Photometric Lunar Surface Reconstruction

Accurate photometric reconstruction of the Lunar surface is important in the context of upcoming NASA robotic missions to the Moon and in giving a more accurate understanding of the Lunar soil composition. This paper describes a novel approach for joint estimation of Lunar albedo, camera exposure time, and photometric parameters that utilizes an accurate Lunar-Lambertian reflectance model and previously derived Lunar topography of the area visualized during the Apollo missions. The method introduced here is used in creating the largest Lunar albedo map (16% of the Lunar surface) at the resolution of 10 meters/pixel

Lunar Orbiter 3 - Photography

Photographic mission planning and photograph interpretation for Lunar Orbiter

The utility of unmanned probes in lunar exploration

Utility of unmanned probes of Ranger or Surveyor class in Apollo exploration program - Lunar scientific exploratio

Challenges in Planetary Mapping and Surface Navigation

The presentation focuses on surface navigation and mapping challenges in planetary environments including Lunar and Martian surface. Imagery from precursor orbital missions are processed to provide a medium resolution, large coverage 2D and 3D maps used by the science and navigation teams. During the surface mission these mapping products together with the images captured from the on-board camera systems are used in rover localization and navigation

Robot Technology Development: Perception, User Interfaces and Architecture

Overview presentations of the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group: (1) Robot Technology Development and (2) NASA Ames Planetary Mapping

Geological and geophysical field investigations from a lunar base at Mare Smythii

Mare Smythii, located on the equator and east limb of the Moon, has a great variety of scientific and economic uses as the site for a permanent lunar base. Here a complex could be established that would combine the advantages of a nearside base (for ease of communications with Earth and normal operations) with those of a farside base (for shielding a radio astronomical observatory from the electromagnetic noise of Earth). The Mare Smythii region displays virtually the entire known range of geological processes and materials found on the Moon; from this site, a series of field traverses and investigations could be conducted that would provide data on and answers to fundamental questions in lunar geoscience. This endowment of geological materials also makes the Smythii region attractive for the mining of resources for use both on the Moon and in Earth-Moon space. We suggest that the main base complex be located at 0, 90 deg E, within the mare basalts of the Smythii basin; two additional outposts would be required, one at 0, 81 deg E to maintain constant communications with Earth, and and the other, at 0, 101 deg E on the lunar farside, to serve as a radio astronomical observatory. The bulk of lunar surface activities could be conducted by robotic teleoperations under the direct control of the human inhabitants of the base

Human and Robotic Mission to Small Bodies: Mapping, Planning and Exploration

This study investigates the requirements, performs a gap analysis and makes a set of recommendations for mapping products and exploration tools required to support operations and scientific discovery for near- term and future NASA missions to small bodies. The mapping products and their requirements are based on the analysis of current mission scenarios (rendezvous, docking, and sample return) and recommendations made by the NEA Users Team (NUT) in the framework of human exploration. The mapping products that sat- isfy operational, scienti c, and public outreach goals include topography, images, albedo, gravity, mass, density, subsurface radar, mineralogical and thermal maps. The gap analysis points to a need for incremental generation of mapping products from low (flyby) to high-resolution data needed for anchoring and docking, real-time spatial data processing for hazard avoidance and astronaut or robot localization in low gravity, high dynamic environments, and motivates a standard for coordinate reference systems capable of describing irregular body shapes. Another aspect investigated in this study is the set of requirements and the gap analysis for exploration tools that support visualization and simulation of operational conditions including soil interactions, environment dynamics, and communications coverage. Building robust, usable data sets and visualisation/simulation tools is the best way for mission designers and simulators to make correct decisions for future missions. In the near term, it is the most useful way to begin building capabilities for small body exploration without needing to commit to specific mission architectures

A Multi-Wavelength Remote Sensing Investigation of Lunar Surface and Crustal Evolution

The surface of Earth\u27s Moon is a complex geologic system that continues to evolve due to a variety of ongoing geologic processes. The goal of this dissertation is to identify and quantify current endogenic and exogenic sources of lunar surface modification using remote sensing data. Radar and thermophysical measurements of 6,221 impact craters on the lunar nearside mare have indicated that lunar regolith is highly mobile at crater rims, making those areas ideal locations for lunar sampling initiatives (Chapter 1). Furthermore, a detailed mapping of recently formed tectonic features on the Moon revealed \u3e1000 wrinkle ridges that are recently or currently active in deforming the lunar surface (Chapter 2). That addition of small-scale wrinkle ridges to the lithospheric stress budget of the Moon allowed for the first globally complete perspective of recent lunar tectonism. Lastly, drone-based thermophysical data collected over the ejecta of Barringer Meteorite Impact crater in NE Arizona, USA indicated that coarse-resolution measurements of impact ejecta on the Moon may be excluding key details about impact crater and ejecta formation processes (Chapter 3). The combination of these investigations indicated that Earth’s Moon is recently (if not, currently) active and the resulting surface acceleration is likely responsible for regional regolith movement in high-sloping areas of the lunar surface, such as crater rims where subsurface boulders are actively being exhumed. These findings are relevant to future lunar surface science investigations for which a lithologically diverse sampling of locally sourced lunar surface material is desired

Lunar Orbiter I - Photography

Reconstructed and reassembled photographs taken by Lunar Orbiter

Astrogeologic studies Annual progress report, 1 Jul. 1966 - 1 Oct. 1967

Evaluation of spacecraft telescopic, photographic, and photometric observations for lunar geologic mappin