to both manned and robotic surface exploration activities and to scientific investigations. Presented is a preliminary map of variations of lunar surface electric potential over the day side and night side using probe equations and a discussion on dust dynamics in this E-field structure using the data from Electron Reflectometer in Lunar Prospector spacecraft during 1998–1999. On the day side, potential is around 5 V and on the night side it reaches up to −82 V. On the night side region, only highly energetic electrons can overcome this large negative potential. The variation at electron temperature (T_e) strongly reflects in the surface potential. The potential reaches to a value of −82 V for T_e = 58 eV. Surface charging causes the electrostatic transport of charged dust grains. Dust grain size of 0.1 μm shows a levitation height of 4.92 m on lunar day side, 748 m on terminator region and 3.7 km on the night side. The radius of maximum sized grain to be lofted, R_max, peaks at the terminator region (R_max = 0.83 μm). At the transition region dust levitation is almost absent. This region is most suited for exploration activities as the region is free from hazards caused by lunar dust.     

Drilling load modeling and validation based on the filling rate of auger flute in planetary sampling

Some type of penetration into a subsurface is required in planetary sampling. Drilling and coring, due to its efficient penetrating and cuttings removal characteristics, has been widely applied in previous sampling missions. Given the complicated mechanical properties of a planetary regolith, suitable drilling parameters should be matched with different drilling formations properly. Otherwise, drilling faults caused by overloads could easily happen. Hence, it is necessary to estab-lish a drilling load model, which is able to reveal the relationships among drilling loads, an auger's structural parameters, soil's mechanical properties, and relevant drilling parameters. A concept for the filling rate of auger flute (FRAF) is proposed to describe drilling conditions. If the FRAF index under one group of drilling parameters is less than 1, this means that the auger flute currently removes cuttings smoothly. Otherwise, the auger will be choked with compressed cuttings. In dril-ling operations, the drilling loads on the auger mainly come from the conveyance action, while the drilling loads on the drill bit primarily come from the cutting action. Experiments in one typical lunar regolith simulant indicate that the estimated drilling loads based on the FRAF coincide with the test results quite well. Based on this drilling load model, drilling parameters have been opti-mized.     

Analysis of driving efficiency for LRV wheels using forced-slip method

To investigate and improve the mobility of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), it is necessary to consider the mechanical properties of the interaction between the wheels and the ground. In this paper, a new solution method, the forced-slip solution method, which uses a semi-empirical approach, was presented. That is, given the wheel’s vertical load and drawbar pull or driving torque as known input values, the unknown slip ratio can be resolved. The alternative method involves predicting the mechanics for a given slip ratio. The proposed method correlates better with actual wheel movements, and by studying a single wheel, this solution method can also be used to resolve the mechanical properties of the front and rear wheels in a four-wheel-drive (4WD) LRV configuration. It can also be used to consider the multi-pass effect of the rear wheels on lunar soil. The calculation results show that the 4WD LRV driving efficiency varies with the position of the center of mass. Thus, the LRV driving efficiency can be optimized by adjusting the position of its center of mass.     

Proposal of application of same beam VLBI measurements in precision orbit determination of lunar orbiter and return capsule and lunar gravity field simulation in Chang’E-3 mission

High accuracy differenced phase delay can be obtained by observing multiple point frequencies of two spacecraft using the same beam Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technology. Its contribution in lunar spacecraft precision orbit determination has been performed during the Japanese lunar exploration mission SELENE. In consideration that there will be an orbiter and a return capsule flying around the moon during the Chinese lunar exploration future mission Chang’E-3, the contributions of the same beam VLBI in spacecraft precision orbit determination and lunar gravity field solution have been investigated. Our results show that the accuracy of precision orbit determination can be improved more than one order of magnitude after including the same beam VLBI measurements. There are significant improvements in accuracy of low and medium degree coefficients of lunar gravity field model obtained from combination of two way range and Doppler and the same beam VLBI measurements than the one that only uses two way range and Doppler data, and the accuracy of precision orbit determination can reach meter level.     

