Landing Sites
From TeamFrednetWiki
This document lists possible landing sites for consideration for the mission.
Contents |
Overview
| Descent guidance | Suited for roving | |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo 11 Landing Site | Retroreflector Laser | Maybe |
| Apollo 14 Landing Site | Retroreflector Laser | Maybe |
| Apollo 15 Landing Site | Retroreflector Laser | Yes |
| Lunokhod 1 Landing Site | Retroreflector Laser | Yes |
| Lunokhod 2 Landing Site | Retroreflector Laser | Yes |
Subgroupings
Guidance method
Retroreflector Laser Guidance
Ryan Weed's Mission Plan dated July 2008 proposed using retroreflector arrays left by earlier missions to the Moon as a form of 'beacons' during descent, by detecting their reflection of a light beam from orbit with a laser rangefinder. Only five missions to the Moon established retroreflectors on the lunar surface, of which only four still return signals to the Earth, in part due to uncertainty of the location of the fifth. Thus, the list of possible landing sites using this guidance method is narrowed down to:
- Apollo 15 Landing Site. This site holds the largest of the five retroreflectors on the Moon.
- Apollo 14 Landing Site. The size of the retroreflector on this site is one third of the Apollo 15 retroreflector.
- Apollo 11 Landing Site. The size of the retroreflector on this site is one third of the Apollo 15 retroreflector.
- Lunokhod 2 Landing Site. The retroreflector on this site is smaller than the Apollo retroreflectors.
- Lunokhod 1 Landing Site. The retroreflector on this site is smaller than the Apollo retroreflectors. It's exact location is not known.
Roving suitability
Apollo missions 15 through 17 all successfully deployed and operated a manned rover or 'Moon buggy' on the lunar surface. The Soviet unmanned missions Luna 17 and Luna 21 both deployed and operated one robotic rover on the lunar surface each, named Lunokhod 1 and 2, respectively. As such, the landing sites of these missions has all proved to be suited for roving in a general sense, in terms of planarity etc.:
