• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.375-380
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• 2012

It is a crucial matter to select a landing site for landers or rovers in planning the Mars exploration. The landing site must have not only a scientific value as a landing site, but also geographical features to lead a safe landing for Mars probes. In this regard, this study analyzed landing site of Mars probes and rovers in previous studies and discussed the adequacy of the landing site to scientific missions. Moreover, this study also examined domestic studies on the Mars. The frameworks of these studies will guide the selection of exploration sites and a landing site when sending Mars probe to the Mars through our own efforts. Additionally, this paper will be used as the preliminary data for selection of exploration site and a landing site.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.105.1-105.1
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• 2012

Moon and Mars have been explored by landers and rovers. Apollo missions landed five times on Lunar surface, and various rovers, including Curiosity landed and explored Mars. The selection of landing site have to be considered engineering and scientific side: the landing site to be available to land stably? the obstacle is not around the rover such as rocks and pothole? the landing site is valuable with scientific? And then landing site have to be the place which is satisfied two objects. We search the information about landing sites of Moon and Mars, and compile the conditions of landing sites. We expect that these data are useful when the landing site of Moon or Mars for Korean mission is selected.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.403-412
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• 2016

Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars(CRISM) is 489-band hyperspectral camera of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO) that provided data used on many mineral researches over Martian surface. For the detection of minerals in planet, mineral index using a few spectral bands have been used. In this study, we applied Matched Filter and Adaptive Cosine Estimator(ACE) target detection algorithm on CRISM data over Gusev Crater: landing site of Spirit(Mars Exploration Rover A) to investigate its mineral distribution. As a result, olivine, pyroxene, magnetite, etc. is detected at Gusev Crater's Columbia Hills. These results are corresponding to the Spirit rover's field survey result. It is expected that hyperspectral target detection algorithms can be used as effective and easy to use method for the detection and mapping of surface minerals in planet.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1015-1023
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• 2022

The Entry-Descent-Landing process of a lander involves many environmental and technical challenges. To solve these problems, recently, terrestrial relative navigation (TRN) technology has been essential for landers. TRN is a technology for estimating the position and attitude of a lander by comparing Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data and image data collected from a descending lander with pre-built reference data. In this paper, we present a method for generating descent dataset and extracting landmarks, which are key elements for developing TRN technologies to be used on Mars. The proposed method generates IMU data of a descending lander using a simulated Mars landing trajectory and generates descent images from high-resolution ortho-map and digital elevation map through a ray tracing technique. Landmark extraction is performed by an area-based extraction method due to the low-textured surfaces on Mars. In addition, search area reduction is carried out to improve matching accuracy and speed. The performance evaluation result for the descent dataset generation method showed that the proposed method can generate images that satisfy the imaging geometry. The performance evaluation result for the landmark extraction method showed that the proposed method ensures several meters of positioning accuracy while ensuring processing speed as fast as the feature-based methods.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2013

Local dust storm and lifting to dust frequently occurs in Mars. But it is known to lift dust is associated with atmospheric circulation, the cause of dust lifting is not find yet. The height of dust storm is more than the Himalayas, and the large size dust storm covers half of hemisphere or hemisphere. The kind of dust storm is risk factor to land and to carry out a mission. In this paper, we carry out analysis on the season and place of dust storm, and construct a map with the place of dust storm. We expect that the season and place of dust storm are able to be predicted with being based on the results. And this paper can be utilized as preliminary for selection of landing site and time of launching and landing.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.529-541
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• 2017

