Lunette Geophysical Network Lander
- Paper number
IAC-09.B4.8.2
- Author
Mr. John Elliott, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Leon Alkalai, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States
- Year
2009
- Abstract
Over the last two years, a team at JPL has worked to design a new concept for a small, low cost lander applicable to a variety of lunar exploration activities. This concept, named Lunette, originated as a design which would exploit potential excess capacity of EELV launches by being compatible with the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA). The original Lunette mission would have allowed up to six low cost landers to be delivered to a targeted region of the moon, with landings separated by a few km, allowing establishment of a regional network with a single, shared launch. The original concept faced limits in the extent of regional distribution of landing sites since all six landers were dependent on a single solid rocket braking motor. In the last year the Lunette team has focused on a modification of the original ESPA-based concept to launch of multiple individual landers (each with its own braking stage) on a single launch vehicle, where each lander would be capable of independent targeting and landing. With such an implementation, the entire lunar surface would be reachable for establishment of network nodes that could enable high priority geophysical measurements on a scale not seen since Apollo. The present paper discusses the current state of design of the Lunette geophysical network lander, as well as describing mission design, science operations, and an innovative design solution allowing the lander to take critical data continuously, even over the lunar night, without the need for radioisotope power systems.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-09.B4.8.2.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.