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Rover-based system for scouting and mapping lava tubes from the Moon's surface using gravimetric surveying

Fri, 05/20/2022 - 18:11
Start Date: 
2020
Programme: 
Discovery
End Date: 
2021
Programme Reference: 
20-D-S-HRE-01-c
Country: 
Canada
Contractor: 
CANADENSYS
Status: 
Closed
Description: 

The main objectives of this study were:
- To carry out thorough analysis and modeling of the anomalous gravity fields expected from lunar lava tubes and other types of void spaces, of various sizes and depths. This work was carried out by geoscientists from Queen’s University.
- To define the mission and system-level requirements for this exploration mission, derived from the scientific analysis of those expected gravity signals, and specifying feasible mission and system-level designs, for a mission to scout the Marius Hills pit crater.
- An additional objective was to study the possible inclusion of another, auxiliary geophysical instrument aboard the rover — a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) — to produce subsurface imaging signals that would complement the gravity measurements.

Application Domain: 
Exploration
Technology Domain: 
8 - System Design & Verification
Competence Domain: 
6-Life & Physical Science Payloads, Life Support, Robotics & Automation
Keywords: 
Moon
Gravity
Lunar Surface
lunar caves
Executive summary: