Lunar Missions Research Articles

Mars mission capabilities enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion

As part of the Artemis era of space exploration, space agencies will be working together with their industry partners to establish systems and infrastructure that enable sustained Lunar missions and develop capabilities for Mars. Lockheed Martin has a longstanding history of designing, building, and operating systems for deep space applications, from Viking to Orion. Lockheed Martin develops concepts, trades, and early system designs for Moon and Mars exploration to enable future missions. In 2016, Lockheed Martin presented a vision for achieving crewed exploration of Mars. Known as Mars Base Camp (MBC), this design reference mission envisioned a crewed vehicle in Martian orbit from which astronauts could perform excursions to Phobos and Deimos and perform telerobotic exploration of the Martian surface, including sample return. This concept served as an “existence proof” for a novel, practical, and affordable path to enable human exploration of the Martian system. In 2017, an update was published that included the production of propellant from water and a single-stage fully reusable Mars lander concept. Then in 2021, Lockheed Martin introduced a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) configuration of Mars Base Camp, a technology that will be greatly enabling for crewed missions to Mars. This paper matures the design of the NTP configuration of Mars Base Camp and explores the Mars mission capabilities that the NTP technology will enable. These investigations include optimized trajectories for faster transit to Mars and an analysis of abort scenarios that are made possible by the high thrust and performance of NTP. The results provide insight into the performance and capabilities that are realized when NTP technology is matured and integrated into a Mars transit vehicle. The paper will also describe initial surface infrastructure capabilities that significantly enhance sortie science operations, including mobility and power. The resulting updated Mars Base Camp serves as an example of what is possible with current technologies and technologies under development. The MBC reference mission builds on the capabilities that will be developed and demonstrated through Artemis missions, enabling a viable, sustainable long-term Mars exploration program, with the first crewed Mars mission possible in the 2030s.

Stiffness Design of Active Capture Claw-Type Docking Mechanism for Lunar Sample Return

The docking mechanism is the key system for realizing the lunar-orbit docking mission of two spacecraft, which needs to have both capture correction and connection hold functions. The different stiffness requirements between the capture correction process, where low stiffness is desired, and the connection hold process, where high stiffness is desired, pose a significant challenge to the design of the docking mechanism. In this paper, an active capture claw docking mechanism is designed. Under the constraints of being lightweight and having an envelope size, three sets of independent claw mechanisms are designed using the modular design idea to achieve the performance optimization and function integration of the docking mechanisms. The theoretical model of the collision dynamics between the active and passive docking mechanisms is established; the stiffness value range of the docking mechanism is determined, and the typical docking conditions are simulated and verified. The results show that the stiffness design in this paper can satisfy the requirements of the two docking processes. The active capture claw docking mechanism developed was applied to the lunar surface sample return mission successfully and played an important role in the lunar-orbit docking mission.

UWB and MB-OFDM for Lunar Rover Navigation and Communication

This paper presents a comprehensive study of ultra-wideband (UWB) and multi-band orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) technologies for lunar rover navigation and communication in challenging terrains. Lunar missions pose unique challenges, such as signal propagation in the lunar environment, terrain elevation, and rover movement constraints. To address these challenges, we propose a hybrid communication and navigation system that leverages UWB technology for high-precision positioning and MB-OFDM for robust and high-throughput communication. We develop a realistic simulation framework that incorporates terrain elevation, obstacles, and rover movement constraints, along with a simple fading model for communication. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in navigating lunar rovers to their target locations while maintaining reliable communication links with a lunar lander. A novel approach based on game theory for rover navigation is also presented. The study provides valuable insights into the design and optimization of communication and navigation systems for future lunar missions, paving the way for seamless integration of advanced terrestrial technologies in extraterrestrial environments.

Residual radiation risk disparities across sex and race or ethnic groups for lifetime never-smokers on lunar missions

Missions to the Earth's moon are of scientific and societal interest, however pose the problem of risks of late effects for returning crew persons, most importantly cancer and circulatory diseases. In this paper, we discuss NSCR-2022 model risk estimates for lunar missions for US racial and ethnic groups comparing never-smokers (NS) to US averages for each group and sex. We show that differences within groups between men and women are reduced for NS compared to the average population. Race and ethnic group dependent cancer and circulatory disease risks are reduced by 10% to 40% for NS with the largest decrease for Whites. Circulatory disease risks are changed by less than 10% for NS and in several cases modestly increased due to increased lifespan for NS. Asian-Pacific Islanders (API) and Hispanics NS are at lower risk compared to Whites and Blacks. Differences between groups are narrowed for NS compared to predictions for average populations, however disparities remain especially for Blacks and to a lesser extent Whites compared to API or Hispanic NS groups.

