Abstract
This paper proposes a lunar night survival method for small rovers using an MLI (Multilayer Insulation) curtain system for long-term missions. Until recently, it was difficult to install RHU (Radioisotope Heating Units) or other temperature maintenance devices on small lunar rovers to enable lunar night survival, and so such rovers could only perform short two-week missions. Thermal analysis results show that small rovers could survive during lunar nights by moving into a shelter located inside the MLI curtain of the lander without mounting temperature maintenance devices. In order to enhance the feasibility of the MLI curtain system, we also propose ideas of a double-layer MLI and a rover configuration without solar cells.
Highlights
Lunar landers and rovers that perform missions exceeding a month are required to survive in a temperature environment of -190°C for two weeks without any supply of heat from external heat sources such as solar heat
In order to prove the feasibility of the MLI curtain system for lunar night survival, this study introduces a thermal model of a lunar lander and a rover in a lunar thermal environment and presents the analysis results
This is due to sunlight being reflected from the MLI of the lunar lander, resulting in greater incident solar heat at the regolith near the lander compared to regolith further away from the lander
Summary
Lunar landers and rovers that perform missions exceeding a month (one lunar day) are required to survive in a temperature environment of -190°C for two weeks without any supply of heat from external heat sources such as solar heat. With concerns of RHU and RTG regarding radioactive contamination, several efforts are being made to find other methods for lunar night survival. Balasubramaniam et al [2] proposed the Thermal Wadis to survive lunar nights without RHU or RTG. Thermal Wadis accumulates solar heat during the daytime of the Moon and employs heat shielding to limit heat radiation to space during the lunar night. The difficulty of this method involves the requirement of complex and heavy systems to implement Wadis
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