In recent years,the Lunar south pole region(SPR)has become the focus of future explorations due to its special illumination condition and the possible water ice in permanently shadowed craters around it.The Shackleton...In recent years,the Lunar south pole region(SPR)has become the focus of future explorations due to its special illumination condition and the possible water ice in permanently shadowed craters around it.The Shackleton crater locates almost exactly at the Moon’s south pole and has become the hottest destination for several landing missions,including the Chang’E-7 mission.However,people still know little about the electric potential and the dust environment around this crater.In this paper,we develop an analytical model to study the surface potential and the electrostatic dust transport around the crater.It is found that the crater’s floor can be negatively charged due to the topographic shielding,and the surface potential is as low as-175 V on the leeward crater wall.Accordingly,a large number of charged dust grains can be emitted from the leeward crater wall,with a maximum height of about 10 km and a horizontal distance of about 40 km,which brings a local dust cloud around the crater.Both the topographic shielding and the local dust cloud are qualitatively verified by a numerical simulation,in which a typical dust density of 10^(4)-10^(5)m^(-3)is found near the crater.Our results are important to the environmental assessment for future explorations near the crater.Furthermore,the results are helpful to understand the surface charging and the electrostatic dust transport on the other airless bodies.展开更多
Despite humanity's many lunar missions to the equatorial and mid-latitude regions,the south pole remains uncharted because of its exceptionally harsh conditions.The quest for water ice and the drive to establish l...Despite humanity's many lunar missions to the equatorial and mid-latitude regions,the south pole remains uncharted because of its exceptionally harsh conditions.The quest for water ice and the drive to establish lunar bases have positioned the south pole area above 80°latitude,characterized by permanently shaded regions and conducive to water ice preservation.However,the daunting terrain and intricate illumination in this area present significant challenges to engineering safety.Here,we introduce a Landing Feasibility Probability(LFP)model to evaluate the viability of potential landing sites.We pinpoint 120 prospective landing sites,stratified into 25 high-priority,64 medium-priority,and 31 lowpriority sites.These sites,encompassing a mere 0.6% of the lunar south pole,have been rigorously vetted against 10 critical factors for landing feasibility.These sites show a pronounced clustering around 8 major craters and plateaus,organizing into 7 lunar site networks,with each network comprising 4 sites with a maximum dimension under 25 km,ideal for the development of lunar bases and observational networks.The LFP model's selection process is derived from a heuristic Genetic Algorithm(GA)informed by expert experience.The landing sites are strategically positioned to address the dual challenges of scientific goals and engineering safety at the lunar south pole,while also providing site selection guidance and facilitating international collaboration and communication for lunar expeditions.This method can also be adapted for site selection on other celestial bodies(e.g.Mars and asteroids)for scientific exploration and construction of extraterrestrial bases.展开更多
China has carried out four unmanned missions to the Moon since it launched Chang’E-1,the first lunar orbiter in 2007.With the implementation of the Chang’E-5 mission this year,the three phases of the lunar explorati...China has carried out four unmanned missions to the Moon since it launched Chang’E-1,the first lunar orbiter in 2007.With the implementation of the Chang’E-5 mission this year,the three phases of the lunar exploration program,namely orbiting,landing and returning,have been completed.In the plan of follow-up unmanned lunar exploration missions,it is planned to establish an experimental lunar research station at the lunar south pole by 2030 through the implementation of several missions,laying a foundation for the establishment of practical lunar research station in the future.China successfully launched its first Mars probe on 23 July 2020,followed in future by an asteroid mission,second Mars mission,and a mission to explore Jupiter and its moons.展开更多
基金supported by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciencessupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42174216,12075108,41903058&62371215)+2 种基金the Pre-research Project on Civil Aerospace Technologies by CNSA(Grant Nos.D050106,D020201)the Frontier Science Research Program of Deep Space Exploration Laboratory(Grant No.2022-QYKYJH-HXYF023)the Pandeng Program of National Space Science Center,Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘In recent years,the Lunar south pole region(SPR)has become the focus of future explorations due to its special illumination condition and the possible water ice in permanently shadowed craters around it.The Shackleton crater locates almost exactly at the Moon’s south pole and has become the hottest destination for several landing missions,including the Chang’E-7 mission.However,people still know little about the electric potential and the dust environment around this crater.In this paper,we develop an analytical model to study the surface potential and the electrostatic dust transport around the crater.It is found that the crater’s floor can be negatively charged due to the topographic shielding,and the surface potential is as low as-175 V on the leeward crater wall.Accordingly,a large number of charged dust grains can be emitted from the leeward crater wall,with a maximum height of about 10 km and a horizontal distance of about 40 km,which brings a local dust cloud around the crater.Both the topographic shielding and the local dust cloud are qualitatively verified by a numerical simulation,in which a typical dust density of 10^(4)-10^(5)m^(-3)is found near the crater.Our results are important to the environmental assessment for future explorations near the crater.Furthermore,the results are helpful to understand the surface charging and the electrostatic dust transport on the other airless bodies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42371422 and 42221002).
文摘Despite humanity's many lunar missions to the equatorial and mid-latitude regions,the south pole remains uncharted because of its exceptionally harsh conditions.The quest for water ice and the drive to establish lunar bases have positioned the south pole area above 80°latitude,characterized by permanently shaded regions and conducive to water ice preservation.However,the daunting terrain and intricate illumination in this area present significant challenges to engineering safety.Here,we introduce a Landing Feasibility Probability(LFP)model to evaluate the viability of potential landing sites.We pinpoint 120 prospective landing sites,stratified into 25 high-priority,64 medium-priority,and 31 lowpriority sites.These sites,encompassing a mere 0.6% of the lunar south pole,have been rigorously vetted against 10 critical factors for landing feasibility.These sites show a pronounced clustering around 8 major craters and plateaus,organizing into 7 lunar site networks,with each network comprising 4 sites with a maximum dimension under 25 km,ideal for the development of lunar bases and observational networks.The LFP model's selection process is derived from a heuristic Genetic Algorithm(GA)informed by expert experience.The landing sites are strategically positioned to address the dual challenges of scientific goals and engineering safety at the lunar south pole,while also providing site selection guidance and facilitating international collaboration and communication for lunar expeditions.This method can also be adapted for site selection on other celestial bodies(e.g.Mars and asteroids)for scientific exploration and construction of extraterrestrial bases.
基金Supported by National Key R&D Program of China(2020YFE0202100)Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission(Z181100002918003)。
文摘China has carried out four unmanned missions to the Moon since it launched Chang’E-1,the first lunar orbiter in 2007.With the implementation of the Chang’E-5 mission this year,the three phases of the lunar exploration program,namely orbiting,landing and returning,have been completed.In the plan of follow-up unmanned lunar exploration missions,it is planned to establish an experimental lunar research station at the lunar south pole by 2030 through the implementation of several missions,laying a foundation for the establishment of practical lunar research station in the future.China successfully launched its first Mars probe on 23 July 2020,followed in future by an asteroid mission,second Mars mission,and a mission to explore Jupiter and its moons.
