Lunar orbital exploration
Compositional and contour mapping of lunar surface during lunar orbital survey mission
LUNAR SURFACE↗
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Lunar subsurface exploration with coherent radar.
The Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment that is scheduled to orbit the moon on Apollo 17 consists of a three frequency coherent radar system and an optical recorder. The coherent radar can be used to measure both phase and amplitude characteristics of the radar echo. Measurement methods that are related to the phase and amplitude will be used to determine the surface profile, locate subsurface features and ascertain near surface electrical properties of the lunar surface. The key to the coherent radar measurement is a highly stable oscillator that preserves an accurate phase reference (2 or 3 electrical degrees) over a long period of time. This reference provides a means for reducing surface clutter so that subsurface features are more easily detected and also provides a means of measuring range to the surface to within a fraction of a wavelength.
Brown, W. E., Jr.↗
South Pole Lunar Lighting Studies for Driving Exploration on the Lunar Surface
NASA’s Artemis lunar missions will face new exploration challenges due to inherently low sun angles in the lunar south pole region. Whereas the Apollo missions were afforded sunlight for approximately 8 to 50-degrees above the horizon, sunlight for the next lunar missions will only be 1 to 2-degrees about the horizon. With this low angle, long shadows and high contrasts of light and dark areas will be faced by the crew and remote teleop operators while exploring the lunar surface. With this in mind, NASA developed an integrated virtual Lighting and Navigation Simulation to understand these challenges. Two studies have been conducted in this Lunar South Pole environment to evaluate the effects of natural and artificial lighting on driving and navigating a lunar rover across the surface. Early NASA studies, such as this, are used to aid in developing techniques and explore concepts of operations to promote mission success and crew safety. In the Phase One development evaluation, six astronauts were teleported to ten different lighting conditions. For each location, drivers were to drive to an imaginary target approximately 200-meters straight ahead and provide subjective feedback on their ability to drive under the given lighting conditions. Phase Two, a more operational study, four astronauts and a remote operator tested five different Artemis lunar mission scenarios. Results indicated sun direction at such low angles, especially when driving a high speed, can severely impact the crew’s ability to safely drive the rover. In the up-sun situation, with the sun directly in the driver’s eyes and compounded long shadows, the consistent preference among drivers was to initiate a tacking strategy of approximately +/- 20 to 30-degrees to improve visibility. This maneuver does require more time and rover energetics. Conversely, driving down-sun required the crew to tack as well to avoid the shadow of rover blocking the terrain. Less appreciated is how the surrounding landscape is lit. Traveling into shadowed areas, especially while facing a lit terrain beyond the shadowed area, drivers enter at their own risk due to pupil contraction making artificial lights useless. Additionally, the constant transitioning between dark and light areas are mentally taxing to the crew and natural navigational references such as the stars are invisible and therefore unusable. Slope and depth magnitude are very difficult hazards to judge when approaching a shadowed crater. This naturally leads to slower driving speeds than originally anticipated. As for observing scientifically interesting features, assessing them accurately varies greatly by the lighting condition. In most cases, the task can be completed, but the strategy is to use the sun to one’s advantage. Crew workload distribution in the cockpit for driving operations was split amongst crew. The driver primarily focused attention on visual terrain (80%) but referenced displays approximately 20% of the time, while the co-pilot/navigator generally provided directional cues to the driver. These natural lighting conditions present significant challenges for safe rover operations; however, early studies having given investigators a “first-look” into understanding of how operating on the South Lunar Pole can be accomplished.
LTv↗
SPACE SCIENCES - LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Space science - lunar and planetary exploration - nasa program
NASA PROGRAM↗
Development of Standardized Lunar Regolith Simulant Materials
Lunar exploration requires studies using standardized testing procedures. Previous lunar simulants focused on physical aspects of the lunar regolith. Renewed lunar exploration requires standardized lunar regolith simulant (SLRS) materials that simulate the physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of the regolith [l]. A root simulant models an end-member, and a derivative is formed by addition of material [2]. The 2005 Workshop recommended a low-Ti mare basalt and a high-Ca highland anorthosite set of roots. Derivatives involve addition of ilmenite and glassy agglutinates [3]. An ideal SLRS material is homogeneous. Geochemical standards are finely-ground to reduce chemical variability, but lunar simulants have a grain size variation and mineralogy that must match the lunar regolith. The simulant homogeneity is monitored using major, minor, and trace element data of progressively smaller samples compared to bulk material. Both chemical and geotechnical properties depend on the contrast from grain to grain. The variability of simulant material is an inherent property that must be taken into account. Simulant production requires monitoring of adherence to simulant requirements and homogeneity during production. Quality control establishes a traceability to a master set of reference standards.
