• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.1037-1044
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• 2014

In this study, we designed a drop test system considering lunar surface environment and tested landing gear of experimental lunar lander. The lunar lander would be landed at soil place for soft landing. When the lunar lander touches down, the acceleration of the lander is largely affected by mechanical characteristics of the lunar soil. Accordingly, a drop test using lunar soil is needed to verify the performance of the lunar landing gear. Because the lunar soil is not available generally, we developed a lunar simulant KAUMLS(Korea Aerospace University Mechanical Luna Simulant) based on mechanical properties of the lunar soil of NASA's LUNA PROJECT. In addition, drop tests on steel plate and dry sand are performed to evaluate impact characteristics by the surface environment.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.121-136
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• 2024

Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), launched in August 2022, is successfully carrying out its mission. Korea's lunar lander and rover programs are expected to proceed in the future. To successfully carry out the mission after the lunar lander has landed on the surface, the performance of the equipment to be mounted should be checked in a laboratory environment similar to the Moon. Scientists and engineers of several countries, including the United States and China, use lunar soil simulant which is developed to resemble lunar soil for simulating the surface of the lunar landing site. Several lunar probe landing sites are being discussed in Korea, and lunar soil simulants such as Korea Hanyang Lunar Simulant-1 (KOHLS-1), Korea Aerospace University Mechanical Lunar Simulants (KAUMLS), and Korea Lunar Simulant-1 (KLS-1), which are similar to the characteristics of lunar mare soil, have been developed. However, those simulants are not useful if the landing site is chosen as a highland area. In this study, we introduce the process of developing KIGAM-L1, a lunar highland soil simulant similar to the chemical composition of the Apollo 16 lunar soil sample and the particle size distribution of lunar soil sample 60500-1, in case the lunar lander lands at highland area.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.324-331
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• 2018

The thermal environment on lunar surface is more severe than that of earth's surface or low earth orbit because of the long daytime and nighttime due to 28 days of rotation cycle of moon. Thus, analyzing heat flux on lunar lander at potential landing sites is important to determine the landing site in its initial design phase. In this study, thermal model of lunar regolith that can simulate lunar surface temperature was constructed for analyzing thermal characteristics according to the potential landing sites of lunar lander. The heat flux analyses were performed various latitudes of equator, mid-latitude, polar regions, lunar mare and highland. In addition, we also investigated the heat flux of lunar lander when it is landed on adjacent area to hill.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.309-318
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• 2019

The thermal design of the Lunar Terrain Imager (LUTI) on the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) was performed and the soundness of the thermal design was verified by thermal analysis. The thermal environment of the lunar mission orbit should be reflected in the thermal design because the IR radiation of the lunar surface is important, unlike the earth orbit. The components or modules exposed to the outside of the satellite are insulated with MLI as much as possible, but the camera tube and the radiator are functionally exposed, so the thermal shield using the concept of radiation shape factor is mounted on the front to mitigate IR radiation. The IR emissivity is important in the front side of the radiator that receives little solar radiation, and components that are susceptible to thermal deformation such as the tube use a radiation heater to minimize the temperature gradient. Through the investigation of computational results, it was confirmed that the thermal design of LUTI is stable in various situations.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2015

Analysis of lunar samples returned by the US Apollo missions revealed that the lunar highlands consist of anorthosite, plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine; also, the lunar maria are composed of materials such as basalt and ilmenite. More recently, the remote sensing approach has enabled reduction of the time required to investigate the entire lunar surface, compared to the approach of returning samples. Moreover, remote sensing has also made it possible to determine the existence of specific minerals and to examine wide areas. In this paper, an investigation was performed on the reflectance distribution and its trend. The results were applied to the example of the double ray stretched in parallel lines from the Tycho crater to the third-quadrant of Mare Nubium. Basic research and background information for the investigation of lunar surface characteristics is also presented. For this research, resources aboard the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer (SELENE), a Japanese lunar probe, were used. These included the Multiband Imager (MI) in the Lunar Imager/Spectrometer (LISM). The data of these instruments were edited through the toolkit, an image editing and analysis tool, Exelis Visual Information Solution (ENVI).

