• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• 제10권1호
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2009

In general, the lunar landing stage can be divided into two distinct phases: de-orbit and descent, and the descent phase usually comprises two sub-phases: braking and approach. And many optimization problems of minimal energy are usually focused on descent phases. In these approaches, the energy of de-orbit burning is not considered. Therefore, a possible low perilune altitude can be chosen to save fuel for the descent phase. Perilune altitude is typically specified between 10 and 15km because of the mountainous lunar terrain and possible guidance errors. However, it requires more de-orbit burning energy for the lower perilune altitude. Therefore, in this paper, the perilune altitude of the intermediate orbit is also considered with optimal thrust programming for minimal energy. Furthermore, the perilune altitude and optimal thrust programming can be expressed by a function of the radius of a parking orbit by using continuation method and co-state estimator.

• 한국우주과학회:학술대회논문집(한국우주과학회보)
• /
• 한국우주과학회 2011년도 한국우주과학회보 제20권1호
• /
• pp.24.4-24.4
• /
• 2011

Frozen orbit concept is very useful in designing particular mission orbits including the Sun-synchronous and minimum altitude variation orbits. In this work, variety of frozen and Sun-synchronous orbit conditions around the Moon is investigated and analyzed. The first two zonal harmonics of the Moon, J2 and J3, are considered to determine mean orbital elements to be a frozen orbit. To check the long-term behavior of a frozen orbit, formerly developed YonSei Precise Lunar Orbit Propagator (YSPLOP) is used. First, frozen orbit solutions without conditions to be the Sun-synchronous orbit is investigated. Various mean semi-major axes having between ranges from 1,788 km to 1,938 km with inclinations from 30 deg to 150 deg are considered. It is found that a polar orbit (90 deg of inclination) having 100 km of altitude requires the orbital eccentricity of about 0.01975 for a frozen orbit. Also, mean apolune and perilune altitudes for this case is about 136.301 km and 63.694 km, respectively. Second, frozen orbit solutions with additional condition to be the Sun-synchronous orbit is investigated. It is discovered that orbital inclinations are increased from 138.223 deg to 171.553 deg when mean altitude ranged from 50 km to 200 km. For the most usual mission altitude at the Moon (100 km), the Sun-synchronous orbit condition is satisfied with the eccentricity of 0.01124 and 145.235 deg of inclination. For this case, mean apolune and perilune altitudes are found to be about 120.677 km and 79.323 km, respectively. The results analyzed in this work could be useful to design a preliminary mapping orbit as well as to estimate basic on-board payloads' system requirements, for a future Korea's lunar orbiter mission. Other detailed perturbative effects should be considered in the further study, to analyze more accurate frozen orbit conditions at the Moon.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• 제28권3호
• /
• pp.203-216
• /
• 2011

To prepare for a future Korean lunar orbiter mission, semi-optimal lunar capture orbits using finite thrust are designed and analyzed. Finite burn delta-V losses during lunar capture sequence are also analyzed by comparing those with values derived with impulsive thrusts in previous research. To design a hypothetical lunar capture sequence, two different intermediate capture orbits having orbital periods of about 12 hours and 3.5 hours are assumed, and final mission operation orbit around the Moon is assumed to be 100 km altitude with 90 degree of inclination. For the performance of the on-board thruster, three different performances (150 N with $I_{sp}$ of 200 seconds, 300 N with $I_{sp}$ of 250 seconds, 450 N with $I_{sp}$ of 300 seconds) are assumed, to provide a broad range of estimates of delta-V losses. As expected, it is found that the finite burn-arc sweeps almost symmetric orbital portions with respect to the perilune vector to minimize the delta-Vs required to achieve the final orbit. In addition, a difference of up to about 2% delta-V can occur during the lunar capture sequences with the use of assumed engine configurations, compared to scenarios with impulsive thrust. However, these delta-V losses will differ for every assumed lunar explorer's on-board thrust capability. Therefore, at the early stage of mission planning, careful consideration must be made while estimating mission budgets, particularly if the preliminary mission studies were assumed using impulsive thrust. The results provided in this paper are expected to lead to further progress in the design field of Korea's lunar orbiter mission, particularly the lunar capture sequences using finite thrust.