Design and implementation of regional integrated environmental measurement for China space station

The monitoring of cabin air pressure, temperature, humidity, microgravity and other environmental parameters is very important for the long-term and reliable operation of large manned spacecraft. Based on the characteristics of 1553B bus, a design method of regional integrated environmental measurement for the space station was proposed, which realized the high precision and reliable measurement of environmental parameters such as pressure, temperature, humidity and microgravity of china space station. The measurement data can accurately reflect the environmental changes of astronauts’ in-orbit living, working and extravehicular activities, which verifies the effectiveness of the design. It provides the necessary new principle application verification for higher precision pressure measurement in lunar landing missions.

Growth of Four different Crop Species in Supplemented Loamy Lunar Regolith

The ability to sustain crop growth in lunar regolith is imperative for long-term lunar missions. Due to the difficulty of transporting materials, using available lunar regolith for food growth is vital; however, past research has shown that dependence on crude lunar regolith is not feasible due to its absence of necessary nutrients and poor structural composition. Our experiment analyzed the possibility of growing crops in lunar regolith that was modified to have a loamy texture and to imitate the properties of Earth soil. Four crop species were grown in a 52:48 lunar regolith to additive concentration for seven weeks. Fagopyrum esculentum plants had significantly greater biomass in lunar regolith than in the control, which was earth soil. Triticum aestivum L., Solanum lycopersicum, and Pisum sativum crops showed no significant difference in overall biomass. Both lunar regolith and soil-grown crops produced flowers and fruits. We then determined the ideal lunar regolith to additive ratio by growing Fagopyrum esculentum in 52:48, 60:40, 70:30, 80:20, 90:10, and 100:0 concentrations over a seven-day period. Biomass results indicate that the 90:10 concentration of lunar regolith to additive is the most effective (p<0.01 when compared to all concentrations excluding 80:20). Such results are promising because they suggest a potential for effective crop development in lunar regolith supported by a relatively small quantity of additive.

Challenges and interpersonal dynamics during a two-person lunar analogue Arctic mission

Introduction: This case study was designed as an analog for aspects of NASA’s planned Artemis missions to the lunar surface. The specific aims were to examine emerged mission challenges and dyadic affective and process dynamics over the course of a three-month lunar habitat analog Arctic mission.Methods: Participants were two men who also had key roles in designing the habitat. Pre- and post- expedition interviews were conducted and daily satellite phone messages to mission control over the three-month mission were assessed. An integrated mixed methods approach was used to analyze challenges, group affect, and group processes, with the goal of furthering the understanding of coping and psychosocial work experiences in challenging conditions.Results: The findings indicated that different challenges took distinct temporal trajectories across mission phases; based on the relational themes, several challenges were identified, primarily physical challenges related to the experience of coping in an ICE environment, and psychosocial challenges associated with the preparation and execution of mission tasks. Physical challenges, positive tone, and action processes were the themes most connected to each other. To deal with these challenges, the team adapted by more frequently engaging in action and transition processes. The specific training for the mission the participants engaged in, and prior knowledge about each other enabled team members to deal with mission exigencies while maintaining a positive outlook.Discussion: Fostering strong positive relationships was an important mechanism to build resilience and effective performance while under ongoing, extreme conditions.

(Invited) Regenerative Fuel Cell System Utilizing a High Differential Pressure Water Electrolysis Technology