月球主要构造特征：嫦娥一号月球影像初步研究

月球在31亿年前已基本停止地质活动,从而保留了其形成初期的信息．这些信息对于认识月球、地球乃至太阳系的形成演化具有重要意义．在已有研究成果的基础上,结合嫦娥一号探月卫星CCD影像数据,从月海穹窿、撞击坑、月岭、断裂、月坑链、月溪及月谷等方面介绍了月球主要构造形式的地质特征、形貌特征及遥感影像特征,对其成因以及所隐含的地质意义进行了分析．结果表明,嫦娥一号CCD影像信息丰富,影像清晰,利用其CCD影像数据进一步研究月球的构造现象是可行的．     

Lunar exosphere influence on lunar-based near-ultraviolet astronomical observations

The potential effect of the lunar exosphere on the near-ultraviolet sky background emission is predicted for Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT: a funded Chinese scientific payload for the Chang’e-III mission). Using the upper limit on the OH concentration inferred from the recent MIP CHACE results, our calculations show that the sky brightness due to the illuminated exosphere is <8.7 photons⁻¹ cm⁻² arcsec⁻² within the wavelength range 245–340 nm. By evaluating the signal-to-noise ratios of observations of an AB = 13 mag point source at a series of sky background levels, our analysis indicates that the detection performance of LUT can be moderately degraded by the lunar exosphere emission in most cases. An AB = 13 mag point source can still be detected by the telescope at a signal-to-noise ratio more than 8 when the OH concentration is less than 2 × 10⁸ molecules cm⁻³. However, the effect on the performance is considerable when the exosphere is as dense as suggested by CHACE.     

基于单应视差的月面着陆区离面测量及平坦性分析

文章针对月球探测器的软着陆,提出了基于由平面诱导的单应视差的月面着陆区离面距离测量及平坦性分析方法.对于特征点分布不均匀情况,采用邻近特征点内插方法在全图强制性近似均匀选择点云作为兴趣点,用基于极线约束和单应约束融合的方法匹配纹理不丰富的兴趣点.使用由平面诱导的单应视差计算兴趣点的离面距离,以离面距离的最大值、绝对值的...     

仿猫月球着陆缓冲机构设计与缓冲特性研究

针对现有被动式铝蜂窝月球着陆器缓冲力波动大、无法重复使用的问题,提出一种基于磁流变缓冲器的仿猫月球着陆缓冲机构。首先,开展了不同高度平台的家猫跳落实验,对其跳落着陆姿态与前/后腿触地冲量进行了分析,探究其缓冲吸能机理;实验结果表明猫后腿的缓冲吸能占比更高。其次,结合猫跳落实验与中国嫦娥系列月球着陆器参数,设计了一种新构型仿猫着陆缓冲机构,并将其与嫦娥着陆器进行了仿真分析对比。结果表明,所提出的仿猫月球着陆缓冲机构,其机体最大加速度降低了18.3%,具有更为出色的着陆性能。其前腿缓冲吸能贡献约为40%,后腿的缓冲贡献度约为60%,与家猫高台跳落实验结果基本吻合,验证了仿猫月球着陆缓冲机构设计方案的合理性。     

THE SPACE APPLICATION ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CHINESE UNMANNED SPACECRAFT "SZ-3"

During the 3rd mission of Chinese Unmanned Spacecraft the application sys tem of "SZ-3" (Shenzhou, a divine ship) gets a great success, all its goals are achieved. Many areas of science and breakthrough technology, including earth observation, earth environment monitoring, space material, space life science etc., are carried out in the mission. There are 44 payload instruments totally.All the instruments are working well during the orbit flight and a lot of good results are obtained. Many areas, for example the moderate resolution imag ing spectroradiometer, the solar ultraviolet spectral irradiance monitor and the space protein crystallization facility perform better than required and expected.A brief introduction of the experiments and the achievements of the mission is given in this paper.