Landing phase is one of the crucial and most important phases during robotic aerospace explorations. It concerns the impact of the landing module of a spacecraft on a celestial body. Risks and uncertainties of landing are mainly due to the morphology of the surface, the possible presence of rocks and other obstacles or subsidence. The present work quotes results of a computational analysis direct to investigate the stability during the landing phase of a lander on Phobos, a Mars Moon. The present study makes use of available software tools for the simulation analyses and results processing. Due to the nature of the system under consideration (i.e., large displacements and interaction between several systems), multibody simulations were performed to analyze the lander's behavior after the impact with the celestial body. The landing scenario was chosen as a result of a DOE (Design of Experiments) analysis in terms of lander velocity and position, or ground slope. In order to verify the reliability of the present multibody methodology for this particular aerospace issue, two different software tools were employed in order to emphasize two different ways to simulate the crash-box, a particular component of the system used to cushion the impact. The results show the most important frames of the simulations so as to provide a general idea about how lander behaves in its descent and some trends of the main characteristics of the system. In conclusion, the success of the approach is demonstrated by highlighting that the results (crash-box shortening trend and lander's kinetic energy) are comparable between the two tools and that the stability is ensured.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Space exploration is at the forefront of human scientific endeavors, and planetary exploration rovers play a critical role in studying planetary surfaces. Rover performance is especially vital for safely navigating steep terrain and delicate landscapes found on planets like Mars and the Moon. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of a landing testbed designed to simulate challenging extraterrestrial terrain and loose regolith. The paper briefly outlines lunar crater region topographical features and highlights the importance of these simulations in rover testing. It then explores previous landing testbed developments and describes the design process for a landing testbed to be installed in the dirty thermal vacuum chamber at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology. Once realized, this proposed landing testbed will enable precise evaluations of rover mobility and exploration capabilities under lunar-like conditions, including high vacuum and extreme temperatures.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.199-212
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• 2023

In contrast to the short-term nature of lunar missions in the past, lunar missions in new space era aim to extend the presence on the lunar surface and to use this capability for the Mars exploration. In order to realize extended human presence on the Moon, production and use of consumables and fuels required for the habitation and transportation using in-situ resources is an important prerequisite. The Global Exploration Roadmap presented by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), which reflects the space exploration plans of participating countries, shows the phases of progress from lunar surface exploration to Mars exploration and relates in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) capabilities to each phase. Based on the ISRU Gap Assessment Report from the ISECG, ISRU technology is categorized into in-situ propellant and consumable production, in-situ construction, in-space manufacturing, and related areas such as storage and utilization of products, power systems required for resource utilization. Among the lunar resources, leading countries have prioritized the utilization of ice water existing in the permanent shadow region near the lunar poles and the extraction of oxygen from the regolith, and are preparing to investigate the distribution of resources and ice water near the lunar south pole through unmanned landing missions. Resource utilization technologies such as producing hydrogen and oxygen from water by hydroelectrolysis and extracting oxygen from the lunar regolith are being developed and tested in relevant lunar surface analogue environments. It is also observed that each government emphasizes the use and development of the private sector capabilities for sustainable lunar surface exploration by purchasing lunar landing services and providing opportunities to participate in resource exploration and material extraction.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.325-332
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• 2022

The vertical take-off and vertical landing (VTVL) function is essential to carry out exploration missions on the moon or Mars. For this, the engine of the exploration vehicle must have appropriate thrust control accuracy and response time. The hybrid rocket engine (HRE) is known to have a high level of thrust control capability that can satisfy these conditions. This study aims to first verify whether the thrust control performance of the developed HRE is suitable for VTVL. To this end, an oxidizer supply system that does not use a pressurization device was adopted, aiming for a mission time of about 10 seconds. In this study, the thrust control characteristics appearing under various supply pressure decreasing conditions were identified through experiments. Appropriate tank and charging conditions were set from the experimental results. In addition, the results of previous studies and current study's test were compared to confirm whether the developed HRE had adequate control performance for VTVL, and finally, the thrust control performance was verified through altitude control simulation.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.86-99
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• 2023

The mass spectrometer, being an essential scientific instrument for uncovering the origin of the solar system and life, has been used since the early 1970s on board spacecraft to obtain information of neutral and ionized elements in the atmosphere and surface of the moon, planets, asteroids, and comets. According to the 4th Basic Plan for the Promotion of Space Development (2023-2027), Korea plans to conduct lunar landing in 2032 and Mars landing in 2045 as the core goals of the plan and focuses on developing the technologies required for unmanned robotic exploration missions. In this regard, it is crucial to develop the technology of a mass spectrometer, which is the most fundamental payload for space exploration for maximized scientific achievements, however never tried before in any domestic space missions. We describe in this paper the principle of a domestically developed quadrupole mass spectrometer, its prototype model, and the test results of its performance. We conclude this paper with intended future improvements.