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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Stabilizing influence of earth perturbations on polar lunar orbiters

A class of highly inclined lunar orbits is discussed for which earth perturbations have significant influence on the orbit evolution and the usefulness of the orbit for scientific exploration. The theory of the long-term motion of particles under third-body and zonal harmonic perturbations is taken as a starting point for investigations of orbits with relatively long lifetimes and evolutionary patterns that enhance the effectiveness of the satellite as a lunar farside relay. An equilibrium solution in the doubly-averaged three-body problem with oblateness is identified and the results of some numerical integrations are presented.

Uphoff, C.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Relative Terrain Imaging Navigation (RETINA) Tool for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM)

As a part of the NASA initiative to collect a boulder off of an asteroid and return it to Lunar orbit, the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) and NASA GSFC are developing an on-board relative terrain imaging navigation algorithm for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM). After performing several flybys and dry runs to verify and refine the shape, spin, and gravity models and obtain centimeter level imagery, the spacecraft will descend to the surface of the asteroid to capture a boulder and return it to Lunar Orbit. The algorithm implements Stereophotoclinometry methods to register landmarks with images taken onboard the spacecraft, and use these measurements to estimate the position and orientation of the spacecraft with respect to the asteroid. This paper will present an overview of the ARRM GN&C system and concept of operations as well as a description of the algorithm and its implementation. These techniques will be demonstrated for the descent to the surface of the proposed asteroid of interest, 2008 EV5, and preliminary results will be shown.

Navigation↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Lunar Observer Radio Astronomy Experiment (LORAE)

The paper proposes to place a simple low-frequency dipole antenna on board the Lunar Observer (LO) satellite. LO will orbit the moon in the mid-1990's, mapping the surface at high resolution and gathering new geophysical data. In its modest concept, LORAE will collect crucial data on the radio interference environment while on the near-side (to aid in planning future arrays) and will monitor bursts of emission from the sun and the Jovian planets. LORAE will also be capable of lunar occultation studies of greater than 100 of the brightest sources, gathering arcminute resolution data on sizes and measuring source fluxes. A low resolution all-sky map below 10 MHz, when combined with data from the Gamma-Ray Observatory, will uniquely determine the density of Galactic cosmic ray electrons and the strength of the Galaxy's magnetic field. LORAE also will be able to measure the density of the moon's ionosphere.

Burns, Jack O.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Feasibility of “Weak GPS” Real-Time Positioning/Timing at Lunar Distance

There are multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS’s), comprising over 100 navigation satellites in the Earth’s medium and high orbits. Most of these satellites have antennas that point Nadir to earth, and transmit navigation signals so vehicles on Earth’s surface and in its vicinity can perform trilateration and estimate its 3-dimenional (3D) positioning. The sidelobes of these antennas can occasionally point to the Moon. It is postulated that a lunar vehicle carrying a large enough receiving antenna can occasionally detects and receives four or more sidelobes of these weak GNSS signals, thus enabling the vehicle to perform 3D positioning using an onboard GNSS receiver. We propagate the orbits of the GNSS satellites from United States’ Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) constellation, the Europe’s Galileo constellation, and the Russia’s GLONASS constellation, a total of 81 satellites. We simulate the visibility of these satellites by a lunar vehicle in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), based on the assumption that the lunar vehicle is “in-view” of a GNSS satellite as long as it falls within the 40- degree beam-width of the satellite. We also simulate the 3D positioning performance as a function of satellites’ ephemeris errors and pseudo-range errors. The preliminary results show that the lunar vehicle can “see” 5 – 13 satellites, and achieve a 3D positioning error (one-sigma) of 200 – 300 meters based on reasonable ephemeris and pseudo- range error assumptions. We also consider the case of using relative positioning to mitigate the GNSS satellites’ ephemeris biases. That is, by assuming a reference receiver with accurately known positioning that is close to the lunar vehicle, and computing the relative position of the lunar vehicle relative to the reference.

Cheung, Kar-Ming↗
NASA NTRS1993

A computer-controlled x-y offset guiding stage for the MLRS

The MLRS has experienced excellent success in its lunar and artificial satellite laser ranging operations during its many years of operation, in spite of its relatively small 'receive' aperture. We continue to strive, however, for a greater volume of data, together with better accuracy and precision. We have just now completed the design, construction, and implementation of a computer controlled x-y offset guiding stage for the MLRS, analogous to the manual one that had been a part of the original 2.7-m lunar laser ranging system on Mt. Locke at McDonald Observatory. In the past, we had been hampered by the lack of a satisfactory hardware design which could fit within the very cramped quarters of the MLRS telescope's tail piece. Recently, with funding support from the U.S. Naval Observatory and the design and construction expertise of DFM Engineering, Inc., a satisfactory instrument has been specified, designed, built, and installed. This instrument will greatly expand MLRS observational opportunities by allowing the observing crews to actively guide on visible off axis lunar surface features or background stars while the on-axis lunar surface retroreflector targets are in the dark. This paper describes this instrument and its present implementation at the MLRS.

