LunaRoo: Designing a hopping lunar science payload

Leitner, Jürgen; Chamberlain, William; Dansereau, Donald G.; Dunbabin, Matthew; Eich, Markus; Peynot, Thierry; Roberts, Jonathan; Russell, Raymond; Sünderhauf, Niko

doi:10.1109/aero.2016.7500760

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…A plethora of different conceptual options may be envisaged ranging from the use of propulsive landers (41-43) or hoppers (e.g.) (56-59) , wheeled rovers (38-40) , or even line-thrower-type rockets (of Congreve heritage) and trebuchet throwers. Instead of assessing all these options, this article simply presumes the use of a propulsive microprobe that flies or hops (60,61) from a prescribed landing site to the interior of the targeted pit.…”

Section: Exploration Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rationale and concept for a lunar pit reconnaissance probe

Dorrington

2018

Aeronaut. j.

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Speculation on near-term scientific reasons for the exploration of lunar pits is offered alongside comments on possible longer-term human exploitation. It is proposed that in order to determine whether or not one or more of the pits offer access the large subsurface voids e.g. a non-collapsed lava tube, a preliminary reconnaissance mission solely focused on obtaining lateral images (and/or LiDAR maps) is needed. Possible concept options for such a preliminary reconnaissance mission are discussed. It is suggested that one of the best possible strategies is to employ a micro-sized probe (~0.3 m) that would hop from a nearby main landing spacecraft to the selected pit. After the surface position of the main lander is determined accurately, the probe would perform a ballistic hop, or hover-traverse, a distance of ~3 km over the lunar surface using existing propulsive and guidance technology capability. Once hovering above the pit, the probe or a separate tethered imaging unit would then be lowered into the pit to acquire the necessary subsurface void topology data. This data would then be transmitted back to Earth, directly, via the lander, or via a store-and-forward orbiting relay. Preliminary estimates indicate that a probe of ~14 kg (dry mass) is viable using a conventional hydrazine monopropellant system with a propellant mass fraction of less than ~0.2 (20%) including margins, suggesting a piggyback architecture would be feasible.

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Section: Exploration Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rationale and concept for a lunar pit reconnaissance probe

Dorrington

2018

Aeronaut. j.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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LunaRoo: Designing a hopping lunar science payload

Cited by 1 publication

References 28 publications

Rationale and concept for a lunar pit reconnaissance probe

Rationale and concept for a lunar pit reconnaissance probe

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