Carpenter, P.↗
FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration): Overview of Science and Exploration Research to Enable Lunar and Planetary Exploration
The FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) project is an Ames-led research program administered by NASA’s SSERVI (Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute). FINESSE is in its fifth and final year of operations and here we provide an overview of the science and exploration research conducted to date.
Heldmann, J. L.↗
Evaluation of IEEE 802.11g and 802.16 for Lunar Surface Exploration Missions Using MACHETE Simulations
In this paper, we investigated the suitability of terrestrial wireless networking technologies for lunar surface exploration missions. Specifically, the scenario we considered consisted of two teams of collaborating astronauts, one base station and one rover, where the base station and the rover have the capability of acting as relays. We focused on the evaluation of IEEE 802.11g and IEEE 802.16 protocols, simulating homogeneous 802.11g network, homogeneous 802.16 network, and heterogeneous network using both 802.11g and 802.16. A mix of traffic flows were simulated, including telemetry, caution and warning, voice, command and file transfer. Each traffic type had its own distribution profile, data volume, and priority. We analyzed the loss and delay trade-offs of these wireless protocols with various link-layer options. We observed that 802.16 network managed the channel better than an 802.11g network due to controlled infrastructure and centralized scheduling. However, due to the centralized scheduling, 802.16 also had a longer delay. The heterogeneous (hybrid) of 802.11/802.16 achieved a better balance of performance in terms of data loss and delay compared to using 802.11 or 802.16 alone.
Segui, John↗
Exploring de Gerlache Crater
The campaign of Artemis missions will result in the first crewed missions to the surface of the Moon in the 21stCentury. As outlined by the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) United States Lunar Exploration Roadmap (US-LER), human missions to the Moon will result in significant advances across a wide variety of scientific and engineering disciplines[1]contributing significantly to scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and world security. A significant focus is exploring lunar Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs). PSRs can contain volatiles, including water ice, which makes them high priority for scientific investigation and economic activity.
Moon↗
Polar Lunar Regions: Exploiting Natural and Augmented Thermal Environments
In polar regions of the Moon, some areas within craters are permanently shadowed from solar illumination and can reach temperatures of 100 K or less. These regions could serve as cold traps, capturing ice and other volatile compounds. These potential ice stores have many applications for lunar exploration. Within double-shaded craters, even colder regions exist, with temperatures never exceeding 50 K in many cases. Observed temperatures suggest that these regions could enable equivalent liquid nitrogen cryogenic functions. These permanently shaded polar craters also offer unprecedented high-vacuum cryogenic environments, which in their current state could support cryogenic applications. Besides ice stores, the unique conditions at the lunar poles harbor an environment that provides an opportunity to reduce the power, weight, and total mass that needs to be carried from the Earth to the Moon for lunar exploration and research. Reducing the heat flux of geothermal, black body radiation can have significant impacts on the achievable temperature. With a few manmade augmentations, permanently shaded craters located near the lunar poles achieve temperatures even lower than those that naturally exist. Our analysis reveals that lightweight thermal shielding within shaded craters could create an environment several Kelvin above absolute zero. The temperature ranges of both naturally shaded and thermally augmented craters could enable the long-term storage of most gases, low-temperature superconductors for large magnetic fields, devices and advanced high-speed computing instruments. Augmenting thermal conditions in these craters could then be used as a basis for the development of an advanced thermal management architecture that would support a wide variety of cryogenically based applications. Lunar exploration and habitation capabilities would significantly benefit if permanently shaded craters, augmented with thermal shielding, were used to facilitate the operation of near absolute zero instruments, including a wide variety of cryogenically based propulsion, energy, communication, sensing, and computing devices. The required burden of carrying massive life-supporting components from the Earth to the Moon for lunar exploration and research potentially could be reduced.