Shelus, Peter J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Radiation Shielding of Lunar Regolith/Polyethylene Composites and Lunar Regolith/Water Mixtures

Space radiation is a complex mixed field of ionizing radiation that can pose hazardous risks to sophisticated electronics and humans. Mission planning for lunar exploration and long duration habitat construction will face tremendous challenges of shielding against various types of space radiation in an attempt to minimize the detrimental effects it may have on materials, electronics, and humans. In late 2009, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) discovered that water content in lunar regolith found in certain areas on the moon can be up to 5.6 +/-2.8 weight percent (wt%) [A. Colaprete, et. al., Science, Vol. 330, 463 (2010). ]. In this work, shielding studies were performed utilizing ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and aluminum, both being standard space shielding materials, simulated lunar regolith/ polyethylene composites, and simulated lunar regolith mixed with UHMWPE particles and water. Based on the LCROSS findings, radiation shielding experiments were conducted to test for shielding efficiency of regolith/UHMWPE/water mixtures with various percentages of water to compare relative shielding characteristics of these materials. One set of radiation studies were performed using the proton synchrotron at the Loma Linda Medical University where high energy protons similar to those found on the surface of the moon can be generated. A similar experimental protocol was also used at a high energy spalation neutron source at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). These experiments studied the shielding efficiency against secondary neutrons, another major component of space radiation field. In both the proton and neutron studies, shielding efficiency was determined by utilizing a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) behind various thicknesses of shielding composite panels or mixture materials. Preliminary results from these studies indicated that adding 2 wt% water to regolith particles could increase shielding of the regolith materials by about 6%. The findings may be utilized to extend the possibilities of potential candidate materials for lunar habitat structures, will potentially impact the design criteria of future human bases on the moon, and provide some guidelines for future space mission planning with respect to radiation exposure and risks posed on astronauts.

Johnson, Quincy F.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Global High Resolution Crustal Magnetic Field at the Surface of the Moon from Low-Altitude Lunar Prospector Magnetic Gradient Data

We derived new vector gradients based models of crustal magnetic field at the lunar surface with data from the Lunar Prospector (LP) satellite using two model parameterization approaches: a global set of 35820 1° spaced (~30 km) equal area monopoles at 20 km below the surface (O’Brien and Parker, 1994; Olsen et al., 2017) and combined results of subsets of 100000 0.66° spaced monopoles at the same depth. We use the scheme of iteratively reweighted least-squares inversion to compute the initial model. Then the amplitudes of these monopoles are determined by minimizing the misfit to the components together with the global average of |Br| at the ellipsoid surface (i.e. applying a L1 model regularization of Br). In previous approaches using vector fields for modeling, we found that external field contamination leads to spurious anomalies in the downward continued field models even with stringent data selection criteria and ad-hoc noise removal techniques (e.g., satellite’s position in the Moon’s wake w.r.t. the solar wind and in the Earth’s magnetotail, internal/external dipoles fields removal, low-order polynomial removal, joint equivalent source cross-validation technique and visually removing remaining anomalous segments). On the other hand, with the use of gradients-only data (along-track first finite differences), we were able to completely bypass the ad-hoc techniques. Similar processing of Kaguya magnetic data, which have only higher altitude coverage over the most of the Moon except in the region of the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin, completely misses some of the anomalies seen in the Lunar Prospector data. The combined Lunar Prospector and Kaguya gradient-based models also severely degrade the derivation of the anomaly fields in many regions. Euler analysis of isolated anomaly features from the Reiner Gamma swirl suggests top depths of about 0.3 to 1.5 km and center depths of 10-14 km; in the region between Stein and Vallier craters north of the SPA basin our analysis suggests top depths of around 1.5 km and center depths of 13-15 km. With the spectral depth determination techniques, the SPA basin region yields depths to the base of magnetization ranging between 15 and 40 km. Three-dimensional modeling and the bulk magnetization determinations of the sources constrained by the Euler and spectral methods is underway.

Gradient↗
NASA NTRS2022

Lunar Communications Services with Emphasis on Commercialization

In mid-2020 Lockheed Marin Space (LM) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) formed a working group to study and address the need for a lunar communications network to service a growing lunar economy, beginning with the initial crewed and robotic mission needs in 2024. Multiple commercial relay architectures were studied and evaluated for platform requirements, communications capabilities, and commercial business viability in a growing ecosystem. The evolution of communications needs around the Moon were mapped to infrastructure build out. Trade studies were performed to evaluate reliability and lifetime requirements, and the viability of various data protocols. Mission concepts and operations plans were developed for both initial mission support and future autonomous network support. This work has led to Lockheed Martin and JPL to evaluate a single dedicated relay satellite in a frozen lunar orbit, with simultaneous coverage of the far-side and south pole landing sites for over 10 hours per day as a first step towards a comprehensive solution to lunar connectivity. This first satellite is compatible with an ESPA Grande launch volume and would be capable of launching on a rideshare into a variety of orbits and trajectories. The satellite is equipped with both high- and low-rate communications relay payloads with software-defined radios and a delay/disruption tolerant networking protocol. The system is designed to service initial and future mission needs in a commercialized manner, enabling a new class of missions to the Moon. The relay satellite leverages prior spacecraft platform work with on-orbit heritage in a lunar environment expected by 2023.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1978

