LUMIO: characterizing Lunar Meteoroid Impacts with a CubeSat

Paper number

IAC-18,A3,2A,7,x47249

Author

Dr. Francesco Topputo, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Dr. Mauro Massari, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Dr. James Douglas Biggs, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Dr. Pierluigi Di Lizia, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Dr. Diogene Alessandro Dei Tos, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Mr. Karthik Venkatesh Mani, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Mr. Simone Ceccherini, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Mr. Vittorio Franzese, Italy, Politecnico di Milano

Coauthor

Dr. Angelo Cervone, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Coauthor

Mr. Prem Sundaramoorthy, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Coauthor

Dr. Stefano Speretta, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Coauthor

Ms. Samiksha Mestry, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Coauthor

Mr. Ron Noomen, The Netherlands, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Coauthor

Dr. Anton Ivanov, Russian Federation, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

Coauthor

Mr. Demetrio Labate, Italy, Leonardo Spa

Coauthor

Mr. Arnoud Jochemsen, Norway, Science [&] Technology AS

Coauthor

Prof. Roberto Furfaro, United States, University of Arizona

Coauthor

Dr. Vishnu Reddy, United States, University of Arizona

Coauthor

Mr. Kevin Jacquinot, United States, University of Arizona

Coauthor

Dr. Roger Walker, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)

Coauthor

Mr. Johan Vennekens, The Netherlands, ESA - European Space Agency

Coauthor

Ms. Ana Cipriano, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)

Coauthor

Dr. Detlef Koschny, The Netherlands, European Space Agency (ESA)

Year

2018

Abstract

The Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observer (LUMIO) is a mission designed to observe, quantify, and characterize the meteoroid impacts by detecting their flashes on the lunar far side. Earth-based lunar observations are restricted by weather, geometric and illumination conditions, while a lunar orbiter can improve the detection rate of lunar meteoroid impact flashes, as it would allow for longer monitoring periods. This paper will present the scientific mission of LUMIO, designed for the ESA SysNova LUCE competition, that resulted as the ex-equo winner in the competition. 
LUMIO, a 12U CubeSat weighting approximately 20kg, will be brought to the Lunar orbit by a mother spacecraft, which also acts as communication relay. From a lunar high-inclination orbit, LUMIO will autonomously determine its trajectory to reach the Moon-Earth L2 point and perform the cruise phase. From the Lunar orbit, LUMIO will observe the Lunar far side continuously for half the Lunar orbit, when the illumination is less than 50%. This will help improving our knowledge on the meteoroid temporal and spatial distribution by performing impact flash energy measurements. The uniqueness of this mission is that it can complement ground-based campaigns that are inherently limited by weather and illumination on the Lunar near side. Current meteoroid flux measurements as a function of size are incomplete due to the short and discontinuous observation time from Earth: this will allow LUMIO to also be one of the first CubeSats to perform science around other celestial bodies, acting as a precursor for future missions. 
LUMIO will have to autonomously perform its scientific task without direct coordination from Earth: fully autonomous operations will include science, communications and navigation and a similar concept can be re-used for a wide variety of future missions. This scientific mission will also be possible thanks to an innovative on-board data processing system, capable of drastically reduce the information to transmit to Earth. The camera, designed to capture the flashes and measure their intensity is, in fact, capable of generating 2.6TB/day while only approximately 1 MB/day will need to be transmitted to Earth: impact identification will be autonomous and only relevant information will be transmitted. 
All these innovative characteristics will make this mission feasible, as proved by a successful study at the ESA/ESTEC concurrent design facility, showing that a CubeSat orbiting almost 500 thousand kilometers away from Earth, will bring a strong contribution to science.

Abstract document

IAC-18,A3,2A,7,x47249.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-18,A3,2A,7,x47249.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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