• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.39-46
• /
• 2018

In this study, the performance of ranging techniques for the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) space communication system is investigated. KPLO is the first lunar mission of Korea, and pseudo-noise (PN) ranging will be used to support the mission along with sequential ranging. We compared the performance of both ranging techniques using the criteria of accuracy, acquisition probability, and measurement time. First, we investigated the end-to-end accuracy error of a ranging technique incorporating all sources of errors such as from ground stations and the spacecraft communication system. This study demonstrates that increasing the clock frequency of the ranging system is not required when the dominant factor of accuracy error is independent of the thermal noise of the ranging technique being used in the system. Based on the understanding of ranging accuracy, the measurement time of PN and sequential ranging are further investigated and compared, while both techniques satisfied the accuracy and acquisition requirements. We demonstrated that PN ranging performed better than sequential ranging in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime where KPLO will be operating, and we found that the T2B (weighted-voting balanced Tausworthe, voting v = 2) code is the best choice among the PN codes available for the KPLO mission.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.1472-1488
• /
• 2019

Critical elements in the China's Lunar Exploration reside in that the lunar rover travels over the surrounding undetermined environment and it conducts scientific exploration under the ground control via teleoperation system. Such an interplanetary transportation mission teleoperation system belongs to the ground application system in deep space mission, which performs terrain reconstruction, visual positioning, path planning, and rover motion control by receiving telemetry data. It plays a vital role in the whole lunar exploration operation and its so-called trustworthy evidence must be assessed before and during its implementation. Taking ISO standards and China's national military standards as trustworthy evidence source, the net assessment model and net assessment method of teleoperation system are established in this paper. The multi-dimensional net assessment model covering the life cycle of software is defined by extracting the trustworthy evidences from trustworthy evidence source. The qualitative decisions are converted to quantitative weights through the net assessment method (NAM) combined with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and entropy weight method (EWM) to determine the weight of the evidence elements in the net assessment model. The paper employs the teleoperation system for interplanetary transportation as a case study. The experimental result drawn shows the validity and rationality of net assessment model and method. In the final part of this paper, the untrustworthy elements of the teleoperation system are discovered and an improvement scheme is established upon the "net result". The work completed in this paper has been applied in the development of the teleoperation system of China's Chang'e-3 (CE-3) "Jade Rabbit-1" and Chang'e-4 (CE-4) "Jade Rabbit-2" rover successfully. Besides, it will be implemented in China's Chang'e-5 (CE-5) mission in 2019. What's more, it will be promoted in the Mars exploration mission in 2020. Therefore it is valuable to the development process improvement of aerospace information system.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.213-223
• /
• 2017

The deep space orbit determination software (DSODS) is a part of a flight dynamic subsystem (FDS) for the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), a lunar exploration mission expected to launch after 2018. The DSODS consists of several sub modules, of which the orbit determination (OD) module employs a weighted least squares algorithm for estimating the parameters related to the motion and the tracking system of the spacecraft, and subroutines for performance improvement and detailed analysis of the orbit solution. In this research, DSODS is demonstrated and validated at lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km using actual Lunar Prospector tracking data. A set of a priori states are generated, and the robustness of DSODS to the a priori error is confirmed by the NASA planetary data system (PDS) orbit solutions. Furthermore, the accuracy of the orbit solutions is determined by solution comparison and overlap analysis as about tens of meters. Through these analyses, the ability of the DSODS to provide proper orbit solutions for the KPLO are proved.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.63-68
• /
• 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.

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

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.213-220
• /
• 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 for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.309-318
• /
• 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
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.293-306
• /
• 2019

In this study, the observational arc-length effect on orbit determination (OD) for the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) in the Earth-Moon Transfer phase was investigated. For the OD, we employed a sequential estimation using the extended Kalman filter and a fixed-point smoother. The mission periods, comprised between the perigee maneuvers (PM) and the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) maneuver in a 3.5 phasing loop of the KPLO, was the primary target. The total period was divided into three phases: launch-PM1, PM1-PM3, and PM3-LOI. The Doppler and range data obtained from three tracking stations [included in the deep space network (DSN) and Korea Deep Space Antenna (KDSA)] were utilized for the OD. Six arc-length cases (24 hrs, 48 hrs, 60 hrs, 3 days, 4 days, and 5 days) were considered for the arc-length effect investigation. In order to evaluate the OD accuracy, we analyzed the position uncertainties, the precision of orbit overlaps, and the position differences between true and estimated trajectories. The maximum performance of 3-day OD approach was observed in the case of stable flight dynamics operations and robust navigation capability. This study provides a guideline for the flight dynamics operations of the KPLO in the trans-lunar phase.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.40.1-40.1
• /
• 2020

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is participating as a South Korean partner in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)of NASA. In response, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is currently conducting basic research for the development of four candidate instrument payloads. The magnetic field instrument is one of them and it's scientific mission objective is the moon's surface magnetic field investigation. Therefore, the development requirement of the lunar surface magnetic field instrument were derived and the initial conceptual design was started. The magnetic field instrument has a 1.2 meter boom which has two three-axis fluxgate magnetometer sensors and one gyro sensor to get a attitude information of the boom. The concept of measuring the lunar surface magnetic field will carry out using multiple sensors by placing semiconductor type magnetic field sensors inside the electric box including boom mounted fluxgate sensors. In order to overcome the very short development period, we will use the KPLO (Korean Lunar Pathfinder Orbiter) magnetometer design and parts to improve reliabilities for this instrument. In this presentation, we introduce the instrument requirements and conceptual design for the Lunar surface magnetic field instruments.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.96-107
• /
• 2014

Korea Aerospace Research Institute has a plan to launch experimental lunar orbiter in 2017, and lunar orbiter and lander in 2020. In the mission planning phase, LOI(Lunar Orbit Insertion) maneuver strategy should be designed using finite burn model because on-board propulsion system of lunar orbiter in finite burn type. LOI maneuver plan and amount of required ${\Delta}V$ using finite burn model depend on the spacecraft attitude at burn, a type of propellant, thrust level and burn timing. This paper describes the LOI maneuver of lunar orbiter of foreign space agency and then comes up with the LOI maneuver plan of Korean lunar orbiter. Adequate thrust level and burn duration of Korean lunar orbiter also present by performing simulation.