Lunar occultation of Saturn. II - The normal reflectance of Rhea, Titan, and Iapetus

An inversion procedure to obtain the reflectance of the central region of a satellite's disk from lunar occultation data is presented. The scheme assumes that the limb darkening of the satellite depends only on the radial distance from the center of the disk. Given this assumption, normal reflectances can be derived that are essentially independent of the limb darkening and the diameter of the satellite. The procedure has been applied to our observations of the March 1974 lunar occultation of Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, and Iapetus. In the V passband we derive the following normal reflectances: Rhea (0.97 plus or minus 0.20), Titan (0.24 plus or minus 0.03), Iapetus, bright face (0.60 plus or minus 0.14). For Tethys and Dione the values derived have large uncertainties, but are consistent with our result for Rhea.

Elliot, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Lunar Exploration Missions Since 2006

The announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration in 2004 sparked a resurgence in lunar missions worldwide. Since the publication of the first "New Views of the Moon" volume, as of 2017 there have been 11 science-focused missions to the Moon. Each of these missions explored different aspects of the Moon's geology, environment, and resource potential. The results from this flotilla of missions have revolutionized lunar science, and resulted in a profoundly new emerging understanding of the Moon. The New Views of the Moon II initiative itself, which is designed to engage the large and vibrant lunar science community to integrate the results of these missions into new consensus viewpoints, is a direct outcome of this impressive array of missions. The "Lunar Exploration Missions Since 2006" chapter will "set the stage" for the rest of the volume, introducing the planetary community at large to the diverse array of missions that have explored the Moon in the last decade. Content: This chapter will encompass the following missions: Kaguya; ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun); Chang’e-1; Chandrayaan-1; Moon Impact Probe; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO); Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS); Chang’e-2; Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL); Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE); Chang’e-3.

LUNAR EXPLORATION MISSIONS 200↗
NASA NTRS2013

Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation

A navigation technology known as LiAISON (Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation) has been known to produce very impressive navigation results for scenarios involving two or more cooperative satellites near the Moon, such that at least one satellite must be in an orbit significantly perturbed by the Earth, such as a lunar halo orbit. The two (or more) satellites track each other using satellite-to-satellite range and/or range-rate measurements. These relative measurements yield absolute orbit navigation when one of the satellites is in a lunar halo orbit, or the like. The geometry between a lunar halo orbiter and a GEO satellite continuously changes, which dramatically improves the information content of a satellite-to-satellite tracking signal. The geometrical variations include significant out-of-plane shifts, as well as inplane shifts. Further, the GEO satellite is almost continuously in view of a lunar halo orbiter. High-fidelity simulations demonstrate that LiAISON technology improves the navigation of GEO orbiters by an order of magnitude, relative to standard ground tracking. If a GEO satellite is navigated using LiAISON- only tracking measurements, its position is typically known to better than 10 meters. If LiAISON measurements are combined with simple radiometric ground observations, then the satellite s position is typically known to better than 3 meters, which is substantially better than the current state of GEO navigation. There are two features of LiAISON that are novel and advantageous compared with conventional satellite navigation. First, ordinary satellite-to-satellite tracking data only provides relative navigation of each satellite. The novelty is the placement of one navigation satellite in an orbit that is significantly perturbed by both the Earth and the Moon. A navigation satellite can track other satellites elsewhere in the Earth-Moon system and acquire knowledge about both satellites absolute positions and velocities, as well as relative positions and velocities in space. The second novelty is that ordinarily one requires many satellites in order to achieve full navigation of any given customer s position and velocity over time. With LiAISON navigation, only a single navigation satellite is needed, provided that the satellite is significantly affected by the gravity of the Earth and the Moon. That single satellite can track another satellite elsewhere in the Earth- Moon system and obtain absolute knowledge of both satellites states.

Parker, Jeffrey S.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Remarks on the paper 'The tidal loss of satellite-orbiting objects and its implications for the lunar surface' by Mark J. Reid

The paper by Reid (1973) suggests that masses may be stored in circumlunar orbits for long periods of time, limited only by tidal dissipation. The real loss may, however, be much faster, due to large changes in the orbit caused by the disturbing field of the earth. It is shown that the example quoted of Jupiter's satellites is inadequate to make the case for stability of such orbits.

Gold, T.↗
NASA NTRS1967

Future automated space mission requirements

Future automated space mission requirements - evaluation of meteorological, communications, and technology satellites, and planetary, lunar, and interplanetary probes

Cortright, E. M.↗