Investigation on Lunar Landing Candidate Sites for a Future Lunar Exploration Mission

• Published in: International journal of aeronautical and space sciences Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 221 - 232
• Main Authors: Kim, Suyeon, Kim, Kyeong Ja, Yi, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences (KSAS) 01.02.2022; 한국항공우주학회
• Subjects: Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Engineering; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Original Paper; 항공우주공학; Copernicus; Slopes; Aristarchus; Landing sites; Moon; Meton; Hydroxyl
• ISSN: 2093-274X; 2093-2480
• DOI: 10.1007/s42405-021-00433-4

Korea plans to send a lunar lander following the launching of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) in August 2022. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) conducted a demand survey to select potential candidates for landing sites to be photographed with the LUnar Terrain Imager (LUTI) onboard the KPLO. The main purpose of the LUTI is to conduct a preliminary exploration to select candidate landing sites for a future Korean lunar exploration. We proposed three landing candidate sites which suggest to provide either scientific or technical assistance for this future exploration. The first candidate site is the Meton. Moon Mineralogy Mapper ( M 3 ) data show that it has more hydroxyls than other regions investigated in this study. Furthermore, there is a domed terrain in the center of the crater, which could have been formed due to volcanic activity. It is worth investigating this aspect of morphology. The second candidate suggested is the Copernicus crater as hydroxyl and olivine components with multiple origins were confirmed by the M 3 data. Therefore, by studying this area, we can get information about the internal structure of the Moon and the hydroxyl feature. The third candidate suggested is the Aristarchus Plateau. In this area, the existence of resources including hydroxyl was confirmed by M 3 data, and the collection of various volcanic features makes it geologically valuable. Additionally, an investigation of the LROC mosaic image is provided to examine the detailed topography of Crater Copernicus. For all three candidate sites, the Selenological and Engineering Explore’s (SELENE) altitude data analysis confirmed several flat ground areas to land a spacecraft.