Robotic lunar lander development project three-dimensional dynamic stabiility testing and analysis

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) are developing a robotic lunar lander capability and establishing surface and embedded elements to better characterize the structure and composition of the lunar interior.1 In support of NASA's Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project, managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab is designing, building and evaluating a subscale Robotic Lunar Lander. This paper reviews the Stability Risk Reduction efforts associated with a Robotic Lunar Lander. There are two phases to the risk reduction effort; Phase-I focuses on a series of tip-over tests of a 3-legged 'rigid' block and Phase-II a series of drop tests of a subscale lander. In Phase-I, computer simulations of the tip-over tests are performed using MSC.Adams. In addition, two high speed cameras are used to capture the tip-over tests, and advanced 3D motion analysis employed to calculate the stability behavior from the high speed video. Comparisons of the general stability behavior (i.e. stable vs. unstable) from experiments and simulations are shown. In addition, more detailed dynamic behavior (e.g. velocity profiles) from the simulation is compared to that of the 3D motion analysis. This paper discusses the results of Phase-I and efforts underway for Phase-II. © (2010) by IEST All rights reserved.