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.213-223
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• 2019

This paper analyzes delta-Vs to maintain an extremely low altitude on the Moon and investigates the possibilities of performing a CubeSat mission. To formulate the station-keeping (SK) problem at an extremely low altitude, current work has utilized real-flight performance proven software, the Systems Tool Kit Astrogator by Analytical Graphics Inc. With a high-fidelity force model, properties of SK maneuver delta-Vs to maintain an extremely low altitude are successfully derived with respect to different sets of reference orbits; of different altitudes as well as deadband limits. The effect of the degree and order selection of lunar gravitational harmonics on the overall SK maneuver strategy is also analyzed. Based on the derived SK maneuver delta-V costs, the possibilities of performing a CubeSat mission are analyzed with the expected mission lifetime by applying the current flight-proven miniaturized propulsion system performances. Moreover, the lunar surface coverage as well as the orbital characteristics of a candidate reference orbit are discussed. As a result, it is concluded that an approximately 15-kg class CubeSat could maintain an orbit (30-50 km reference altitude having ${\pm}10km$ deadband limits) around the Moon for 1-6 months and provide almost full coverage of the lunar surface.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.766-774
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• 2017

When a plume flow exhausted from a lunar lander descent engine impinges on the lunar surface, regolith particles on the lunar surface will be dispersed due to a plume-surface interaction. If the dispersed particles collide with the lunar lander, some adverse effects such as a performance degradation can be caused. Thus, this study tried to predict the plume flow behaviors using the CFD methods. A nozzle inside region was analyzed by a continuum flow model based on the Navier-Stokes equations while the plume behaviors of the outside nozzle was performed by comparing and analyzing the individual results using the continuum flow model and the DSMC method. As a result, it was possible to establish an optimum procedure of the plume analysis for the lunar lander descent engine in the vacuum condition. In the future, it is expected to utilize the present results for the development of the Korean lunar lander.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.49-63
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• 2021

The exploration of the solar system is carried out through various payloads, and accordingly, many research results are emerging. We tried to apply deep-learning as a method of studying the bodies of solar system. Unlike Earth observation satellite data, the data of solar system differ greatly from celestial bodies to probes and to payloads of each probe. Therefore, it may be difficult to apply it to various data with the deep-learning model, but we expect that it will be able to reduce human errors or compensate for missing parts. We have implemented a model that detects craters on the lunar surface. A model was created using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) image and the provided shapefile as input values, and applied to the lunar surface image. Although the result was not satisfactory, it will be applied to the image of the permanently shadow regions of the Moon, which is finally acquired by ShadowCam through image pre-processing and model modification. In addition, by attempting to apply it to Ceres and Mercury, which have similar the lunar surface, it is intended to suggest that deep-learning is another method for the study of the solar system.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.13-19
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• 2023

Lunar ice is a resource available for future human exploration in deep space and long-term extraterrestrial habitat. However, the origin and nature of lunar ice remains unclear. In addition to remote sensing, international space agencies are competitively planning and conducting missions for lunar surface exploration to determine the existence and resource extent of lunar ice. If a sufficient amount of lunar ice is confirmed, its future in-situ resource utilization is expected to be greatly beneficial. However, due to ice extraction, settlement may occur, which should be taken into account from a geotechnical engineering perspective. Herein, experimental investigations of the potential settlement caused by lunar ice extraction were conducted and different textures of lunar ice were simulated. Consequently, it was confirmed that significant settlement occurs even at the initial water content of ~10% in lunar regolith simulant-ice-mixed soil.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2018

Moon mineralogy mapper ($M^3$)'s work proved that the moon is not completely dry but has some hydroxyl/water. $M^{3{\prime}}s$ data confirmed that the amount of hydroxyl on the lunar surface is inversely related to the measured signal brightness, suggesting the lunar surface is sensitive to temperature by solar insolation. We tested the effect of solar insolation on the local distribution of hydroxyl by using $M^3$ data, and we found that most craters had more hydroxyl in shade areas than in sunlit areas. This means that the local distribution of hydroxyl is absolutely influenced by the amount of sunshine. We investigated the factors affecting differences in hydroxyl; we found that the higher the latitude, the larger the difference during daytime. We also measured the pyroxene content and found that pyroxene affects the amount of hydroxyl, but it does not affect the difference in hydroxyl between sunlit and shaded areas. Therefore, we confirmed that solar insolation plays a significant role in the local distribution of hydroxyl, regardless of surface composition.