The expansion of manned activities in space requires energy system technology that utilizes sunlight, and hydrogen fuel cells are one such means. By electrolyzing water with sunlight, energy is stored with oxygen and hydrogen, and electricity is generated by fuel cells. The generated water can be recycled, and energy can be stored and supplied without external replenishment. This is commonly called a regenerative fuel cell. In the space domain, such energy systems must be compact and lightweight, and gas must be stored under high pressure. However, mechanical compressors that are generally used for compressing are heavy, and there are also issues of vibration and noise.Since the 1990s, Honda has worked on the development of high-differential-pressure water electrolysis technology that generate hydrogen from renewable energy and compress without a mechanical compressor, in parallel with the development of fuel cell technology. High-differential-pressure water electrolysis is a technology that generates high pressure hydrogen by moving the protons generated by electrolysis to the cathode through the Proton exchange membrane (PEM) . The energy required is only the potential generated by the difference in hydrogen concentration, which is superior to small mechanical compressors whose efficiency is reduced by friction loss. However, a large differential pressure is generated across the PEM because only one side is at a high pressure. Honda has achieved a maximum pressure increase of 70 MPa by using its own structure. Moreover, this principle can be applied not only to the generation and pressurization of hydrogen, but also to oxygen. Honda is working on the development of RFC technology that integrates these hydrogen technologies with the aim of applying them not only to sustainability on Earth, but also to the space domain. Currently, we are undertaking a JAXA project and are promoting the production of a breadboard model.The feature of Honda's RFC technology is that it applies high-differential-pressure water electrolysis technology, not only to generate oxygen and hydrogen, but also to pressurize each gas. By not using a mechanical compressor, it is possible to downsize the system, and it is also no vibration or noise. Utilizing the characteristics of this technology, we are planning to build an energy system that can store energy at high density and apply it to various manned missions.Honda's RFC consists of the high-differential-pressure water electrolysis system that simultaneously electrolyzes water and pressurizes oxygen, a Electrochemical hydrogen compressor system (EHC system) that electrochemically pressurizes the hydrogen and a fuel cell system. In the electrolysis stack, oxygen is generated and compressed to the target pressure by the differential pressure water electrolysis. The generated hydrogen is sent to the EHC stack that also applies the technology of high-differential pressure water electrolysis, where the hydrogen is pressurized. As a result, both oxygen and hydrogen gases were generated and compressed without a mechanical compressor. For the fuel cell system, the compact and highly efficient fuel cell technology that has been developed for FCVs is applied. When the fuel cell is used on the ground, oxygen is supplied from the atmosphere, but in space RFC it is necessary to generate electricity using pure oxygen and to circulate the system. A dedicated circulating FC system was constructed to achieve stable power generation. The water produced by power generation is used in the next water electrolysis cycle, and the proof of principle as RFC has been completed. In addition to these basic functions, for space application, we must address issues not found on Earth, such as heat management in a vacuum, radiation, and vibrations during launch. Starting with the lunar exploration mission scheduled for 2030, Honda will develop this technology for the spread of manned activities. Figure 1

Non-targeted effects and space radiation risks for astronauts on multiple International Space Station and lunar missions

Future space travel to the earth's moon or the planet Mars will likely lead to the selection of experienced International Space Station (ISS) or lunar crew persons for subsequent lunar or mars missions. Major concerns for space travel are galactic cosmic ray (GCR) risks of cancer and circulatory diseases. However large uncertainties in risk prediction occur due to the quantitative and qualitative differences in heavy ion microscopic energy deposition leading to differences in biological effects compared to low LET radiation. In addition, there are sparse radiobiology data and absence of epidemiology data for heavy ions and other high LET radiation. Non-targeted effects (NTEs) are found in radiobiology studies to increase the biological effectiveness of high LET radiation at low dose for cancer related endpoints. In this paper the most recent version of the NASA Space Cancer Risk model (NSCR-2022) is used to predict mission risks while considering NTEs in solid cancer risk predictions. I discuss predictions of space radiation risks of cancer and circulatory disease mortality for US Whites and US Asian-Pacific Islander (API) populations for 6-month ISS, 80-day lunar missions, and combined ISS-lunar mission. Model predictions suggest NTE increase cancer risks by about ∼2.3 fold over a model that ignores NTEs. US API are predicted to have a lower cancer risks of about 30% compared to US Whites. Cancer risks are slightly less than additive for multiple missions, which is due to the decease of risk with age of exposure and the increased competition with background risks as radiation risks increase. The inclusion of circulatory risks increases mortality estimates about 25% and 37% for females and males, respectively in the model ignoring NTEs, and 20% and 30% when NTEs are assumed to modify solid cancer risk. The predictions made here for combined ISS and lunar missions suggest risks are within risk limit recommendations by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) for such missions.

