• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2010

This paper designs a data link between a Lunar Orbiter (LO) and an Earth Station (ES), and analyzes the downlink performance of a space communications system for lunar exploration, conforming to the recommendations by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). The results provided in the paper can be useful references for the design of reliable communication link for the Korean lunar exploration in the near future.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.73-80
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• 2015

For Korean first lunar exploration program, KARI(Korea Aerospace Research Institute) has been researching in various fields and investigating cases of abroad lunar exploration spacecrafts. In the field of the flight software, KARI has been analysing some cases such as NASA LRO, and this paper describes the result of the case study on LRO flight software.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2011

Many countries all over the world have been doing lunar exploration projects. Korea has also been doing basic research on lunar exploration. The development of communication systems for lunar exploration projects is one of the most important aspects of performing a successful lunar mission. In this paper, we design a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) prototype based on the requirement analysis of a communication link for lunar exploration and implement its core module considering the international standards for deep space communications to perform a basic research on baseband processor development. It is verified by comparing the bit error rate of the DSP prototype with that of a computer simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2011

As part of its space development program, Korea has a plan for the launch of a lunar orbiter and a lunar lander. To enable the transmission of lunar information based on multimedia, it is necessary to construct a communication system that is capable of transmitting large-volume telemetry data. The CCSDS standard recommends the deferred NAK mode as ARQ scheme for reliable long-distance deep-space communication systems. In this paper, we implement a space communication system simulator in the deferred NAK mode using models of the lunar orbiter, the earth station, and the space environment. The simulator employs modulation techniques and turbo coding schemes for transmitting large-volume telemetry data. We analyze the transmission performance of telemetry data through the simulation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2020

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is participating as a South Korean partner in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)of NASA. In response, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is currently conducting basic research for the development of four candidate instrument payloads. The magnetic field instrument is one of them and it's scientific mission objective is the moon's surface magnetic field investigation. Therefore, the development requirement of the lunar surface magnetic field instrument were derived and the initial conceptual design was started. The magnetic field instrument has a 1.2 meter boom which has two three-axis fluxgate magnetometer sensors and one gyro sensor to get a attitude information of the boom. The concept of measuring the lunar surface magnetic field will carry out using multiple sensors by placing semiconductor type magnetic field sensors inside the electric box including boom mounted fluxgate sensors. In order to overcome the very short development period, we will use the KPLO (Korean Lunar Pathfinder Orbiter) magnetometer design and parts to improve reliabilities for this instrument. In this presentation, we introduce the instrument requirements and conceptual design for the Lunar surface magnetic field instruments.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.377-382
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• 2010

In lunar explorer development program, computer simulator is necessary to provide virtual environments that vehicle confronts in lunar transfer, orbit, and landing missions, and to analyze dynamic behavior of the spacecraft under these environments. Objective of simulation differs depending on its application in spacecraft development cycle. Scope of use cases considered in this paper includes simulation of software based, processor and/or hardware in the loop, and support of ground-based flight test of developed vehicle. These use cases represent early phase in development cycle but reusability of modeling results in the next design phase is considered in defining requirements. A simulator architecture in which simulator platform is located in the middle and modules for modeling, analyzing, and three dimensional visualizing are connected to that platform is suggested. Baseline concepts and requirements for simulator development are described. Result of trade study for selecting simulation platform and approaches of defining other simulator components are summarized. Finally, characters of lunar elevation map data which is necessary for lunar terrain generation is described.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.96-103
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• 2019

In this study, a comparison was conducted to verify the propellant isolation assembly of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO). An engineering validation model (EVM) is being developed to simulate the flow of the flight model. Three factors were selected for comparison: the total pressure drop during propellant isolation assembly, the waterhammer by driving thruster valve, and the orifice set up for flow control and damping the waterhammer. The analysis results are compared with EVM test results. In the future, backup data to confirm the design will be established.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.87-97
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• 2022

Polarimetric measurements of the lunar surface from lunar orbit soon will be available via Wide-Field Polarimetric Camera (PolCam) onboard the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), which is planned to be launched in mid 2022. To provide calibration data for the PolCam, we are conducting speckle polarimetric measurements of the nearside of the Moon from the Earth's ground. It appears that speckle imaging of the Moon for scientific purposes has not been attempted before, and there is need for a procedure to create a "lucky image" from a number of observed speckle images. As a first step of obtaining calibration data for the PolCam from the ground, we search for the best sharpness measure for lunar surfaces. We then calculate the minimum number of speckle images and the number of images to be shift-and-added for higher resolution (sharpness) and signal-to-noise ratio.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.213-220
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• 2013

Korean Lunar Explorer is planned to be launched in the 2020s according to national space development strategy. The Lunar Explorer will be developed as two unmanned light weight models: a lunar orbiter and a lunar lander. The Lunar Explorer's structure should be designed to have light weight due to constraints from launcher as well as to provide structural safety against launch load, in-orbit condition and landing condition and to serve accommodation space for mission equipment. Core technology related to structural development of lunar explorer should be developed in advance. Especially, for lunar lander, technology for developing landing gear which enables lander to land safely on lunar surface is required essentially. This paper deals with structural development of lunar lander ground test model including design, manufacturing and test.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.375-395
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• 2021

Korea plans to send a pathfinder lunar orbiter to the Moon for the first time in August 2022. And according to the 3rd Basic Plan for Space Development Promotion, the plan is to send a lunar lander to the Moon before 2030. The selection of the lunar landing area can be varied depending on the lunar lander's mission, therefore preliminary research on the lunar landing sites is essential for a successful lunar exploration mission design. This paper analyzed the characteristics of major regions among 14 proposed regions using NASA's MoonTrek based on the data on the candidate areas for the major moon landing proposed sites by the NASA workshop in 2018. And we looked into what kind of future moon landing missions are suitable for these areas. We also looked at the importance of lunar Antarctica area through the recent lunar landing areas of Moon landing countries and Artemis plan.