Abstract
Landing on celestial bodies typically includes a free fall to the body surface and requires energy dissipation. Landing sites can exhibit many uncertainties, especially in surface parameters. Therefore, robustness is required irrespective of variations in landing conditions. Conventional mechanisms, such as shock absorbers or airbags, have repeatedly achieved safe landings; however, they are not reusable in the ground-verification phase and cause complexity. This study proposes a robust, lightweight, and simple rebound suppression mechanism with reusability in the ground verification phase by simultaneously considering the characteristics of mechanical energy and momentum exchange aspects. The design characteristics are clarified mainly through numerical discussions, and the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism is demonstrated in comparison to existing momentum exchange mechanisms. The results show a promising rebound suppression capability compared with those of the previously suggested mechanisms and an improvement in robustness against uncertainties. A case study is also shown to verify the proposed mechanism’s effectiveness. Numerical simulation results for a fictional landing mission created from real microgravity landers show that the proposed mechanism achieves the energy dissipation requirement, combined with the plastic deformation mechanism of the shock-absorbing material.
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