Traverse planning for robotic recon and human exploration of hadley rille.
40th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference(2009)
摘要
Overview: On November 6, 2008, we conducted a short lunar traverse planning exercise at the NASA Ames Research Center [1]. The objective was to plan an EVA traverse for a hypothetical, manned mission to the 15 region and then identify where groundlevel data would help refine the plan. The planning for this mission, which we named Apollo 15B, focused on the region of Hadley Rille and Montes Apenninus. During the exercise, we used a variety of lunar data including base maps, digital elevation models and other (e.g., geologic) maps. All data were registered to the ULCN 2005 control network and viewed in a version of the Google Earth geospatial browser, which we modified to provide lunar distance measurements. Science Rationale: For “Apollo 15B”, we selected a landing site south of Hadley C at 25.3N, 2.9E. From this location, both Hadley C and Hadley Rille are directly accessible. In addition, the ejecta blanket from Hadley C, which is deposited on to Hadley Rille, provides a deep sampling of crater materials and serves as a natural bridge across the rille to Montes Appeninus. Our interest in this area is best summarized by [6]: “The 15 landing was targeted next to a large sinuous rille, Rima Hadley. Several other rilles were considered for landings to determine their formation and to collect samples of volatiles or other exotic erupted materials.” and One of the major objectives of the 15 mission in July 1971 was to collect samples of the Montes Apenninus. According to impact models based on simple craters, this basin rim material might have come from deep within the Robotic Recon: NASA currently plans to return to the Moon with a campaign of regularly spaced surface missions. Crewed missions will initially be extended sortie (e.g., 1-2 week) missions. This means that during the first few years of the new lunar campaign, humans will be on the Moon less than 10% of the time. However, during the 90% of time between crew visits, robots could perform tasks under ground control. Prior to these surface missions, spacecraft (e.g., LRO) in lunar orbit will map the Moon. Additional data is available from past orbiters (e.g., Clementine) and the continued enhancement of data from these missions. However, remote sensing data may not be of sufficient resolution, lighting, nor view angle, to fully optimize mission planning (e.g., field geology traverses). Thus, it will be important to acquire supplemental and complementary data from ground-level (i.e., directly on the lunar surface). Robotic recon (i.e., using a planetary rover to scout planned sorties) can perform this task prior to human surface activity [3-5]. Scouting is an essential phase of field work, particularly for geology, and can be: (1) traverse-based (examining stations along a route); (2) site-based (examining an area); (3) survey-based (systematically collecting data) or (4) pure reconnaissance. During robotic recon, robot-mounted instruments can be used to examine the surface and subsurface at resolutions (e.g., micron to cm scale) and at viewpoints not achievable from orbit. The data can then be used to prioritize targets of interest to improve the productivity of crew traverses. In addition, robotic recon can help identify and assess terrain hazards, as well as evaluate alternate routes to help reduce operational risk [5]. Traverse Routes: We planned two traverses to explore the “Apollo 15B” site (Figures 1 and 2).
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关键词
traverse planning,human exploration,robotic recon,hadley rille
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