1. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Lunar Exploration with Penetrators A.Smith, R.Gowen, A.Coates – MSSL/UCL I.Crawford – Birkbeck/UCL P.Church, R.Scott - Qinetiq A.Ellery, Yang Gao – Surrey Space Centre T.Pike – Imperial College (UK) 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK.

2. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Lunar Exploration with high velocity micro-Penetrators A.Smith, R.Gowen, A.Coates – MSSL/UCL I.Crawford – Birkbeck/UCL P.Church, R.Scott - Qinetiq A.Ellery, Yang Geo – Surrey Space Centre T.Pike – Imperial College (UK) 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK.

3. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Lunar Exploration with Penetrators Introduction/History Advantages Challenges Meeting the Challenges

4. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. What are kinetic micro-penetrators ? Very high impact speed ~ 200-700 m/s Very tough ~  100,000g Penetrate (lunar) surface ~ few metres Very low mass ~2-5Kg

5. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. ‘Classic’ Design: forebody - aftbody penetrator

6. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Complete System Architecture Orbiter Microprobe platform Microprobe ejection system Microprobe communications Probe system De-orbiter/attitude control system Microprobe(s)  few kg each

7. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Mars96 (Russia) Failed to leave Earth orbit DS2 (Mars) NASA 1999 ? Planetary Penetrators History Japanese Lunar-A much delayed Several paper studies   

8. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Planetary Penetrators Technical Demonstrator Propose Engineering Monitoring of microprobe system at all mission Phases :- -post launch survival- never done before -cruise phase- never done before -pre-ejection- never done before -entry phase- never done before -post landing survival- never done before -continuous surface operations - never done before The only previous technical demonstrator penetrator mission was NASA Deep Space-2 which had no operational confirmation at all from launch to landing.

9. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators - Advantages Suitable for widely spaced multi-point seismic measurements. Can provide information from regions soft landers cannot go. Very low mass (few Kg) -> low launch cost -> allow multiple probes -> provide high redundancy Regolith naturally provides relatively soft impact. Moon is nearby -> limited radiation exposure; possibility of direct line of sight communications; solar power.

10. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrator Science Lunar Seismology Presence and size of lunar core, crustal & basal fill thickness; deep structure of lunar mantle; Origin & location of shallow moonquakes. (profound understanding of Moon’s residual magnetism; origin of Moon; evolution of planetary magnetic fields) Lunar Thermal Gradients Inhomogeneity of crustal heat producing elements (K,Th). (understanding of Moon’s early history). Lunar Water Sensing Presence, extent and concentration of water. (Lunar evolution, future lunar resource.) Geochemical Analysis Provide ground truth for remote sensing XFA and multi-spectral imaging. (Co-detection of organics with water might be interesting)

11. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators - Challenges Impact Survival Effective operating configuration Lifetime Low mass Communications Deceleration/attitude control - platform / instruments - Impact angle, penetration depth, forebody/aftbody - Power / thermal - micro/nano technology - Fore and aft body. To orbiter. - Requires mass

12. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators Meeting the Challenges QinetiQ – Defence and space systems company. Impact survival; electronics; comms; space platform systems. Program for ground demonstration of impact survival of platform and scientific instruments.

13. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators Meeting the Challenges IC – (Imperial College) University with long space experience. Micro seismometers (U.S. heritage) Program to develop to withstand high-g ~  100,000. 10 mm Microseismometer for ExoMars fabricated from one piece of single-crystal silicon

14. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators Meeting the Challenges SSC – Surrey Space Science Centre (& SSTL). Construct and operate small satellites and instruments. Micro-drill, general micro instruments; platform electronics. Wood wasp ovipositor

15. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Penetrators Meeting the Challenges Southampton - optical fibres Potential for detection of water and chemicals. MSSL/UCL – University College London with long experience of developing variety of scientific instruments for major space missions and science analysis. Cameras, water detection. Onboard data processing. Systems engineering & project management. Space and lunar science. e.g. …Giotto (Halleys’ comet), Mars’96, Beagle-2, Soho, Cluster, Doublestar, XMM, Cassini, Swift (UVOT),Venus Express, …

16. 8’th ILEWG Conference, Beijing, July 23-27, 2006 MSSL/UCL UK. Conclusions We are looking to develop kinetic penetrators for airless planetary bodies through conceptual design -> ground demonstration -> technical demonstrator missions -> science missions. Penetrators are now a priority for UK planetary future directions. We are happy to gain further partners, particularly in areas of expertize not already covered. We are looking for mission opportunities…. for exciting engineering and science.