JP2002205698A - Astronomical probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an astronomical probe capable of coping with the severe temperature change on a celestial body surface and easily starting an automated guide probing vehicle in addition to attaining miniaturization and weight reduction. SOLUTION: This astronomical probe 100 completes its landing in the state of a probe body 10 being brought down on a celestial body surface G. A landing leg 50 thereby needs only to absorb impact when landing, so that it can be miniaturized and reduced in weight. Moreover, since the probe body 10 is brought down on the celestial body surface G through a honeycomb material 20 made of ceramic with excellent heat insulating property, equipment enclosed in the probe body 10 becomes low in temperature and is prevented from getting out of operation. After being brought down on the celestial body G; lid bodies 12, 13 forming the upper face of the probe body 10 are opened to form a gangplank. An unmanned survey vehicle 60 can be easily lowered onto the celestial body surface G and started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned astronomical spacecraft which lands on the surface of a celestial body such as the moon or Mars and performs exploration.
More specifically, an improved astronomical object that not only achieves significant miniaturization and weight reduction, but also withstands severe temperature changes on the celestial body surface and can easily launch an unmanned rover. Regarding spacecraft.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle "Surveyor 1" landed on the moon is provided with three landing legs to protect the on-board equipment from impacts during landing and to provide predetermined observations after landing. The landing attitude was to be maintained.

[0003]

By the way, it is necessary to displace the landing leg in order to enhance the shock absorbing ability at the time of landing, but in order to obtain a predetermined landing posture, the displaced landing leg is restored to a predetermined position. Need to be done. At this time, if an impact damper, a spring, or the like is used to restore the landing leg to a predetermined position, the mass increases significantly, and the spacecraft cannot be reduced in weight.

In a small spacecraft, the landing leg and the descent engine must be arranged close to each other, but the landing leg may be damaged by the exhaust heat of the engine during landing. At this time, if the landing landing gear was protected with heat insulating material, the mass of the spacecraft would increase significantly. In addition, if the landing leg and the descent engine are arranged apart from each other, the size of the spacecraft cannot be reduced.

On the other hand, on the moon, day and night are switched in a cycle of about 20 days.
The temperature can be as high as 0 degrees and extremely low at minus 200 degrees Celsius at night. For this reason, there is a risk that heat will be removed from the part in contact with the moon surface at night and the installed equipment may not operate, and when exploring on the moon for a long time, consideration for the low temperature environment is indispensable .

On the other hand, if the probe main body is separated upward from the lunar surface by the landing legs, it becomes difficult to lower an unmanned rover from the probe main body to the lunar surface.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, not only to achieve a significant reduction in size and weight, but also to withstand severe temperature changes on the celestial body surface. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved spacecraft in which an unmanned rover can be easily launched.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an astronomical exploration apparatus for performing an exploration by landing on the surface of an astronomical object, comprising:
A landing leg extending downward from the main body of the spacecraft, the lower end of which abuts on the surface of the celestial body and absorbs impact at the time of landing. The landing leg is disposed so that the spacecraft is turned sideways with the portion in contact with the celestial body surface as a fulcrum, and is separated from the celestial object surface when it falls down on the celestial object surface.

That is, the landing of the astronomical explorer according to the first aspect of the present invention is completed with the explorer body lying down on the surface of the celestial body. Therefore, the landing leg only needs to absorb the impact at the time of landing, and it is not necessary to return to the predetermined position in order to maintain the spacecraft body in the predetermined landing position. Can be greatly reduced. In addition, one or two landing legs are sufficient since the probe only needs to fall down, so there is a high degree of freedom in the arrangement of the probe relative to the probe, and the astronomical probe is greatly reduced in size. can do. Furthermore, as long as the impact absorption function at the time of landing is not lost, part of the landing gear may be damaged by receiving the exhaust heat of the descent engine during landing. As a result, the size of the astronomical explorer can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the landing leg separates from the celestial body surface after the explorer body lays down on the celestial body surface, heat conduction between the explorer main body and the celestial body surface via the landing leg can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to the first aspect, the landing legs are arranged symmetrically in a front-rear direction within a central plane including a center axis extending in a vertical direction of the explorer body. It is characterized by being established.

That is, according to the celestial locator according to the second aspect, the landing can be performed in a stable posture in the front-rear direction by the pair of legs symmetrical in the front-rear direction. After the landing, the probe body rolls in either direction to the left or right and falls on the surface of the celestial body, using the straight line connecting the parts where the pair of front and rear legs contact the surface of the celestial body as a rotation axis. A specific part of the side surface can be intentionally grounded on the surface of the celestial body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to the second aspect, the explorer main body is disposed symmetrically with respect to the plane, which is in contact with the surface of the celestial body when it falls down. It has a pair of right and left ground planes.

That is, according to the astronomical explorer according to the third aspect, even if the explorer body rolls over in either the left or right direction after landing and falls on the celestial body surface, the attitude with respect to the celestial body surface is exactly the same. Can land on the surface of the celestial body.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to the third aspect, the pair of right and left ground planes is
It is characterized by being covered with a ceramic honeycomb material.

That is, according to the celestial locator according to the fourth aspect, since the pair of left and right grounding surfaces are respectively covered by the ceramic honeycomb material, the honeycomb material is compressed and deformed when the probe body falls down. In addition, it is possible to reduce the impact acting on the probe body when the probe falls. Further, since a ceramic honeycomb material is used, heat conduction between the celestial body surface and the probe main body can be significantly reduced as compared with a case where a metal honeycomb material is used. Accordingly, even when the temperature of the surface of the celestial body becomes extremely low, it is possible to prevent heat from being taken away from the main body of the probe by heat conduction and the equipment stored inside the main body of the probe to become inoperable.
Note that when the honeycomb material is formed using magnesium silicate as the ceramic material, the thermal conductivity can be reduced to 1/100 or less as compared with the case where an aluminum honeycomb material is used.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the main body of the explorer is deployed before falling on the surface of the celestial body, and the impact at the time of falling down is obtained. It is further characterized by further comprising an airbag device for absorbing air.