Atlas of historical and proposed nuclear devices and power systems in the Earth-Moon System and wider Solar System

The 2010s witnessed a renewal in international interest of space operations extending outside geosynchronous orbit to encompass the cislunar environment and beyond with invigorated U.S., Chinese, and Russian lunar mission initiatives; planned commercial lunar projects; and coalescing international efforts to reach Mars and push deeper into the Solar System. With the space beyond the near-Earth orbital regimes likely to become competitive and congested in the coming decades, reliable and high-yield means of generating power and propulsion will be needed to enhance mission assurance and operational responsiveness. Nuclear systems represent a promising technology with a rich heritage and provenance of space-based applications to satisfy emerging requirements for electrical power and propulsive impulse for long-term human development of the Earth-Moon system and its planetary neighbors. In this work, an atlas for defining the varying historical or proposed uses of nuclear power in space operations and exploration is presented according to spatial zone within the Earth-Moon and wider Solar System. Depending on the spatial zone, nuclear power will be discussed with respect to applications such as electrical power generation, propulsion, resource extraction, and weapon testing and employment for the space control and planetary defense missions.

Electric Sail Mission Expeditor, ESME: Software Architecture and Initial ESTCube Lunar Cubesat E-Sail Experiment Design

The electric solar wind sail, or E-sail, is a novel deep space propulsion concept which has not been demonstrated in space yet. While the solar wind is the authentic operational environment of the electric sail, its fundamentals can be demonstrated in the ionosphere where the E-sail can be used as a plasma brake for deorbiting. Two missions to be launched in 2023, Foresail-1p and ESTCube-2, will attempt to demonstrate Coulomb drag propulsion (an umbrella term for the E-sail and plasma brake) in low Earth orbit. This paper presents the next step of bringing the E-sail to deep space—we provide the initial modelling and trajectory analysis of demonstrating the E-sail in solar wind. The preliminary analysis assumes a six-unit cubesat being inserted in the lunar orbit where it deploys several hundred meters of the E-sail tether and charges the tether at 10–20 kV. The spacecraft will experience acceleration due to the solar wind particles being deflected by the electrostatic sheath around the charged tether. The paper includes two new concepts: the software architecture of a new mission design tool, the Electric Sail Mission Expeditor (ESME), and the initial E-sail experiment design for the lunar orbit. Our solar-wind simulation places the Electric Sail Test Cube (ESTCube) lunar cubesat with the E-sail tether in average solar wind conditions and we estimate a force of 1.51×10−4 N produced by the Coulomb drag on a 2 km tether charged to 20 kV. Our trajectory analysis takes the 15 kg cubesat from the lunar back to the Earth orbit in under three years assuming a 2 km long tether and 20 kV. The results of this paper are used to set scientific requirements for the conceptional ESTCube lunar nanospacecraft mission design to be published subsequently in the Special Issue “Advances in CubeSat Sails and Tethers”.

Contextual Characterisation Study of Chandrayaan-3 Primary Landing Site

Abstract Chandrayaan-3 is an upcoming lunar mission of India aimed at soft-landing and carrying out first-ever in situ investigations at a high-latitude location on the Moon. Chandrayaan-3 consists of a propulsion module, a lander and a rover, that carry a set of payloads for conducting in-situ science experiments. In this work, contextual characterization of the primary landing site(PLS) located at 69.367621˚S, 32.348126 ̊E is carried out in terms of identification, geomorphology, composition and thermophysical context using the best-ever high-resolution datasets. Our geomorphological study indicates that the PLS is safe for landing with slope less than 4˚ in about 78% of landing area and an average elevation variation of about 169m. The spectral analysis suggests that the region must have experienced extensive space weathering. Compositional analysis indicate that the landing region has a typical highland type of soil characteristics with Mg(4.3 to 5.2 wt.%), Fe(4.2 to 4.9 wt.%), Ca(10-11 wt.%), and Ti(0.25-0.35wt.%). Thermophysical analyses show ∼30K and ∼175K variability in spatial and diurnal temperatures at the PLS- an indicative of a local terrain of distinctive thermophysical characteristics. With important science instruments onboard, Chandrayaan-3 will provide a unique opportunity towards looking at localised variations leading to an improved understanding of the lunar surface.

Indian Interplanetary Missions - A Technology Perspective

The successful insertion of the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission in September 2014 in its maiden attempt along with the preceding Chandrayaan-1 mission has provided a huge boost to the global perception of Indias technological prowess. This technological achievement is built upon the decades of ISRO’s experience in mission design, launch and operation of earth observation and communication spacecraft. The main driving factors for the Indian efforts in the direction of lunar and interplanetary missions were the optimal utilization of an existing launch system (PSLV) to achieve minimum energy orbit placement around the Moon and Mars with an innovative, highly elliptic orbit. An exposition of the mission planning, payload design, strategy and the technological features along with the differences with respect to the earth-or-biting missions is presented.

