#luna27 — Public Fediverse posts

The latest version of the Luna 27 mission involves two identical landers, so if one fails there is a second chance. If a south polar landing is successful the second lander could go to the north polar region. This map shows sites considered for this purpose, from a symposium in Moscow in October 2024. I'm not sure the second lander is approved but planning is proceeding.

#maps #moon #luna27

Sharp-eyed readers will note a discrepancy - the bottom panel mentions 1 km diameter sites from Figure 1100 (that's a placeholder figure number from the 2019 iteration). But that map mentions 500 m circles - is it radius or diameter? Now I have to resolve this contradiction.

Meanwhile, here is a 2024 study with completely different results. 5 big ellipses, 10 small circles (this time 500 m radius). Who knows where the lander will actually go? Even more tomorrow...

#maps #moon #luna27

I want to give a view into the complexity of site selection work for these missions. The datasets are amazing, the mapping tools magical to someone like me who trained with ink pens on mylar. And to follow the story you need to spread the net wide - journals, conferences and workshops, social media. It's a full-time job trying to record it all! Here is the next step for Luna 27, M. Djachkova's paper - updated from the 2019 symposium. Similar but not identical.
#maps #moon #luna27

Other people also studied Luna 27 landing sites. This map shows two sets of sites from 2020 papers. King et al. studied Luna 27 sites on a list provided by ESA, which was to fly a payload called PROSPECT to look for volatiles. ESA cancelled that after the Ukraine war started, and it will now fly on a CLPS lander. Flahaut et al. looked at many sites and identified some suitable for Luna 27. They preferred site 6 near Ibn Bajja crater.

#maps #moon #luna27

Here's an illustration of this point about smaller circles, using an example redrawn from Maya Djachkova's presentation on Luna 27 at a symposium in Moscow in 2020. The irregular light area is mostly safe to land in, a few small craters excepted. Lots of 500 m circles could be squeezed into it. But only 3 spots can take a 6 km circle (and they are not perfect), and only one 10 km circle is possible.
#moon #maps #luna27

... and that point is, smaller landing ellipses are easier to locate. The basic pattern is controlled by hydrogen abundance, and in H-rich areas the big (10 km) circles only fit in a few locations. Smaller circles (6 km) are easier to fit in low slope areas. Drop to 500 m diameter and hundreds of sites might work, so they are mapped as irregular areas containing many sites. Precision landing is a game-changer for future missions.
#moon #Luna27

We are up to date with our Russian lunar missions, but let's look ahead a bit. The next mission is likely to be Luna 26, an orbiter bristling with instruments:

https://www.russianspaceweb.com/luna_glob_orbiter.html

It might fly in 2027 but timing is very uncertain. After that there two landing missions (possibly 3 landers), Luna 27 and 28. The attached map shows a 2019 version of a set of Luna 27 landing sites by Maya Djachkova et al. It illustrates an important point...
#maps #moon #luna27

Russland baut Luna-27 als zweiteilige Variante
Atomkraftwerk auf dem Mond mit China in der Diskussion. (Grafik: Lawotschkin) #Luna27 #kowalski #roscosmos
https://www.raumfahrer.net/russland-baut-luna-27-als-zweiteilige-variante/