The Chang'e-3 (CE-3) lander and rover mission to the Moon was an in- termediate step in China's lunar exploration program, which will be followed by a sample return mission. The lander was equipped with a number o...The Chang'e-3 (CE-3) lander and rover mission to the Moon was an in- termediate step in China's lunar exploration program, which will be followed by a sample return mission. The lander was equipped with a number of remote-sensing instruments including a pair of cameras (Landing Camera and Terrain Camera) for recording the landing process and surveying terrain, an extreme ultraviolet camera for monitoring activities in the Earth's plasmasphere, and a first-ever Moon-based ultravi- olet telescope for astronomical observations. The Yutu rover successfully carried out close-up observations with the Panoramic Camera, mineralogical investigations with the VIS-NIR Imaging Spectrometer, study of elemental abundances with the Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer, and pioneering measurements of the lunar sub- surface with Lunar Penetrating Radar. This special issue provides a collection of key information on the instrumental designs, calibration methods and data processing pro- cedures used by these experiments with a perspective of facilitating further analyses of scientific data from CE-3 in preparation for future missions.展开更多
An accurate determination of the landing trajectory of Chang'e-3 (CE-3) is significant for verifying orbital control strategy, optimizing orbital planning, accu- rately determining the landing site of CE-3 and anal...An accurate determination of the landing trajectory of Chang'e-3 (CE-3) is significant for verifying orbital control strategy, optimizing orbital planning, accu- rately determining the landing site of CE-3 and analyzing the geological background of the landing site. Due to complexities involved in the landing process, there are some differences between the planned trajectory and the actual trajectory of CE-3. The land- ing camera on CE-3 recorded a sequence of the landing process with a frequency of 10 frames per second. These images recorded by the landing camera and high-resolution images of the lunar surface are utilized to calculate the position of the probe, so as to reconstruct its precise trajectory. This paper proposes using the method of trajectory reconstruction by Single Image Space Resection to make a detailed study of the hov- ering stage at a height of 100 m above the lunar surface. Analysis of the data shows that the closer CE-3 came to the lunar surface, the higher the spatial resolution of im- ages that were acquired became, and the more accurately the horizontal and vertical position of CE-3 could be determined. The horizontal and vertical accuracies were 7.09 m and 4.27 m respectively during the hovering stage at a height of 100.02 m. The reconstructed trajectory can reflect the change in CE-3's position during the powered descent process. A slight movement in CE-3 during the hovering stage is also clearly demonstrated. These results will provide a basis for analysis of orbit control strategy, and it will be conducive to adjustment and optimization of orbit control strategy in follow-up missions.展开更多
Due to the low spatial resolution of images taken from the Chang'e-1 (CE-I) orbiter, the details of the lunar surface are blurred and lost. Considering the limited spatial resolution of image data obtained by a CCD...Due to the low spatial resolution of images taken from the Chang'e-1 (CE-I) orbiter, the details of the lunar surface are blurred and lost. Considering the limited spatial resolution of image data obtained by a CCD camera on CE-1, an example-based super-resolution (SR) algorithm is employed to obtain high- resolution (HR) images. SR reconstruction is important for the application of image data to increase the resolution of images. In this article, a novel example-based algorithm is proposed to implement SR reconstruction by single-image analysis, and the computational cost is reduced compared to other example-based SR methods. The results show that this method can enhance the resolution of images using SR and recover detailed information about the lunar surface. Thus it can be used for surveying HR terrain and geological features. Moreover, the algorithm is significant for the HR processing of remotely sensed images obtained by other imaging systems.展开更多
A new non-simplified model of formation flying is derived in the presence of an oblate main- body and third-body perturbation. In the proposed model, considering the perturbation of the third- body in an inclined orbi...A new non-simplified model of formation flying is derived in the presence of an oblate main- body and third-body perturbation. In the proposed model, considering the perturbation of the third- body in an inclined orbit, the effect of obliquity (axial tilt) of the main-body is becoming important and has been propounded in the absolute motion of a reference satellite and the relative motion of a follower satellite. From a new point of view, J2 perturbed relative motion equations and considering a disturbing body in an elliptic inclined three dimensional orbit, are derived using Lagrangian mechanics based on accurate introduced perturbed reference satellite motion. To validate the accuracy of the model presented in this study, an auxiliary model was constructed as the Main-body Center based Relative Motion (MCRM) model. Finally, the importance of the main-body's obliquity is demonstrated by several examples related to the Earth-Moon system in relative motion and lunar satellite formation keeping. The main-body's obliquity has a remarkable effect on formation keeping in the examined in-track and projected circular orbit (PCO) formations.展开更多
