• 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.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.56-67
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• 2009

From 1990s, the lunar exploration programs, suspended over 20 years after the project Apollo's first successful human landing on the Moon in 1969, have been restarted according to a revived interest in Moon. In recent, several nations progress their own lunar exploration program successfully. In this report, to investigate the technical trends of the onboard propulsion system for the lunar orbiter, technical features related to the performance of the propulsion system of the lunar orbiters developed since 1990 are surveyed. In the future, it is expected that this technical report can provide a fundamental guideline for selecting a proper type of the onboard propulsion system for the domestic lunar orbiter.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.30-37
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• 2010

This paper deals with attitude determination and parameter estimation problems for a lunar module. For this we first derive equations of motion for the lunar module by considering allocation locations (configurations) of reaction thruster and a reaction wheel assembly. The lunar module is assumed as a rigid body. In order to include the effect of fuel sloshing on the dynamics of the lunar module, we model it as a spherical pendulum for a simple analysis. For estimating angular rates and moment of inertia of the module, we employ an extended Kalman filter and the least mean square algorithms, respectively. Finally we construct a dynamical model for the lunar module by combining all these elements.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2012

After lunar explorations were restarted in 1990s, the world space advanced countries have been competing actively to preoccupy the Moon from the 2000s. Korea has been also conducting precedent study on lunar exploration to carry out that by ourselves in 2020. This study analyzed delta-V of various Earth-Moon transfer trajectories for minimization of fuel consumption. Through the simulation, the best Earth-Moon transfer trajectory for Korean lunar mission is suggested and it will be used as useful materials of Korean lunar mission.

• 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.31 no.4
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• pp.285-294
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• 2014

The uneven mass distribution of the Moon highly perturbs the lunar spacecrafts. This uneven mass distribution leads to peculiar dynamical features of the lunar orbiters. The critical inclination is the value of inclination which keeps the deviation of the argument of pericentre from the initial values to be zero. Considerable investigations have been performed for critical inclination when the gravity field is assumed to be symmetric around the equator, namely for oblate gravity field to which Earth's satellites are most likely to be subjected. But in the case of a lunar orbiter, the gravity field of mass distribution is rather asymmetric, that is, sectorial, and tesseral, harmonic coefficients are big enough so they can't be neglected. In the present work, the effects of the first sectorial and tesseral harmonic coefficients in addition to the first zonal harmonic coefficients on the critical inclination of a lunar artificial satellite are investigated. The study is carried out using the Hamiltonian framework. The Hamiltonian of the problem is cconstructed and the short periodic terms are eliminated using Delaunay canonical variables. Considering the above perturbations, numerical simulations for a hypothetical lunar orbiter are presented. Finally, this study reveals that the critical inclination is quite different from the critical inclination of traditional sense and/or even has multiple solutions. Consequently, different families of critical inclination are obtained and analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.90-101
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• 2011

From 1990s, the lunar exploration programs, suspended over 20 years after the project Apollo's first successful human landing on the Moon in 1969, have been restarted according to a revived interest in Moon. In recent, several nations progress their own lunar exploration program successfully. In this report, to investigate the technical trends of the onboard propulsion system for the lunar orbiter, technical features related to the performance of the propulsion system of the lunar orbiters developed since 1990 are surveyed. In the future, it is expected that this technical report can provide a fundamental guideline for selecting a proper type of the onboard propulsion system for the domestic lunar orbiter.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.211-219
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• 2016

Korea's lunar exploration project includes the launching of an orbiter, a lander (including a rover), and an experimental orbiter (referred to as a lunar pathfinder). Laser altimeters have played an important scientific role in lunar, planetary, and asteroid exploration missions since their first use in 1971 onboard the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon. In this study, a laser altimeter was proposed as a scientific instrument for the Korean lunar orbiter, which will be launched by 2020, to study the global topography of the surface of the Moon and its gravitational field and to support other payloads such as a terrain mapping camera or spectral imager. This study presents the baseline design and performance model for the proposed laser altimeter. Additionally, the study discusses the expected performance based on numerical simulation results. The simulation results indicate that the design of system parameters satisfies performance requirements with respect to detection probability and range error even under unfavorable conditions.

• 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 Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.181-194
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• 2022

Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), also known as Danuri, was successfully launched on 4 Aug. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station using a Space-X Falcon-9 rocket. Flight dynamics (FD) operational readiness was one of the critical parts to be checked before the flight. To demonstrate FD software's readiness and enhance the operator's contingency response capabilities, KPLO FD specialists planned, organized, and conducted four simulations and two rehearsals before the KPLO launch. For the efficiency and integrity of FD simulation and rehearsal, different sets of blind test data were prepared, including the simulated tracking measurements that incorporated dynamical model errors, maneuver execution errors, and other errors associated with a tracking system. This paper presents the simulation and rehearsal results with lessons learned for the KPLO FD operational readiness checkout. As a result, every functionality of FD operation systems is firmly secured based on the operation procedure with an enhancement of contingency operational response capability. After conducting several simulations and rehearsals, KPLO FD specialists were much more confident in the flight teams' ability to overcome the challenges in a realistic flight and FD software's reliability in flying the KPLO. Moreover, the results of this work will provide numerous insights to the FD experts willing to prepare deep space flight operations.