Abstract
China Chang’E-3 performed soft landing at the plains of Sinus Iridum on lunar surface on December 14th 2013 successfully; it opened a new window for observing lunar surface with radiometric tracking which many lunar scientific researchers always pursue for. Since July 2014, OCEL (Observing Chang’E-3 Lander with VLBI) project has been conducted jointly by IVS (International VLBI Service of Geodesy and Astrometry) and BACC (Beijing Aerospace Control Center), a global IVS R&D network augmented with two China Deep Space Stations configured for OCEL. This paper presents the current status and preliminary result of the OCEL and mainly focuses on determination of the lander position, which is about 7 meter in height and 14 meter in plane of lunar surface with respect to LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter). Based on accuracy analysis, further optimized OCEL sessions will make use of this target-of-opportunity, the Chang’E-3 lunar lander, as long as it is working. With higher accurate radiometric observables, more prospective contribution to earth and lunar science is expected by combining with LLR.
Highlights
The Moon has always been a prime object of human space exploration, as it holds the distinctions of being the nearest remote celestial object to the earth
China Chang’E-3 performed soft landing at the plains of Sinus Iridum on lunar surface on December 14th 2013 successfully; it opened a new window for observing lunar surface with radiometric tracking which many lunar scientific researchers always pursue for
This paper presents the current status and preliminary result of the OCEL and mainly focuses on determination of the lander position, which is about 7 meter in height and 14 meter in plane of lunar surface with respect to LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)
Summary
The Moon has always been a prime object of human space exploration, as it holds the distinctions of being the nearest remote celestial object to the earth. LRM (Lunar Radiometric Measurement), including Ranging, Doppler tracking and VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry), is another technique conducted in the Moon research. The LLR data is more sensitive to most of the dynamics, especially the orbital motion of the moon. While earth-based VLBI data has the potential to tie lunar movement to the inertial celestial reference frame [8]. VLBI measurement to radio beacon on lunar surface existed for less than five years totally in the nearly 50-years-long history of LLR. We will give an introduction and preliminary analysis of the first LRM with China Chang’E-3 Lander. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 gives a review of LRM in history; introduction of OCEL (Observing Chang’E-3 Lander with VLBI) project is given in Section 3; Advances in Astronomy.
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