Communication system and operation for lunar probes under lunar surface

Author

Mizuno, T. ; Saito, H. ; Ichikawa, M.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Space & Astronaut. Sci., Kanagawa, Japan

Volume

36

Issue

1

fYear

2000

fDate

1/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

151

Lastpage

162

Abstract

In the Japanese LUNAR-A mission, penetrators will be deployed to the Moon for global seismic measurement. The unique communication system between the subsurface probes under the lunar surface and the lunar orbiter is described. Radiowave propagation through a crater which is formed at the penetration is investigated by means of scaled measurements in a simulating environment. Acquisition and tracking sequence is optimized within limited power capacity of the probe to maximize contact time between the probe and the spacecraft

Keywords

dipole antennas; lunar interior; receiving antennas; space communication links; space telemetry; space vehicles; transmitting antennas; Japanese Lunar-A mission; S-band communication; acquisition and tracking sequence; communication system; crater; global seismic measurement; limited power capacity; link performance; lunar orbiter; lunar probes; maximized contact time; missile shaped instrument carrier; penetrators; probe antenna; radiowave propagation; regolith; scaled measurements; simulating environment; subsurface probes; telemetry; under lunar surface; Control systems; Earth; Extraterrestrial measurements; Instruction sets; Moon; Probes; Seismic measurements; Space missions; Space technology; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9251

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/7.826318

Filename

826318