CURRENT STATUS OF LUMIO MISSION: CHARACTERIZING LUNAR METEOROID IMPACTS WITH A CUBESAT
- Paper number
IAC-21,A3,2A,5,x65923
- Author
Dr. Francesco Topputo, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Mr. Gianmario Merisio, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Mr. Carmine Giordano, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Mr. Vittorio Franzese, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Dr. Mauro Massari, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Dr. Pierluigi Di Lizia, Italy, Politecnico di Milano
- Coauthor
Mr. Demetrio Labate, Italy, Leonardo Spa
- Coauthor
Mr. Giuseppe Pilato, Italy, Manpower c/o Leonardo
- Coauthor
Dr. Emanuele Costa, Italy, Leonardo Spa
- Coauthor
Dr. Angelo Cervone, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
- Coauthor
Dr. Stefano Speretta, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
- Coauthor
Dr. Alessandra Menicucci, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
- Coauthor
Mr. Eric Bertels, The Netherlands, ISIS - Innovative Solutions In Space B.V.
- Coauthor
Mr. A Thorvaldsen, Norway
- Coauthor
Mr. A Kukharenka, Norway
- Coauthor
Mr. Johan Vennekens, The Netherlands, ESA - European Space Agency
- Coauthor
Dr. Roger Walker, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)
- Year
2021
- Abstract
The Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observer (LUMIO) is a mission designed to observe, quantify, and characterize the impacts of meteoroids on the Lunar far side and, therefore, complement in both space and time the observations currently taken from Earth. While Earth-based Lunar observations are restricted by weather, geometric and illumination conditions, a Moon-based observation campaign can improve the detection rate of impact flashes and the general quality and reliability of the final scientific product. The mission has successfully completed the Phase A design, after successfully passing Phase 0 and an independent study in the ESA Concurrent Design Facility that has fully confirmed its feasibility. The LUMIO spacecraft is a 12U CubeSat with a mass of around 24 kg, released into Lunar orbit by a carrier spacecraft and capable of autonomously transferring from this initial parking orbit to its final destination, a halo orbit about the Earth–Moon L2 point from which permanent full-disk observation of the Lunar far side can be performed. The mission objectives will be achieved thanks to the LUMIO-Cam, a custom-designed optical instrument capable of detecting light flashes in the visible spectrum, and an innovative on-board data processing system, capable of drastically reducing the amount of information that needs to be transmitted back to Earth. The camera is capable of generating 2.6 TB/day of data, out of which only approximately 1 MB/day will need to be transmitted to Earth, since impact identification will be performed autonomously onboard and only relevant information will be actually transmitted. This paper will present the current status of the mission, summarising the main results of the Phase A design and the way forward to the following steps in mission implementation (Phases B-C). The paper will include a summary of the spacecraft system design and mission analysis, as well as a description of various possible scenarios for the carrier spacecraft and the initial parking orbit. Particular focus will be given to the mission operations aspects, from both the science and communications point of view. The solutions adopted for the innovative autonomous navigation experiment, based on Moon images taken as a by-product by the LUMIO-cam during operations, will be described in detail, as well as the operational concept of the scientific data processing algorithm.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-21,A3,2A,5,x65923.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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