OHB VISIONS FOR FUTURE LUNAR EXPLORATION

Paper number

IAC-16,A3,2A,3,x33864

Coauthor

Ms. Andrea Jaime-Albalat, OHB System AG - Munich, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Gerrit Hausmann, OHB System AG - Munich, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Peter Hofmann, OHB System AG - Munich, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Rolf Janovsky, OHB System AG-Bremen, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Lutz Richter, OHB System AG - Munich, Germany

Year

2016

Abstract

For millennia, the moon has been a target of humanity’s visions and dreams. Impossible as it may have ‎seemed to reach, John F. Kennedy had the vision to initiate the endeavor that led to six manned ‎landings of the surface of our natural satellite. After a long pause, a similar vision has now again been ‎voiced by ESA’s Director General (Moon Village).

Also at OHB, the moon has been an important goal since the inception of the company. It was a life-‎long passion of Manfred Fuchs, who founded the company together with his wife in 1981. After his ‎passing away in 2014, OHB commemorated his legacy with the Manfred Fuchs Memorial Mission, ‎which successfully completed a lunar flyby and inspired people all around the world, being the first ‎fully privately funded lunar mission.‎

Following these great visionaries, OHB System has been working on Lunar projects for many years. The ‎first of these steps, such as the Mona Lisa study for a lander system and the LUROP payload studies, ‎were internally co-funded and then presented to the DLR Space Administration. Later, under ESA ‎funding, OHB investigated the NEXT Lunar Lander. In the frame of the resulting ESA Lunar Lander ‎mission, OHB then worked on the lander’s power and communications systems and on the ‎accommodation of its scientific payload. ‎

Additionally, OHB also lead the development of several of these payloads. The L-DEPP instrument ‎package was developed with a team of European scientists to analyze the complex dusty plasma ‎exosphere of the moon and to pave the way for future exploration activities. To not be bound to only ‎one location after landing, the small and versatile Mobile Payload Element was conceived in ‎cooperation with the most prominent German experts in space robotics. With respect to sample ‎analysis and in-situ resource utilization, the projects LUISE, L-DAP, L-GRASP and ProsPA were ‎performed with OHB participation. Today, the follow-on project LUISE 2 is still ongoing to prepare a ‎European participation in future missions such as the Russian Luna 27.‎

OHB System fully supports the vision to reach the far side of the moon in a globally cooperative space ‎exploration mission. To prepare such a vision, OHB has already developed several ideas, including ‎landers, orbiters and systems with surface mobility. This paper gives an overview of the industrial ‎developments and visions at OHB for lunar exploration, and how they fit into the Global Exploration ‎Roadmap.‎

Abstract document

IAC-16,A3,2A,3,x33864.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-16,A3,2A,3,x33864.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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