Measurements of the Lunar Gravity Field using a Relay Subsatellite

Details Measurements of the Lunar Gravity Field using a Relay Subsatellite Measurements of the Lunar Gravity Field using a Relay Subsatellite

Jan 1998

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998nvmi.conf...55n&link_type=abstract

Workshop on New Views of the Moon: Integrated Remotely Sensed, Geophysical, and Sample Datasets, p. 55

Statistics

Computation

Gravitational Fields, Lunar Gravitation, Lunar Surface, Selenology, Moon, Lunar Geology, Lunar Exploration, Lunar Far Side, Clementine Spacecraft, Doppler Radar, Lunar Orbiter, Lunar Prospector, Radar Tracking

Scientific paper

Estimating spherical harmonic coefficients of the lunar gravity field has been a focus in selenodesy since the late 1960s when Doppler tracking data from lunar orbiters were first analyzed. Early analyses were limited by the low degree and order of the spherical harmonic solutions, mostly due to the slow speed and low memory of the then-available computers. However, rapid development of the computational ability has increased the resolution of the lunar gravity models significantly. Doppler tracking data from lunar orbiters 1-5 and Apollo subsatellites up to degree and order 60 (Lun60d) have been analyzed. Further, the tracking data from the Clementine spacecraft launched in 1994 has been incorporated, and a model complete to degree and order 70 (GLGM-2) has been developed. These high-resolution gravity models have been used for studies of internal structure and tectonics of the Moon. Interestingly, Lun60d and GLGM-2 show significant differences in the spherical harmonic coefficients for degree greater than 20. Because the semimajor axis of Clementine's orbit is nearly twice as large as the radius of the Moon, the contribution of the new tracking data is prevailed in the low-degree field. Methodologically, the differences in the high-degree field arise from the different weighting of the tracking data and gravity model, but, in principle, these are caused by a lack of tracking data over the farside. While the current Lunar Prospector mission is expected to improve the spatial resolution over the mid- to high-latitude regions of the nearside significantly, the absence of Doppler tracking data over the farside remains unresolved. To complete the coverage of tracking over the farside, we are developing a satellite-to-satellite (four-way) Doppler tracking experiment in SELENE (the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) project of Japan. Outline of the Mission: The SELENE is a joint project by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Two spacecraft, a main orbiter and a relay subsatellite, constitute the SELENE. The SELENE is scheduled to be launched in 2003. After the SELENE is injected into an elliptical polar orbit of 1 00-km periapsis altitude and 2424-km apoapsis altitude, the relay subsatellite is separated from the main orbiter. Then the main orbiter gradually decreases the eccentricity to a circular orbit in which altitude and inclination are 100 km and 950, respectively. When the mission instruments, including a relay subsatellite transponder for the gravity measurement (RSAT), complete global mapping after a nominal I -year period, the propulsion module of the main orbiter is deorbited to land on the Moon. A differential VLBI experiment by two radio sources on the relay subsatellite and the propulsion module (VRAD-1 and 2) continues until the relay subsatellite will fall on to the lunar surface approximately two months later [6]. RSAT Mission: RSAT is a communication subsystem on the relay subsatellite [7] for four-way Doppler tracking among the main orbiter, the relay subsatellite, and the Usuda Deep Space Center of ISAS (UDSC) [8], as well as two-way range and Doppler measurements, between the relay subsatellite and UDSC (Fig. 1). At the same time, the Tracking and Communication Stations (TACS) of NASDA conduct conventional two-way ranging and Doppler observations of the main orbiter when the main orbiter is visible from Earth.

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