Publication

Feasibility Study and Preliminary Design of Lunar Reconnaissance Drone

Abstract

With orbiting stations and ground bases planned to be built, we are yet to master the ability to explore long term and long range over areas of the Moon often characterised by an extreme topography, dauntingly low temperatures, and wedged with what are known as Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs). This represents significant challenges for traditional ground exploration approaches, often relying on individual, limited-range, slow, wheeled rovers. Precise knowledge about the terrain for an optimised route planning is crucial and often relies on limited-resolution satellite data from lunar orbiters, data that are even more limited in PSRs. The need for a long-range yet simple and lightweight scouting method is becoming more and more apparent. The goal of this project is to study the feasibility of a compact, lightweight, and versatile lunar reconnaissance drone that can be quickly deployed and refuelled from a ground vehicle or a rover. The drone will be capable of producing high-resolution maps (~10cm/px) that can be used to optimise mission planning and assist robotic assets on the ground. This innovative mission design was developed using established Systems Engineering tools and approaches. It highlights the main challenges of such a system and sets the baseline for future developments.

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Related concepts (33)
Data
In common usage and statistics, data (USˈdætə; UKˈdeɪtə) is a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted formally. A datum is an individual value in a collection of data. Data is usually organized into structures such as tables that provide additional context and meaning, and which may themselves be used as data in larger structures.
Rover (space exploration)
A rover (or sometimes planetary rover) is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move across the solid surface on a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies. Some rovers have been designed as land vehicles to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers are typically created to land on another planet (other than Earth) via a lander-style spacecraft, tasked to collect information about the terrain, and to take crust samples such as dust, soil, rocks, and even liquids.
Lunar rover
A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon. The Apollo Program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods and the Chinese Yutus. Three countries have had operating rovers on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. An Indian mission failed and one is en route while Japan and Greece currently have planned missions.
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