Lunar Electric Rovers (LER) are currently being developed that are substantially more capable than the Apollo vehicle (LRN ,"). Unlike the LRV, the new LERs provide a pressurized cabin that serves as short-sleeve environment for the crew of two, including sleeping accommodations and other provisions that allow for long tern stays, possibly up to 60 days, on the hear surface, without the need to replenish consumables from some outside source, such as a lander or outpost. As a consequence, significantly larger regions may be explored in the future and traverse distances may be measured in a few hundred kilometers (1, 2). However, crew safety remains an overriding concern, and methods other than "walk back", the major operational constraint of all Apollo traverses, must be implemented to assure -at any time- the safe return of the crew to the lander or outpost. This then causes current Constellation plans to envision long-tern traverses to be conducted with 2 LERs exclusively, each carrying a crew of two: in case one rover fails, the other will rescue the stranded crew and return all 4 astronauts in a single LER to base camp. Recent Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) analog field tests simulated a continuous 14 day traverse (3), covering some 135 km, and included a rescue operation that transferred the crew and diverse consumables from one LER to another these successful tests add substantial realism to the development of long-term, dual rover operations. The simultaneous utilization of 2 LERs is of course totally unlike Apollo and raises interesting issues regarding science productivity and mission operations, the thrust of this note.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff über TIB

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Lunar Surface Operations with Dual Rovers


    Beteiligte:
    Horz, Friedrich (Autor:in) / Lofgren, Gary E. (Autor:in) / Eppler, Dean E. (Autor:in) / Ming, Douglas (Autor:in)

    Kongress:

    Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2010 ; 2010 ; The Woodlands, TX, United States


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    01.01.2010


    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch




    Lunar Surface Rovers

    Plescia, J. B. / Lane, A. L. / Miller, D. | NTRS | 1992


    Lunar Surface Rovers

    J. B. Plescia / A. L. Lane / D. Miller | NTIS | 1992


    Small Lunar Rovers

    Pedersen, Liam / Fong, Terry | NTRS | 2012


    Small Lunar Rovers

    L. Pedersen / T. Fong | NTIS | 2012


    Prospecting Rovers for Lunar Exploration

    Graham, Jerry B. / Vaughn, Jason A. / Farmer, Jeffery T. | NTRS | 2007