Low-Thrust Transfer Dynamics and Control Between Halo Orbits in the Earth–Moon System by Means of Invariant Manifold

The low-thrust transfer between halo orbits in the Earth-Moon system is studied in this paper. The optimization problem of low-thrust transfer is challenging in the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP). Making reasonable use of the three-body dynamics structure can reduce the thrust required for the transfer. The invariant manifolds associated with planar Lyapunov orbits are spliced at first to create homoclinic and heteroclinic connections that can be used as trial solutions for low-thrust transfer. After that, the transfer of spatial halo orbits is addressed using the continuation methods. The Pontryagin maximum principle is used to calculate the optimal control law for the transfer process. Trajectories with various numbers of rotations around the Moon are suitable for transfer between halo orbits with different orientations, depending on the category of the manifold splicing. Finally, a typical MPC controller is designed to track the transfer trajectory in the presence of perturbations. Numerical simulations show the efficiency and practicability of the optimal transfer trajectory design strategy by means of invariant manifold for future lunar exploration missions.

Compliant mechanisms for dust mitigation in Lunar hardware development: technology and material considerations

During the Apollo missions, astronauts observed negative impact of Lunar dust on the surface hardware. The characteristics of Lunar environment and the regolith properties accelerate the contamination and promote the abrasion and clogging of different components in the equipment. To protect the hardware from damages in the future Lunar missions, several mitigation technologies must be adapted. In this work, we propose to consider application of solutions that are naturally dust resilient. Such solutions, called implicit dust mitigation technologies, include usage of compliant mechanisms. Compliant mechanisms use elastic deformation to achieve motion and can replace rigid-body mechanisms that suffer increased friction and jamming due to dust accumulation in the inter-element gaps. Material selection for compliant mechanisms needs to be considered very early in the design process, and as demonstrated in our work, it is crucial to the final mechanism performance.

Sample-based Spectral Mapping around Landing Sites on the Moon—Lunar Timescale Part 1

Studying the geology of a terrestrial body and its evolution requires being able to set up a chronology. Crater statistics is a powerful tool to do so. However, calibration of this method, which is derived on the Moon, requires properly defined geological units, large enough for reliable crater statistics, and dated samples representative of these geological units. Yet, little effort has been put into choosing a representative set of lunar mission units and samples based on spectral information. Therefore, accuracy and precision of so-called cratering-chronology models remain limited. Here, we analyzed near-infrared orbital data to suggest a geological unit as a reference unit for Apollo 11, 12, 14–17 and Luna 16, 20, and 24 landing sites. We used near-infrared spectral information from orbital data and laboratory measurements to identify the set of samples that is the most representative of the landing-site reference units. We now provide spectrally constrained reference units, for which crater frequencies can be derived, and our sample recommendation will assign the reference age for updating the currently existing cratering-chronology models. We highlight that determining a reference geological unit in the highlands of the Moon is challenging because of the very nature of the terrain, while it is more straightforward for mare units. However, ejecta presence on these mare units comprises solvable challenges.

Landing site of the Chang’e-6 lunar farside sample return mission from the Apollo basin

To address questions about the multiple lunar nearside–farside dichotomies and to provide new insights into both the early impact history of the Solar System and the geological evolution of the Moon, the Chang’e-6 (CE-6) landing zone has been selected to lie within the lunar farside South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin in the southern part of the Apollo basin (150–158° W, 41–45° S), a site that provides access to a diversity of SPA material. Here, we describe the geomorphology, geology and chronology of three candidate sampling sites within this zone that are likely to ensure safe landing and sampling. The geological characteristics indicate that CE-6 is expected to collect lunar farside SPA ejecta fragments, possible mantle material and young (roughly 2.40 Gyr-year-old) and/or old (roughly 3.43 Gyr-year-old) basaltic material, all of which will provide important guidance for future in situ farside sample collection and deepen our understanding of the evolution of the Moon.

