Abstract
Abstract. As China’s first unmanned spacecraft to collect lunar surface samples and return them to Earth, the Chang’E-5 detector is a crucial probe that will complete lunar surface sampling in China’s lunar exploration project. This lunar sampling will be the first successful lunar surface sampling return mission in China. Sampling decisions needs to be made based on topographical analysis results and characteristics of the area to be explored. Due to the unknown extraterrestrial terrain and uncertainty of sampled objects, we propose a sampling feasibility estimation for safely implementing lunar surface sampling.Our strategy took into account the influence of factors that may interfere with the sampling process, and provided quantitative assessment of the sampling feasibility for the area to be explored. We combined the three-dimensional topography of the lunar surface with five parameters of the sampling area, flatness, slope, slope aspect, accessibility of the mechanical arm distal end, and safety of sampling conditions. The first three values were calculated based on a digital elevation model (DEM) of the landing area generated using stereo images. The other values were computed based on the mechanical properties of the arm and kinematic analysis of its articulated joints. Based on the above-mentioned quantitative parameters, they were weighed to obtain an evaluation value for the sampling feasibility of each DEM pixel. Meanwhile, a multichannel sampling area analysis graph was generated that combined all the above indicators as well as the sampling feasibility values, which provides a visualization for determining detection targets in the Chang’E-5 sampling mission.
Highlights
In order to explore the distribution of space resources and understand the evolutionary history of the universe, human beings have performed sampling and analysis of soil and rock samples from the lunar surface on several occasions
Based on the lunar exploration project in China, this paper focuses on the key issues in lunar surface sampling: the method of evaluating the admissibility of sampling area, and using a digital elevation model (DEM) image for sampling area to generate an feasibility image of the sampling area
Using the spatial coordinates corresponding to the pixels in DEM image data and the specified calculation window size, all the pixels in the window are used to fit the plane, and the angle between the fitting plane and the horizontal plane is used as the slope value of the central pixel of the window
Summary
In order to explore the distribution of space resources and understand the evolutionary history of the universe, human beings have performed sampling and analysis of soil and rock samples from the lunar surface on several occasions. It is important in deep space exploration to obtain and analyze samples using sampling mechanisms. From 1969 to 1972, the United States brought back 382 kg (842 pounds) of lunar soil samples from the lunar surface through six Apollo missions. It is expected that by the end of 2019, China will launch its first spacecraft with the intent of a return from the lunar surface following sampling. By interpreting the feasibility image, assisting the teleoperator to select the follow-up sampling points and plan the motion of the manipulator arm, the implementation efficiency of sampling area analysis is improved
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