NASA has its eye on the moon and it recently unveiled a new lunar lander concept that may be used for future missions.
Exploring the moon requires vehicles, including landers and rovers, that can check out the lunar environment. NASA conducted a series of studies to analyze the technologies needed to reach the moon and gather important data from the moon.
In one of the studies, NASA created a concept for a mid-sized robotic lander that would bring a rover to the moon’s polar regions. Its design and system-level requirements focus on a large payload lunar landing vehicle that maintains landing site accuracy and maximizes the mass delivered to the moon’s surface.
“This lander was designed with simplicity in mind to deliver a 300 kilogram rover to a lunar pole. We used single string systems, minimal mechanisms and existing technology to reduce complexity, though advancements in precision landing were planned to avoid hazards and to benefit rover operations,” said Logan Kennedy, the project’s lead systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “We keep the rover alive through transit and landing so it can go do its job.”
We’re going to the Moon, together. Industry partners are developing landers to deliver payloads & scientific instruments to the lunar surface. Led by @NASA_Marshall, we’ve shared a concept for a mid-sized lander so they can learn & benefit from our work: https://t.co/SgcxfMT6Lg pic.twitter.com/14L4Lo91tS
— NASA (@NASA) November 25, 2019
The lunar lander concept is detailed in a technical paper, which is available to read on the NASA Technical Reports Server. Many NASA field centers contributed to research on the lunar lander concept, which could also be beneficial for commercial partners interested in landing humans on the moon.
“As robotic lunar landers grow to accommodate larger payloads, simple but high-performing landers with a contiguous payload volume will be needed,” Kennedy said. “This concept was developed by a diverse team of people over many years and meets that need. We hope that other lander designers can benefit from our work.”
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