Related papers: Soil Test Apparatus for Lunar Surfaces
Regolith simulants are essential for space research and technology development. Yet, their physical properties often differ from those of true planetary soil, particularly when compared to regolith properties in-situ, that experience…
A human return to the Moon will require that astronauts are well equipped with instrumentation to aid their investigations during geological field work. Two instruments are described in detail. The first is a portable X-ray Spectrometer,…
Seismic measurements are an important tool for exploration of planetary interiors, but may not be included in missions due to perceived complexity in placement of sensitive instruments on the surface. To help address this concern, we assess…
Surface chemistry of airless bodies in the solar system can be derived from remote x-ray spectral measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. X- rays from planetary surfaces are excited primarily by solar x-rays. Several experiments in the…
Ground layer turbulence is a very important site characterization parameter used to assess the quality of an astronomical site. The Lunar Scintillometer is a simple and effective site-testing device for measuring the ground layer…
This contribution reports on a software framework that uses physically-based rendering to simulate camera operation in lunar conditions. The focus is on generating synthetic images qualitatively similar to those produced by an actual camera…
With the advancement of crewed deep-space missions, Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) for lunar bases face stresses from lunar environmental factors. While microgravity and radiation are well-studied, the low-magnetic field's…
In contrast to terrestrial environment, the harsh lunar environment conditions include lower gravity acceleration, ultra-high vacuum and high (low) temperature in the daytime (night-time). This paper focuses on the effects of those…
A thorough analysis of wheel-terrain interaction is critical to ensure the safe and efficient operation of space rovers on extraterrestrial surfaces like the Moon or Mars. This paper presents an approach for developing and experimentally…
Small scale jet-induced erosion experiments are useful for identifying the scaling of erosion with respect to the various physical parameters (gravity, grain size, gas velocity, gas density, grain density, etc.), and because they provide a…
Several physical mechanisms are involved in excavating granular materials beneath a vertical jet of gas. These occur, for example, beneath the exhaust plume of a rocket landing on the soil of the Moon or Mars. A series of experiments and…
High-fidelity simulators for the lunar surface provide a digital environment for extensive testing of rover operations and mission planning. However, current simulators focus on either visual realism or physical accuracy, which limits their…
Future exploration efforts of the Moon, Mars and other bodies are poised to focus heavily on persistent and sustainable survey and research efforts, especially given the recent interest in a long-term sustainable human presence at the Moon.…
We carried out wind tunnel experiments on parabolic flights with 100 $\mu$m Mojave Mars simulant sand. The experiments result in shear stress thresholds and erosion rates for varying g-levels at 600 Pa pressure. Our data confirm former…
Accurate soil moisture (SM) estimation is critical for precision agriculture, water resources management and climate monitoring. Yet, existing satellite SM products are too coarse (>1km) for farm-level applications. We present a…
Chandrayaan-2, the second Indian mission to the Moon, carries a spectrometer called the Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) to perform soft X-ray spectral measurements of the Sun while a companion payload measures the fluorescence emission from the…
The first asteroid simulants workshop was held in late 2015. These materials are needed for tests of technologies and mission operational concepts, for training astronauts , for medical studies, and a variety of other purposes. The new…
Two radio-science instruments have included into the Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource projects in the frame of Russian Luna exploration program: the lander's radio beacon and the orbiter's receiver. Three types of experiments are planned:…
In this paper we examine the possibility of testing the equivalence principle, in its weak form, by analyzing the orbital motion of a pair of artificial satellites of different composition moving along orbits of identical shape and size in…
Sputtering by solar wind ions is a key process driving the ejection of high-energy particles into the exospheres of airless bodies like asteroids, Mercury and the Moon. In view of upcoming missions which will deliver new in-situ data on…