Evaluation of Guidance and Control System of Unmanned Spacecraft for Precise Lunar Landing

Paper number

IAC-05-A3.2.B.03

Author

Mr. Tetsujiro Ninomiya, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISTA/JAXA), Japan

Coauthor

Mr. Yoshiro Hamada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISTA/JAXA), Japan

Coauthor

Mr. Kentaro Hayashi, Mistubishi Space Software Co. Ltd., Japan

Coauthor

Dr. Yasuhiro Katayama, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISTA/JAXA), Japan

Coauthor

Dr. Shujiro Sawai, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/ISAS, Japan

Coauthor

Mr. Yasuo Shinomiya, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISTA/JAXA), Japan

Coauthor

Dr. Seiya Ueno, Yokohama National University, Japan

Coauthor

Mr. Masayuki Yamamoto, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISTA/JAXA), Japan

Year

2005

Abstract

The moon has been recognized as an important destination for space
science and exploration and especially in recent years, many countries
take interests in it. 
National Aeronautics and space administration (NASA) 
presented a new policy for space exploration including human expedition 
to the lunar surface.
European Space Agency (ESA) and other agencies have also planned to send
spacecraft to the moon and some of the projects are ongoing.
\newline

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has promoted lunar orbiter
projects; LUNAR-A and SELENE.
Additionally, a lunar landing mission has also been studied in JAXA and 
other organizations.
In this study, the spacecraft lands on the moon and carries out some
scientific missions. 
One candidate of the landing point is the central peak of the crater.
To achieve this purpose, the spacecraft are required to land precisely
on the site where scientifically interesting features are expected and
to avoid obstacles (such as large rocks, small craters, and steep
slopes) in order to prevent stumbling at the time of landing. 
Thus, one of the main subjects of the study is precise and safe landing
on the moon.
\newline

This paper is concerned with the evaluation of the guidance and control
systems for precise and safe landing on the moon.
In this mission, the landing point is determined beforehand, using
Digital Elevation Map (DEM) which is supposed to be obtained by SELENE.
The DEM is so rough that it is impossible to idetify all obstacles which
might cause landing failure.
Therefore, the spacecraft has the obstacle detection system and the
landing trajectory is generated during the descent to the moon.
In this phase, the amount of fuel is tightly limited due to the payload
requirement so that the guidance strategy is highly required to reduce
the fuel consumption.
\newline

Once the guidance and control systems are designed, it is important to
evaluate their ability.
Monte Carlo simulation method is applied for the evaluation.

Abstract document

IAC-05-A3.2.B.03.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-A3.2.B.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.