Invaluable data can at times be overlooked or not fully exploited when first collected. Striking conclusions can often be drawn on the basis of a specific analysis many years later. The Apollo 11 - 17 missions (1961-1...Invaluable data can at times be overlooked or not fully exploited when first collected. Striking conclusions can often be drawn on the basis of a specific analysis many years later. The Apollo 11 - 17 missions (1961-1972) provided detailed information on lunar basalts which make it possible to measure the iron grains in basalts from microphotographs of thin sections. Analysis of the average size of these grains (D) differed as a function of the age of these basalts dated between 3.9 and 3.4 billion years ago, revealed that D increased 1.5 fold, therefore the gravity acceleration g decreased 1.5 fold. The intriguing conclusion can only be that the size of the Moon increased, its mass decreased, or both these factors have changed.展开更多
文摘The Chang'e-3 (CE-3) lander and rover mission to the Moon was an in- termediate step in China's lunar exploration program, which will be followed by a sample return mission. The lander was equipped with a number of remote-sensing instruments including a pair of cameras (Landing Camera and Terrain Camera) for recording the landing process and surveying terrain, an extreme ultraviolet camera for monitoring activities in the Earth's plasmasphere, and a first-ever Moon-based ultravi- olet telescope for astronomical observations. The Yutu rover successfully carried out close-up observations with the Panoramic Camera, mineralogical investigations with the VIS-NIR Imaging Spectrometer, study of elemental abundances with the Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer, and pioneering measurements of the lunar sub- surface with Lunar Penetrating Radar. This special issue provides a collection of key information on the instrumental designs, calibration methods and data processing pro- cedures used by these experiments with a perspective of facilitating further analyses of scientific data from CE-3 in preparation for future missions.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘An accurate determination of the landing trajectory of Chang'e-3 (CE-3) is significant for verifying orbital control strategy, optimizing orbital planning, accu- rately determining the landing site of CE-3 and analyzing the geological background of the landing site. Due to complexities involved in the landing process, there are some differences between the planned trajectory and the actual trajectory of CE-3. The land- ing camera on CE-3 recorded a sequence of the landing process with a frequency of 10 frames per second. These images recorded by the landing camera and high-resolution images of the lunar surface are utilized to calculate the position of the probe, so as to reconstruct its precise trajectory. This paper proposes using the method of trajectory reconstruction by Single Image Space Resection to make a detailed study of the hov- ering stage at a height of 100 m above the lunar surface. Analysis of the data shows that the closer CE-3 came to the lunar surface, the higher the spatial resolution of im- ages that were acquired became, and the more accurately the horizontal and vertical position of CE-3 could be determined. The horizontal and vertical accuracies were 7.09 m and 4.27 m respectively during the hovering stage at a height of 100.02 m. The reconstructed trajectory can reflect the change in CE-3's position during the powered descent process. A slight movement in CE-3 during the hovering stage is also clearly demonstrated. These results will provide a basis for analysis of orbit control strategy, and it will be conducive to adjustment and optimization of orbit control strategy in follow-up missions.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51575388)
文摘Due to the low spatial resolution of images taken from the Chang'e-1 (CE-I) orbiter, the details of the lunar surface are blurred and lost. Considering the limited spatial resolution of image data obtained by a CCD camera on CE-1, an example-based super-resolution (SR) algorithm is employed to obtain high- resolution (HR) images. SR reconstruction is important for the application of image data to increase the resolution of images. In this article, a novel example-based algorithm is proposed to implement SR reconstruction by single-image analysis, and the computational cost is reduced compared to other example-based SR methods. The results show that this method can enhance the resolution of images using SR and recover detailed information about the lunar surface. Thus it can be used for surveying HR terrain and geological features. Moreover, the algorithm is significant for the HR processing of remotely sensed images obtained by other imaging systems.
文摘A new non-simplified model of formation flying is derived in the presence of an oblate main- body and third-body perturbation. In the proposed model, considering the perturbation of the third- body in an inclined orbit, the effect of obliquity (axial tilt) of the main-body is becoming important and has been propounded in the absolute motion of a reference satellite and the relative motion of a follower satellite. From a new point of view, J2 perturbed relative motion equations and considering a disturbing body in an elliptic inclined three dimensional orbit, are derived using Lagrangian mechanics based on accurate introduced perturbed reference satellite motion. To validate the accuracy of the model presented in this study, an auxiliary model was constructed as the Main-body Center based Relative Motion (MCRM) model. Finally, the importance of the main-body's obliquity is demonstrated by several examples related to the Earth-Moon system in relative motion and lunar satellite formation keeping. The main-body's obliquity has a remarkable effect on formation keeping in the examined in-track and projected circular orbit (PCO) formations.
文摘Invaluable data can at times be overlooked or not fully exploited when first collected. Striking conclusions can often be drawn on the basis of a specific analysis many years later. The Apollo 11 - 17 missions (1961-1972) provided detailed information on lunar basalts which make it possible to measure the iron grains in basalts from microphotographs of thin sections. Analysis of the average size of these grains (D) differed as a function of the age of these basalts dated between 3.9 and 3.4 billion years ago, revealed that D increased 1.5 fold, therefore the gravity acceleration g decreased 1.5 fold. The intriguing conclusion can only be that the size of the Moon increased, its mass decreased, or both these factors have changed.