The MoonTWINS Mission: Deploying a Seismometer Network on the Moon, and Preparing the Future MSR Mission
- Paper number
IAC-07-A3.6.B.03
- Author
Dr. Charles Koeck, EADS Astrium, France
- Coauthor
Mr. Pascal Régnier, EADS Astrium, France
- Coauthor
Mr. David Mimoun, France
- Year
2007
- Abstract
In the frame of its AURORA Exploration programme, ESA has recently initiated several pre-phase A studies aimed at defining MSR precursor mission concepts, whose main objectives are to prepare Europe to take an active role in the future MSR international mission, through the early demonstration of key technologies required to bring back samples of Mars to the Earth in the 2020-2030 time-frame. In addition to the technology demonstration objective, the MSR precursor mission concepts must exhibit a real science interest, and be compliant with an overall cost budget within 400Meuros. ESA then intends to down-select the best mission concept and submit it for approval at the 2008 Ministerial Council, for a launch as early as 2015, two years after the ExoMars mission. Technologies that should be focused on must complete the ones already endorsed by ExoMars, therefore Planetary Entry, Descent and Soft/Precision Landing, Planetary Ascent, autonomous Rendez-Vous and Docking / Capture are especially targeted. High speed Earth Re-entry was already covered in previous ESA studies. Low Earth orbits, the Moon, Mars, or even large Near Earth Objects or Phobos, are considered by ESA as appropriate mission targets. In that context, Astrium, with the support of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), has conceived an innovative, efficient, affordable and scientifically attractive mission: the MoonTWINS mission. This acronym stands for “Moon Technological Walk-Through and In-situ Network Science”. It consists in launching on Soyuz-Fregat two identical soft landers to the Moon that would first demonstrate autonomous Rendez-Vous in-orbit GNC technologies and operations around the Moon, and then achieve a soft precision landing on the Moon surface with hazard avoidance. The landers carry each a valuable geo-science instruments package, including a high resolution seismometer developed by IPGP, and the targeted landing sites are the Peak of Eternal Light near the Shackleton crater at the South Pole for one lander, and an equivalent site near the North pole. This mission would allow to solve several unanswered questions after the Apollo missions concerning the Moon’s structure and history, and would provide the first insight on the Moon’s deep interior (lower mantel and possible core). It would also represent a major step ahead for Europe in the global Moon exploration program, by potentially achieving the first robotic landing at the site envisioned for the future Manned base. The DLR Institute of Planetary Research is also participating to the definition of the Science objectives and instrumentation for this mission This paper will first describe the rationale behind the MoonTWINS mission concept; in terms of technology demonstration goals, Moon science and exploration objectives, highlighting its outstanding interest for Europe. Then the mission and system preliminary design is further detailed, including the mission architecture, the soft precision landing, hazard avoidance, and automatic rendez-vous technologies demonstration concepts, and the on-surface mission and system design main features. The last part of the paper describes the spacecraft design for each subsystem, and a system synthesis conclusion demonstrates the feasibility of the mission at technical and programmatic levels.
- Abstract document