Ryan, Robert E.↗
Lunar Polar Exploration with Beamed Powered Rovers
Use of a laser to transmit power to a photovoltaic array has been proposed many times, including significant work done at NASA Glenn during the 1990s, but until recently the technology has lagged behind the ambitious requirements. The current NASA objective of lunar polar exploration provides the need, and evolution of higher-power and more efficient lasers provides the opportunity. Exploration of the ice-bearing craters near the lunar poles, where complete absence of sunlight precludes solar power, have been identified as a significant technology challenge for NASA’s future exploration. An approach to solve this is to use a laser to send power from the illuminated crater rim to a photovoltaic receiver on a rover inside the permanently dark region. A conceptual design was done of a prototype laser power system to be included on a proposed flight demonstration of the Kilopower space reactor. For the design, the laser transmitter is mounted on a small rover capable of moving to a location in line of sight of the receiving rover, e.g., on a crater rim with a view into the permanently dark region to be explored. A 250-watt laser diode bar transmits power at 808 nm, using a 10.5 cm optical beam director. The beam is received by a GaAs solar array mounted on the exploring rover, where it is converted into electrical power at ~50% optical to electrical efficiency. For the flight demonstration, 50 meters of laser transmission was required. The design showed a total laser mass of 7.8 kg is capable of producing the beam needed, not including the thermal control system. The demonstration design demonstrates 50-m transmission, but it would be valuable to have longer point-to-point beaming on the moon. Long beam paths require higher coherence than the diode laser bars of the demonstration system. The development of high-efficiency diode-pumped fiber lasers meets this technology need: and diode-pumped fiber lasers using the Er/Yb system can be purchased commercially with overall conversion efficiency of greater than 50% at wavelength 1.06 micrometers. Two technologies for a photovoltaic converter for this wavelength are the InGaAs photovoltaic cell, using technology developed for multi-junction space solar cells, or newly-developed high-quantum efficiency silicon cells. The next step to mature the technology would be a lunar flight demonstration. In the future, this has the potential to enhance and enable future human exploration of the moon, harvesting and utilizing the ice resources of these permanently-shadowed craters.
Geoffrey A Landis↗
Summer 1967 study of lunar science and exploration
Future of lunar manned and unmanned exploration and Apollo applications program
APOLLO APPLICATIONS PROGRAM /AAP/↗
Early Apollo explorations
Apollo mission profile for lunar exploration by geological sampling and photographing of surface
LUNAR EXPLORATION↗
Testing the Exploration Conops (Excon) Mockup Suit in Lunar Analog Environments in 2022
Understanding how to effectively train for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) for Artemis missions is critical. Developing high-fidelity simulation environments is important for Artemis mission preparation. Because the actual Lunar exploration environment cannot be fully replicated on Earth, it is paramount to determine where and how to properly train the Artemis team. Tasked by the new Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program(EHP), a team of stakeholders from engineering, flight operations, human health and performance, astromaterials and science, and the crew office worked together to perform EVAs in 3 simulated lunar environments. The overall focus for this test series was developing the capability to perform Artemis simulated EVAs in high-fidelity, full-scale environments. This test series was broken into 3 distinct tests titled after the EHP integrated test team: Joint EVA Test Team (JETT). The test locations are planned to serve as Artemis training sites and were selected because of their relevance to the expected Artemis Lunar terrain. JETT1was conducted near Kilbourne Holeby El Paso, Texas and focused on hardware development and checkout. JETT2 was conducted in the Icelandic Highlands and began the transition towards EVA concept operations(con-ops), risks and technology.JETT3 was conducted near SP Crater by Flagstaff Arizona and focused on simulating the Artemis III mission with a simulated Houston based Flight Control Team (FCT) and a Science Mission Directorate (SMD) science team. All three JETT tests utilized the Excon mockup space suit. The Excon mockup suit is a light-weight, unpressurized Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU)simulator. While it cannot replicate the feel of working within a pressurized suit, it does introduce similar volume constraints and some of the mobility programing to simulate the user experience in the xEMU. Overall, the JETT testing was able to create a simulated Lunar EVA and have two subjects perform full scale operations in line with Artemis III mission expectations. Future work is planned to continue to improve the simulation quality of Lunar EVA simulations.