MIT Zero-G outreach initiative: Using experiment design and virtual reality to inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers

MIT's Space Exploration Initiative offers a course on project development, prototyping, and deployment readiness for parabolic flights, culminating in an annually chartered research flight with Zero-G. MIT's Resource Exploration and Science of our Cosmic Environment (RESOURCE) team participated in the course in the fall of 2021 with a Zero-G flight in May of 2022 testing technology for a virtual reality platform to enable science on Lunar rover exploration missions. In parallel with the scientific effort, the team developed the MIT Zero-G Outreach Initiative (0G-OI), an outreach program to engage with the Cambridge Public School's (CPS) grade 7 classes to teach them about research in microgravity, parabolic flight, and experiment design. The goal of the outreach program is to inspire the next generation of space scientists and engineers using virtual reality.The CPS grade 7 curriculum covers ‘Mysteries of the Universe’ where students consider the role of gravity in the solar system. They also complete a unit on roller coasters in which they learn about key ideas of force, motion, and energy through the context of roller coasters. The 0G-OI Initiative ties these two units together through five videos covering: 1) an overview of the initiative, 2) the basics of parabolic flight and how we perceive gravity, 3) an overview of gravity and its function in the universe, 4) why and what we can study in microgravity and 5) how to design an experiment for microgravity. The students then design their own experiments for microgravity. These are down-selected to the top 5 experiments that are reviewed by an astronaut to select one experiment to fly on the MIT chartered Zero-G parabolic flight. The flight and the experiment are filmed in VR video by the MIT RESOURCE team. Each participating school is provided with an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset and a flight day is held at each school where the students experience the Zero-G flight and see the results of their experiment in an immersive VR environment. Using this initial setup, the 0G-OI can be run annually in parallel with MIT's SEI parabolic flight course.Some key development parameters included keeping the educational videos under 10 min, that having an astronaut select the winning experiment provided incentive and finally, using VR, as this technology is commonly associated with gaming and entertainment. Lessons learned focused on improvements to scheduling and coordination with Zero-G, in-person programming and classroom experience optimization. The 0G-OI aims to develop a lasting relationship with the CPSs and make the exciting experience of parabolic flight and space exploration an accessible experience.

Application of multi-method-multi-model inference to radiation related solid cancer excess risks models for astronaut risk assessment

The impact of including model-averaged excess radiation risks (ER) into a measure of radiation attributed decrease of survival (RADS) for the outcome all solid cancer incidence and the impact on the uncertainties is demonstrated. It is shown that RADS applying weighted model averaged ER based on AIC weights result in smaller risk estimates with narrower 95% CI than RADS using ER based on BIC weights. Further a multi-method-multi-model inference approach is introduced that allows calculating one general RADS estimate providing a weighted average risk estimate for a lunar and a Mars mission. For males the general RADS estimate is found to be 0.42% (95% CI: 0.38%; 0.45%) and for females 0.67% (95% CI: 0.59%; 0.75%) for a lunar mission and 2.45% (95% CI: 2.23%; 2.67%) for males and 3.91% (95% CI: 3.44%; 4.39%) for females for a Mars mission considering an age at exposure of 40 years and an attained age of 65 years. It is recommended to include these types of uncertainties and to include model-averaged excess risks in astronaut risk assessment.

Design of Man-Machine Synergic Lunar Coring Device and Its Coring Dynamic Analysis

The Moon is the closest extraterrestrial celestial body to the Earth. Sampling and analysis of lunar regolith or rocks can pave the way for the development and utilization of lunar resources. The acquisition of lunar regolith samples with original stratigraphic information by astronauts on the lunar surface is one of the essential missions in the manned lunar landing project. Therefore, to maintain the original stratigraphic information of the lunar samples during the sampling process while further improving the coring rate and sampling depth, a handheld dual-mode lunar regolith coring device is proposed in this paper. The device innovatively combines impact penetration and rotary drilling sampling, which allows the selection of a suitable sampling method according to the environment. In addition, this study designs a synergic coring device that can be operated by the astronaut and carried on the lander or rover based on the handheld coring device, which can ensure safe and stable coring mission. The mechanical analysis is carried out for the key properties in the coring device, the corresponding mechanical model is established, the structural parameters are optimally designed, and the performance analysis is carried out accordingly. Finally, the impact and drilling process of the coring device is simulated in explicit dynamics, and the results show that the optimized impact module can effectively penetrate the lunar rocks. The research work will provide technical reference and theoretical support for the design of human–machine synergic coring devices in manned lunar exploration missions.