• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.323-333
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• 2016

In this study, the uncertainty requirements for orbit, attitude, and burn performance were estimated and analyzed for the execution of the $1^{st}$ lunar orbit insertion (LOI) maneuver of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) mission. During the early design phase of the system, associate analysis is an essential design factor as the $1^{st}$ LOI maneuver is the largest burn that utilizes the onboard propulsion system; the success of the lunar capture is directly affected by the performance achieved. For the analysis, the spacecraft is assumed to have already approached the periselene with a hyperbolic arrival trajectory around the moon. In addition, diverse arrival conditions and mission constraints were considered, such as varying periselene approach velocity, altitude, and orbital period of the capture orbit after execution of the $1^{st}$ LOI maneuver. The current analysis assumed an impulsive LOI maneuver, and two-body equations of motion were adapted to simplify the problem for a preliminary analysis. Monte Carlo simulations were performed for the statistical analysis to analyze diverse uncertainties that might arise at the moment when the maneuver is executed. As a result, three major requirements were analyzed and estimated for the early design phase. First, the minimum requirements were estimated for the burn performance to be captured around the moon. Second, the requirements for orbit, attitude, and maneuver burn performances were simultaneously estimated and analyzed to maintain the $1^{st}$ elliptical orbit achieved around the moon within the specified orbital period. Finally, the dispersion requirements on the B-plane aiming at target points to meet the target insertion goal were analyzed and can be utilized as reference target guidelines for a mid-course correction (MCC) maneuver during the transfer. More detailed system requirements for the KPLO mission, particularly for the spacecraft bus itself and for the flight dynamics subsystem at the ground control center, are expected to be prepared and established based on the current results, including a contingency trajectory design plan.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.471-482
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• 2019

The mission of the high-resolution camera for the lunar exploration is to provide 3D topographic information. It enables us to find the appropriate landing site or to control accurate landing by the short distance stereo image in real-time. In this paper, the ground verification and analysis system using the multi-application stereo camera to develop the high-resolution camera for the lunar exploration are proposed. The mission test items and test plans for the mission requirement are provided and the test results are analyzed by the ground verification and analysis system. For the realistic simulation for the lunar orbiter, the target area that has similar characteristics with the real lunar surface is chosen and the aircraft flight is planned to take image of the area. The DEM is extracted from the stereo image and compose three dimensional results. The high-resolution camera mission requirements for the lunar exploration are verified and the ground data analysis system is developed.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.173-197
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• 2023

ShadowCam is a high-sensitivity, high-resolution imager provided by NASA for the Danuri (KPLO) lunar mission. ShadowCam calibration shows that it is well suited for its purpose, to image permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) that occur near the lunar poles. It is 205 times as sensitive as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC). The signal to noise ratio (SNR) is greater than 100 over a large part of the dynamic range, and the top of the dynamic range is high enough to accommodate most brighter PSR pixels. The optical performance is good enough to take full advantage of the 1.7 meter/pixel image scale, and calibrated images have uniform response. We describe some instrument artifacts that are amenable to future corrections, making it possible to improve performance further. Stray light control is very challenging for this mission. In many cases, ShadowCam can image shadowed areas with directly illuminated terrain in or near the field of view (FOV). We include thorough qualitative descriptions of circumstances under which lunar brightness levels far higher than the top of the dynamic range cause detector or stray light artifacts and the size and extent of the artifact signal under those circumstances.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.131-148
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• 2023

Lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) never see direct sunlight and are illuminated only by secondary illumination - light reflected from nearby topography. The ShadowCam imaging experiment onboard the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter is acquiring images of these PSRs. We characterize and discuss the nature of secondary illumination for the Shackleton PSR from ShadowCam radiance-calibrated images. We also use modeling to understand the magnitude and direction of the secondary illumination. Results from our analysis highlight the non-homogeneous, dynamic, and complex nature of PSR secondary lighting. Knowledge of the direction of the secondary illumination is crucial for reli-able interpretation of contrasts observed in ShadowCam images. This preliminary analysis of the floor of Shackleton crater from images acquired over multiple secondary illumination conditions does not reveal indications of exposed surface ice, even though temperatures are constantly below 110K.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.373-384
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• 2023

Initiated as Korea's inaugural space exploration endeavor, the lunar exploration development project has resulted not only the Danuri lunar orbiter but also payloads designed to achieve mission objectives and the associated Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) Deep-space Ground System for the operation and control of the Danuri. Scientific data gathered by four scientific payloads, developed by domestic institutions and installed on board the Danuri, will be publicly available starting January 2024. To facilitate this, the first-ever Korean space exploration scientific data management and public release system, KARI Planetary Data System (KPDS), has been developed. This paper provides details on the configuration and functions of the established KPDS website.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2010

This paper designs a data link between a Lunar Orbiter (LO) and an Earth Station (ES), and analyzes the downlink performance of a space communications system for lunar exploration, conforming to the recommendations by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). The results provided in the paper can be useful references for the design of reliable communication link for the Korean lunar exploration in the near future.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.73-80
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• 2015

For Korean first lunar exploration program, KARI(Korea Aerospace Research Institute) has been researching in various fields and investigating cases of abroad lunar exploration spacecrafts. In the field of the flight software, KARI has been analysing some cases such as NASA LRO, and this paper describes the result of the case study on LRO flight software.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.309-316
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• 2013

Since the solar activity, one of the factors influencing on lunar communication systems, is to reach its maximum occurring at 11-year solar cycle in autumn 2013, the solar burst frequency and strength are expected to increase. The solar burst has an effect on earth magnetosphere and causes malfunction, loss of communication, and breakdown of various types of satellites and probes. These problems give rise to huge economic and physical loss. Therefore, we should analyze the effect of solar burst on lunar communications and minimize the expected loss. In this paper, we perform the analysis of the link model and link performance between a land station and a lunar orbiter under the solar burst for orbiter's survivability and stable communication channel operations.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2011

As part of its space development program, Korea has a plan for the launch of a lunar orbiter and a lunar lander. To enable the transmission of lunar information based on multimedia, it is necessary to construct a communication system that is capable of transmitting large-volume telemetry data. The CCSDS standard recommends the deferred NAK mode as ARQ scheme for reliable long-distance deep-space communication systems. In this paper, we implement a space communication system simulator in the deferred NAK mode using models of the lunar orbiter, the earth station, and the space environment. The simulator employs modulation techniques and turbo coding schemes for transmitting large-volume telemetry data. We analyze the transmission performance of telemetry data through the simulation.