spacesuit↗
Testing the Exploration ConOps (ExCon) Mockup Suit in Lunar Analog Environments in 2022
Understanding how to effectively train for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) for Artemis missions is critical. Developing high-fidelity simulation environments is important for Artemis mission preparation. Because the actual Lunar exploration environment cannot be fully replicated on Earth, it is paramount to determine where and how to properly train the Artemis team. The overall focus for this test series was developing the capability to perform Artemis simulated EVAs in high-fidelity, full-scale environments. This test series was broken into three distinct tests titled after the EVA & Human Surface Mobility (HSM) Program (EHP) integrated test team: Joint EVA & HSM Test Team (JETT). The test locations are planned to serve as Artemis training sites and were selected because of their relevance to the expected Artemis Lunar terrain. JETT1 was conducted near Kilbourne Hole by El Paso, Texas and focused on hardware development and checkout. JETT2 was conducted in the Icelandic Highlands and began the transition towards EVA concept of operations (con-ops), risks and technology. JETT3 was conducted near SP Crater by Flagstaff, Arizona and focused on simulating the Artemis III mission including a Houston based Flight Control Team (FCT) and a Science Mission Directorate (SMD) science team. All three JETT tests utilized the Exploration Concept of Operations (ExCon) mockup space suit. The ExCon mockup suit is a lightweight, unpressurized Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) simulator. While it cannot replicate the feel of working within a pressurized suit, it does introduce similar volume constraints and some of the mobility programing to simulate the user experience in the xEMU. Overall, the JETT testing was able to create a simulated Lunar EVA and have two subjects perform full scale operations in line with Artemis III mission expectations. Future work is planned to continue to improve the simulation quality of Lunar EVA simulations.
spacesuit↗
Testing the Exploration Conops (Excon) Mockup Suit in Lunar Analog Environments in 2022
Understanding how to effectively train for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) for Artemis missions is critical. Developing high-fidelity simulation environments is important for Artemis mission preparation. Because the actual Lunar exploration environment cannot be fully replicated on Earth, it is paramount to determine where and how to properly train the Artemis team. The overall focus for this test series was developing the capability to perform Artemis simulated EVAs in high-fidelity, full-scale environments. This test series was broken into three distinct tests titled after the EVA & Human Surface Mobility (HSM) Program (EHP) integrated test team: Joint EVA & HSM Test Team (JETT). The test locations are planned to serve as Artemis training sites and were selected because of their relevance to the expected Artemis Lunar terrain. JETT1 was conducted near Kilbourne Hole by El Paso, Texas and focused on hardware development and checkout. JETT2 was conducted in the Icelandic Highlands and began the transition towards EVA concept of operations (con-ops), risks and technology. JETT3 was conducted near SP Crater by Flagstaff, Arizona and focused on simulating the Artemis III mission including a Houston based Flight Control Team (FCT) and a Science Mission Directorate (SMD) science team. All three JETT tests utilized the Exploration Concept of Operations (ExCon) mockup space suit. The ExCon mockup suit is a lightweight, unpressurized Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) simulator. While it cannot replicate the feel of working within a pressurized suit, it does introduce similar volume constraints and some of the mobility programing to simulate the user experience in the xEMU. Overall, the JETT testing was able to create a simulated Lunar EVA and have two subjects perform full scale operations in line with Artemis III mission expectations. Future work is planned to continue to improve the simulation quality of Lunar EVA simulations.
spacesuit↗
Lunar surface exploration by satellite. An integrated experiment package to perform measurements of the composition of the lunar surface Final report
Integrated experiment package to measure lunar surface composition - gamma ray, alpha particle, X ray fluorescence, and neutron albedo experiments
Carpenter, J.↗
Lunar Precursor Robotic Program: A Robotic Focus To The Vision
In April 2006, NASA, with help from the commercial and international communities, began developing a global Lunar Exploration Strategy. These activities resulted in themes that expanded on why we should return to the Moon and objectives that identify what we should do when we get there. NASA used these results to develop a Lunar Architecture designed to achieve the subset of the global Lunar Exploration Strategy objectives that fit within NASA's scope. A component of this architecture is the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program. This Program, anticipated to consist of both lunar orbiters and landers, is intended to meet many of NASA's lunar exploration objectives.
French, Raymond A.↗
CESO 22-1: Lunar Uncrewed Explorer Tool (LUNEXT)
Develop a software tool for planning uncrewed lunar surface operations that simulates illumination conditions on the surface and displays environmental data, such as temperature and induced plume effects, into an integrated lunar operational environment simulation that does not require high-end computing hardware. This prototype tool is a capability that fills a gap, and it does not compete with existing KSC/agency simulation/visualization tools.
Mark Lewis↗