• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.356-368
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• 2013

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute plans to launch a lunar module by 2025, and so is carrying out a preliminary study. Landing stability on the lunar surface is a key design factor of a lunar module. In this paper, a 1/6 scale model of a lunar module is investigated, for its landing stability on non-level surfaces. The lunar module has four tripod legs, with aluminum honeycomb shock absorbers in each leg strut. ADAMS$^{TM}$, the most widely used multi-body dynamics and motion analysis software, is used to simulate the module's lunar landing. Three types of dampers in the struts (rigid, viscous, and aluminum honeycomb dampers), and two types of lunar surfaces (rigid and elastic) are considered. The Sforce function is adopted, to model the aluminum honeycomb dampers. Details on the modeling and analysis of the landing stability of the 1/6 scale lunar module and the simulation results are provided in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2015

This paper deals with dynamic modeling and controller design of a future Korean lunar module planned to be launched 2020's in Korea. For dynamic modeling of the lunar module, we first assume the lunar module as a rigid body. And we derive equations of motion for the lunar module by considering allocation of main thrusters and reaction thrusters. With the equation of motion, we design the controller based on the quaternion. A Pulse Width Pulse Frequency modulator(PWPFM) is selected for generating on/off signal. Finally, we construct a 2-phase descent mode including initial guidance mode, terminal guidance mode. The MATLAB simulation is performed for evaluating the descent ability and final landing velocity. The dynamic modeling and descent simulation of the lunar module in this paper could be applied for developing the future work of the Korean lunar exploration program.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.30-37
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• 2010

This paper deals with attitude determination and parameter estimation problems for a lunar module. For this we first derive equations of motion for the lunar module by considering allocation locations (configurations) of reaction thruster and a reaction wheel assembly. The lunar module is assumed as a rigid body. In order to include the effect of fuel sloshing on the dynamics of the lunar module, we model it as a spherical pendulum for a simple analysis. For estimating angular rates and moment of inertia of the module, we employ an extended Kalman filter and the least mean square algorithms, respectively. Finally we construct a dynamical model for the lunar module by combining all these elements.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.176-184
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• 2004

The concept of 'the lunar and planetary phases' is very difficult to understand and students may have various misconceptions on this concept. A module drawing the lunar and planetary phases was developed with the application of the simplifying conditions method. The effects of instruction using the module drawing the lunar and planetary phases on the conceptual change and the achievement was investigated in the consideration of learners' characteristics (spatial perception ability, science inquiry ability, required pre-requested learning ability). Findings were as follows: 1) This module was effective for learners' conceptual change and achievement, 2) This module had a positive influence for development the learners' characteristics and conceptual change with the middle level of science inquiry ability, the middle and low level of required pre-requisite learning ability, and middle level of the spatial perception ability.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2019

In this paper, we propose an algorithm that estimates the location of lunar rover using IMU and vision system instead of the dead-reckoning method using IMU and encoder, which is difficult to estimate the exact distance due to the accumulated error and slip. First, in the lunar environment, magnetic fields are not uniform, unlike the Earth, so only acceleration and gyro sensor data were used for the localization. These data were applied to extended kalman filter to estimate Roll, Pitch, Yaw Euler angles of the exploration rover. Also, the lunar module has special color which can not be seen in the lunar environment. Therefore, the lunar module were correctly recognized by applying the HSV color filter to the stereo image taken by lunar rover. Then, the distance between the exploration rover and the lunar module was estimated through SIFT feature point matching algorithm and geometry. Finally, the estimated Euler angles and distances were used to estimate the current position of the rover from the lunar module. The performance of the proposed algorithm was been compared to the conventional algorithm to show the superiority of the proposed algorithm.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 2006

This study investigates how the lunar phases drawing module-applied instruction affects high school students' conceptual changes of the lunar phases. 46 juniors in a high school were given the module instruction on drawing the lunar phases, and then interviews were conducted to verify conceptual changes in subjects' recognition structures. The types of students' misconceptions of the lunar phases change before the instruction were as follows. Type S is that the Earth's shadow covers the moon. Type SR is that one has both misconception of Type S and a scientific concept at the same time according to the positional relationships. The scientific concept means that an observer sees a moon's part which reflects sunlight. Type SB is that the Earth's shadow covers the moon or the moon can be seen or not by the background's brightness according to the positional relationships. The last Type SRB includes all three above-mentioned types, and it explains the lunar phases at each position. As a result of the module-based instruction, 26 out of 36 subjects built up the scientific concept and 10 students did not. 7 out of the 11 Type S and 3 out of the 17 Type SR students did not, either. Especially, type S students did not change their preconception that the phases of moon change were done by the earth's shadow. Here, their preconception is too much strong; as they solve problems, their preconception is more beneficial, comparing to the method which it is presented from the module. This fact supports that it is difficult for students to discard preconception.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.766-774
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• 2017

When a plume flow exhausted from a lunar lander descent engine impinges on the lunar surface, regolith particles on the lunar surface will be dispersed due to a plume-surface interaction. If the dispersed particles collide with the lunar lander, some adverse effects such as a performance degradation can be caused. Thus, this study tried to predict the plume flow behaviors using the CFD methods. A nozzle inside region was analyzed by a continuum flow model based on the Navier-Stokes equations while the plume behaviors of the outside nozzle was performed by comparing and analyzing the individual results using the continuum flow model and the DSMC method. As a result, it was possible to establish an optimum procedure of the plume analysis for the lunar lander descent engine in the vacuum condition. In the future, it is expected to utilize the present results for the development of the Korean lunar lander.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.213-223
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• 2017

The deep space orbit determination software (DSODS) is a part of a flight dynamic subsystem (FDS) for the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), a lunar exploration mission expected to launch after 2018. The DSODS consists of several sub modules, of which the orbit determination (OD) module employs a weighted least squares algorithm for estimating the parameters related to the motion and the tracking system of the spacecraft, and subroutines for performance improvement and detailed analysis of the orbit solution. In this research, DSODS is demonstrated and validated at lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km using actual Lunar Prospector tracking data. A set of a priori states are generated, and the robustness of DSODS to the a priori error is confirmed by the NASA planetary data system (PDS) orbit solutions. Furthermore, the accuracy of the orbit solutions is determined by solution comparison and overlap analysis as about tens of meters. Through these analyses, the ability of the DSODS to provide proper orbit solutions for the KPLO are proved.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2011

Many countries all over the world have been doing lunar exploration projects. Korea has also been doing basic research on lunar exploration. The development of communication systems for lunar exploration projects is one of the most important aspects of performing a successful lunar mission. In this paper, we design a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) prototype based on the requirement analysis of a communication link for lunar exploration and implement its core module considering the international standards for deep space communications to perform a basic research on baseband processor development. It is verified by comparing the bit error rate of the DSP prototype with that of a computer simulation.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.119-129
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• 2011

The soft landing of a lunar lander after the entrance of lunar orbit is an essential prerequisite for the accomplishment of the lander's lunar mission. During the landing process of a lunar lander, efficient shock absorption and stability maintenance are indispensible technology to protect payloads. Therefore, the landing gear is a crucial structural component of a lunar lander, it has to absorb the kinetic energy associated with touchdown and support the static load of the landing module in an upright position. In this paper, various landing gears of lunar landers which are being developed as well as which had been successfully landed on the moon surface are investigated. In the end, the Korean lunar lander, which is being designed for preliminary development model, is presented as an example of the lunar lander development.