NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20170007365: Illumination Cond... | |
by NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) | |
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We produced 400 x 400 km Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of | |
the lunar poles from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) | |
ranging measurements. To achieve consistent, high- | |
resolution DTMs of 20 m/pixel the individual ranging | |
profiles were adjusted to remove small track-to-track o | |
sets. We used these LOLADTMs to simulate illumination | |
conditions at surface level for 50 x 50 km regions | |
centered on the poles. Illumination was derived in one- | |
hour increments from 01 January, 2017 to 01 January, 2037 | |
to cover the lunar precessional cycle of 18.6 years and | |
to determine illumination conditions over several future | |
mission cycles. We identified three regions receiving | |
high levels of illumination at each pole, e.g. the | |
equator-facing crater rims of Hinshelwood, Peary and | |
Whipple for the north pole and the rim of Shackleton | |
crater, and two locations on a ridge between Shackleton | |
and de Gerlache crater for the south pole. Their average | |
illumination levels range from 69.5% to 82.9%, with the | |
highest illumination levels found at the north pole on | |
the rim of Whipple crater. A more detailed study was | |
carried out for these sites as targets for a lander | |
and/or rover equipped with solar arrays. For this purpose | |
we assumed a lander with a structural height of two | |
meters above the ground (height of the solar panels). | |
Here average illumination levels range from 77.1% to | |
88.0%, with the maximum found at the ridge between | |
Shackleton and de Gerlache crater on the south pole. | |
Distances, sizes and slopes of nearby Permanently | |
Shadowed Regions (PSRs) as a prime science target were | |
also assessed in this case. | |
Date Published: 2022-06-29 17:27:10 | |
Identifier: NASA_NTRS_Archive_20170007365 | |
Item Size: 17669562 | |
Language: english | |
Media Type: texts | |
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