• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.53-63
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• 2015

For the success of future missions to the Moon and other similar cosmic environments, understanding and utilization of the lunar regolith has become essential. However, due to the scarcity and unaffordability of real lunar regolith on Earth, a number of lunar regolith simulants (e.g., JSC-1; NASA) have been developed for experimental purposes. However, Korea does not have its own lunar regolith, even though the country is planning to actively pursue lunar and space missions in the 2020s. Thus, this study has been conducted to develop a Korean lunar simulant prototype via basic feasibility attempts (e.g., raw material selection, particle size and chemical composition simulation). Finally, the first prototype of Korea's own lunar simulant has been obtained, and denominated as KLS-1.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.163-173
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• 2016

In this paper, we study the lunar eclipse records in the Goryeosa (History of the Goryeo Dynasty), an official history book of the Goryeo dynasty (A.D. 918 - 1392). In the history book, a total of 228 lunar eclipse accounts are recorded, covering the period from 1009 to 1392. However, we find that two accounts are duplications and four accounts correspond to no known lunar eclipses around the dates. For the remaining lunar eclipses, we calculate the magnitude and the time of the eclipse at different phases using the DE406 ephemeris. Of the 222 lunar eclipse accounts, we find that the minimum penumbral magnitude was 0.5583. For eclipses which occurred after midnight, we find that some accounts were recorded on the day before the eclipse, like the astronomical records of the Joseonwangjosillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), while others were on the day of the lunar eclipse. We also find that four accounts show a difference in the Julian dates between this study and that of Ahn et al., even though it is assumed that the Goryeo court did not change the dates in the accounts for lunar eclipses that occurred after midnight. With regard to the contents of the lunar eclipse accounts, we confirm that the accounts recorded as total eclipses are accurate, except for two accounts. However, both eclipses were very close to the total eclipse. We also confirm that all predicted lunar eclipses did occur, although one eclipse happened two days after the predicted date. In conclusion, we believe that this study is very helpful for investigating the lunar eclipse accounts of other periods in Korea, and furthermore, useful for verifying the calendar dates of the Goryeo dynasty.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2008

In this paper, the technical trends of the lunar exploration were studied by investigating the objectives of the mission of the recent lunar orbiters. The payloads of the lunar orbiter launched and planned since 1990 are rearranged and analyzed according to the objectives of the mission and the performance. In the future, it will be used to define the objectives of the mission and to make a plan for developing the payloads of the domestic lunar orbiter.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.12
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• pp.950-958
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• 2013

The Lunar orbiter is expected to be inserted into a ~300km low Earth orbit using Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II(KSLV-II). After the states are successfully determined with obtained tracking data, the Trans Lunar Injection(TLI) burn has to be done at appropriate epoch to send the lunar orbiter to the Moon. In this study, we describe in detail the mission scenario of the Korean lunar orbiter from the launch at NARO Space Center to lunar orbit insertion(LOI) stage following direct transfer trajectory. We investigate the launch window including launch azimuth, delta-V profile according to TLI and LOI burn positions. We also depict the visibility conditions of ground stations and solar eclipse duration to understand the characteristics of the direct transfer trajectory. This paper can be also helpful not only for overall understanding of ${\Delta}V$ trend by changing TOF and coasting time but for selecting launch epoch and control parameters to decrease fuel consumption.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2020

As interest in lunar exploration increases, studies on lunar surface environment simulation including a lunar soil simulant are being conducted. One of the problems when creating a vacuum environment with lunar soil is that it takes long time to reach high vacuum due to outgas from the soil. Most of the outgas is water, and the time to reach high vacuum can be significantly reduced by a pretreatment process that removes moisture adhering to the surface of the lunar soil before putting soil into a vacuum chamber. The existing soil drying methods were examined to determine how these methods were effective to remove moisture from the lunar simulant soil. Drying experiments of lunar soil samples were carried out using a dry oven, a microwave oven, direct heating method and a vacuum oven, and the results of the drying experiment were presented. Drying soil at 110℃ using a dry oven and drying soil by a microwave oven were not enough to remove moisture, and vacuum oven drying method and direct heating drying method at more than 200℃ were effective in water removal.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.203-216
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• 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.

• 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 the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2020

Upper stage of launch vehicle mainly injects a lunar explorer from low earth orbit to the moon at a distance of 380,000 km. In foreign lunar explorer, the upper stage is separated from the explorer after the explorer is injected into the earth-moon transfer trajectory, and the lunar explorer then uses on-board propellant to carry out mid-course correction maneuvers and lunar orbit insertion maneuvers. This study describes a newly presented small liquid upper stage. Using a small liquid upper stage with a wet mass of 2.9 tonnes, the lunar explorer not only can be injected earth-moon transfer trajectory but also can be performed lunar orbit insertion. This study provides acceptable mass range of the lunar explorer and the scope of acceptable mission range also describes based on the launch from Naro Space Center.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.1028-1036
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• 2018

KARI plans to launch Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) to the Moon by December 2020 for the first step of the Korea Lunar Exploration Project. This orbiter will be launched to obtain lunar exploration technologies and science data in advance before launching a main orbiter and a lunar probe. This paper describes the verification of thermal design for the orbiter. It is exposed to more extreme thermal environment than that of low Earth orbit satellite due to the heavy infrared emission of the Moon. Accordingly, a thermal design considering this environment is needed to maintain the temperature of payloads and components equipped in the orbiter within operating temperature range in all orbits. We performed the thermal analysis for Earth-Moon transfer orbit, lunar mission orbit and lunar eclipse required for thermal design verification of the lunar orbiter. As a result, this thermal design met the design requirements.

• 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.