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Projecte llegit

Títol: Preliminar Moon Mission Design: ALSPRO

Estudiants que han llegit aquest projecte:

Director/a: PARK, HYUK

Departament: FIS

Títol: Preliminar Moon Mission Design: ALSPRO

Data inici oferta: 03-02-2025     Data finalització oferta: 03-10-2025


Estudis d'assignació del projecte:
    MU AEROSPACE S&T 21
Tipus: Individual
 
Lloc de realització: EETAC
 
Paraules clau:
Lunar Robot, Rover, Lunar landing
 
Descripció del contingut i pla d'activitats:
One of the most important aspects when considering a return to the Moon is not only how to get there but also where to land. For years, space agencies have deployed numerous satellites to study the lunar surface and analyze the best spots for landing. This has been achieved through missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA, 2009-present), Chandrayaan-2 (India, 2019-present), and Kaguya (SELENE) (Japan, 2007-2009), among others. As a result of these missions, which have cost hundreds of millions of euros, candidate regions for future landings can now be estimated. However, the final decision depends on the resources available in the region and the quality of the surface for landing, such as slopes and craters.
Any mission must trade off "where we want to go" with "where we can safely go" based on the capabilities available at that time. In addition to landing, mission planning must consider vehicle capabilities, objectives, architectural use cases, and functions. Physical factors such as surface roughness, slopes, lighting conditions, and, for early missions, Earth visibility, alongside environmental conditions, play a critical role in site selection. This project aims to reduce the "physical" constraints involved in choosing a landing site on the Moon.
Despite many difficulties and spacecraft crashes during lunar landings, there is still no pre-preparation of landing zones-only analysis. It seems unrealistic that missions of such magnitude and budget should face critical risks during landing, particularly for crewed missions. Additionally, the Moon's hostile environment presents significant challenges. For example, lunar regolith, composed of fine, electrostatically charged particles, generates hazards during landings. Also, these particles can be displaced by the engines of spacecraft, posing risks to nearby equipment.
To minimize these risks, landing zones must be prepared in advance of human or instrumental arrivals. The surface must be leveled and cleared of large rocks or irregularities to prevent damage to spacecraft. To make this work, an autonomous robots could operate in extreme conditions for days or even months before a landing. Using the wealth of data from previous missions and the identification of a target landing zone, these robots could analyze the terrain in situ with advanced sensors, identify optimal areas, and begin preparing them. This preparation could include various techniques depending on the mission requirements, such as removing large rocks, leveling the surface, or compacting the regolith to create a stable foundation using in-situ resources.
This advance preparation can streamline the logistics of future missions, allowing astronauts to focus on scientific or construction activities. In the future after several landings, a prepared landing platform could also be reused for multiple missions, saving both time and costs.
UPC MAST 2024/2025 - ESA Master's Thesis Proposal 2
To define the project scope, several key areas have been identified:
' Mission planning (launcher, orbit, and landing).
' Preliminary robot design.
' Preliminary design of different techniques for surface preparation.
' Feasibility study of the robot.
The scope includes mission planning, encompassing the selection of a launcher, orbital trajectory, and landing strategy. It also involves the preliminary design of a robotic system tailored for surface preparation. The project could evaluate various techniques to level and stabilize lunar terrain, ensuring safe landings. Finally, a feasibility study will assess the robot's technical, operational, and economic viability, laying the groundwork for future lunar exploration initiatives.
To conclude, NASA is already working on similar projects, such as Lunar Surface Site Preparation for Landing/Launch Pad and Blast Shield Construction, and developing robots like the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) Excavator.
 
Overview (resum en anglès):
The ALSPRO (Autonomous Lunar Site Preparation Robot) project proposes a
lightweight robotic precursor designed to reduce the risks associated with lunar
landings by preparing touchdown zones prior to the arrival of heavy or crewed
landers. This thesis presents a complete preliminary mission design that
integrates site selection, mission architecture, and an autonomous robotic
platform derived from the Mona Luna rover.
ALSPRO's payload suite combines high-resolution mapping, obstacle
detection and removal, terrain leveling, and in-situ regolith stabilization
techniques (microwave sintering, vibratory compaction, and concentrated solar
sintering). The study assesses technical feasibility, including inherited
subsystems, expected technology readiness level (TRL) gaps, and required
testing to reach TRL 6-7. An economic analysis evaluates mission cost drivers
and highlights potential commercialization and sustainability benefits from
in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).
Results indicate that an ALSPRO-class mission can materially reduce landing
hazards and materially increase the probability of success for subsequent
heavy or crewed missions, providing a cost-effective step toward sustainable
lunar operations at polar sites. Key re-commendations include targeted
hardware maturation, environmental testing in lunar-analog conditions, and
collaborative partnerships to accelerate technology validation.

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