A Feasibility Study for a Terrestrial Lander Demonstrator
- Paper ID
5579
- author
- company
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR); Airbus DS GmbH; EADS Astrium Space Transportation GmbH
- country
Germany
- year
2010
- abstract
Exploration of our Solar System is focussing on our Moon as the next logical step. A broad variety of Moon landing missions from major space faring nations worldwide are under construction for the upcoming decade. Key players are NASA, Roskosmos, ESA, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA, maybe even more. The German Space Agency and DLR’s Research&Development are involved via ESA contributions, bilateral cooperation and the National Program as well as international coordination processes like ISECG, ILN and other bodies. The technical ability in Europe for lunar autonomous soft precision landing is a mandatory prerequisite for global cooperation and a partnership on equal footing level. The DLR Space Agency is supporting this strategic asset with a national project called “Lander Demonstrator” and the German participation within the ESA program “Transportation and Human Exploration” and its leading contribution to the program element “NEXT-Lunar Lander”. The Lander Demonstrator project aims at providing a terrestrial test environment for automation and robotic technologies which are mandatory for an autonomous soft precision planetary landing with a main emphasis on lunar landing. Astrium, Bremen, in cooperation with the core team members Jena-Optronik, SpaceTech and the DLR Institutes for Space Systems and Flight Systems perform in 2009/2010 under DLR Space Agency contract the feasibility study for this Lander Demonstrator. The key enabling technologies for landing on Solar System bodies are guidance, navigation & control, hazard avoidance, landing dynamics, propulsion and finally the functionality of the overall system. Based on landing mission requirements and the scope of the demonstration objectives, a series of requirements for a terrestrial landing demonstrator platform will be derived, which are e.g.: • The design shall be modular and flexible to allow a broad range of applications with simulation including hardware-in-the-loop, testing and demonstration • The geometry of the landing system respectively the landing legs shall be adaptable • The design shall allow pre-testing of different subsystems in a de-scoped configuration (e.g. avionics, propulsive systems) to support a stepwise process for technology test and improvement • Hardware shall be easily exchangeable to allow reconfiguration of the system for implementation of different concepts and test objectives. The development of landing technology is a key element for Germany and its long-term political interest in robotic exploration as preparation for cooperation in a global human scenario. The paper to be presented will show the results of the Lander Demonstrator feasibility study and future perspectives for lunar exploration.