That is, according to the celestial locator according to the fifth aspect, the impact acting on the cradle main body at the time of falling down can be reduced by the airbag device. This airbag device is almost the same as that generally used in automobiles, and inflates an airbag formed, for example, from a nylon cloth by a large amount of inflation gas generated by an ignited propellant. In addition, the gas is gradually released when sandwiched between the probe body and the celestial body surface.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the main body of the explorer has an opening for taking out a probe housed therein. The lid, which is provided on the upper surface and closes the opening, is characterized in that when opened, the rover runs on the road and reaches the surface of the celestial body.

That is, in the astronomical explorer according to the sixth aspect, since the side surface of the explorer body and the upper surface of the explorer body that are in contact with the celestial body surface are adjacent to each other, they are provided on the upper surface of the explorer body. By opening the lid, the rover stored inside the probe body can be easily started with respect to the surface of the celestial body. At this time, by using the open lid as the road plate, the rover can be more easily started with respect to the celestial body surface.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical vehicle according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the traveling vehicle for traveling on the surface of the celestial body is vertically symmetrical. In addition, an exploration device is disposed inside the vertical direction between the upper and lower grounding portions of the traveling device.

That is, according to the celestial locator according to the seventh aspect, even if one of the pair of left and right grounding surfaces of the locator body is in contact with the celestial body surface, the rover can start on the celestial body surface. . Further, since the exploration equipment is disposed inside the vertical direction between the upper and lower grounding portions of the traveling device, even if the exploration vehicle touches the surface of the celestial body on either the upper or lower side, the traveling will not be obstructed.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, an upper surface of the explorer body is formed in a convex shape.

That is, in the celestial body exploration apparatus according to the present invention, even if the upper surface of the explorer body rolls over and the upper surface thereof comes into contact with the celestial body surface, the upper surface of the explorer body is convex. And the grounding posture is unstable, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the probe from falling down with the upper surface of the probe body grounded.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the astronomical explorer according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, when the landing leg is pushed by the lower end abutting on the surface of the celestial body, the tip is moved to the tip. It has a honeycomb material that is compressed and deformed by a portion.

That is, in the celestial body exploration apparatus according to the ninth aspect, since the landing leg only needs to absorb the impact at the time of landing and does not need to return to the predetermined position, the use of the honeycomb core makes it extremely lightweight and compact. A simple landing leg can be constructed.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the celestial locator according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the vertical direction is referred to as the vertical direction, and the direction in which the probe body rolls over after landing is referred to as the left-right direction.

The celestial locator 100 of this embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes a probe main body 10 in which instruments are stored. The probe main body 10 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and its upper surface 11 is formed in a gable roof shape in a convex shape. Further, when the pair of left and right lids 12 and 13 forming the upper surface 11 are opened, a road plate for lowering the unmanned rover 60 onto the celestial body surface G as shown in FIG. Further, a pair of left and right side surfaces 14, 1 of the probe main body 10 are provided.
Numeral 5 is disposed symmetrically with respect to a plane P including a central axis C extending in the vertical direction of the probe main body 10.

A pair of left and right side surfaces 14, 1 of the probe body 10
5 is provided with a ceramic honeycomb material 20. These ceramic honeycomb materials 20
Is available as, for example, a GRANDEX ceramic honeycomb from Tokiwa Electric Co., Ltd., and is made of a non-asbestos non-combustible paper containing magnesium silicate as a main component, a silica-based inorganic adhesive, and a silica-based inorganic impregnating agent. It is an inorganic honeycomb core with high performance and durability. Furthermore, the ceramic honeycomb material 20 is excellent in noncombustibility, and the shape of the ceramic honeycomb material 20 can be almost completely maintained while the aluminum honeycomb material is significantly deformed in a burner ignition test at 800 degrees Celsius.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right airbag devices 30 penetrate a pair of left and right ceramic honeycomb members 20 on a pair of left and right side surfaces 14 and 15 of a pair of right and left probes 10 respectively. It is provided in. This airbag device 30 has almost the same structure as that used in an automobile, and as shown in FIG. 4, a large amount of inflation gas generated by an ignited propellant is used to convert nylon fabric, for example. The airbag formed in a balloon shape is inflated, and gas is gradually released when the airbag is sandwiched between the probe body 10 and the celestial body surface G. The airbag device 30 includes a landing leg 50 described later.
Is in contact with the celestial body surface G, or
Can be activated when the left-right inclination exceeds a predetermined angle. Also, a pair of left and right airbag devices 30 is provided.
At the same time, or only the airbag device 30 on which the probe main body 10 falls down can be operated.

On the lower surface of the probe body 10, the probe body 1
A rocket engine 40 for descent is provided coaxially with a central axis C extending in the vertical direction of 0, and injects gas downward when descending toward the surface of the celestial body so as to reduce the descending speed of the spacecraft body 10. It has become.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a pair of front and rear landing legs 50 extend downward from the probe main body 10. These landing legs 50 are attached to the center axis C of the spacecraft body 10.
Are arranged so as to extend symmetrically in the front-rear direction and divergently downward in the central plane P including. Also,
As shown in FIG. 2, these landing legs 50 have a distal end portion 52 slidably fitted in an outer cylinder 51 fixed to the lower surface of the probe main body 10, and have a landing A honeycomb core 53 for absorbing a shock is inserted. The above-mentioned ceramic honeycomb material can be used for the honeycomb core 53.

An unmanned rover 60 shown in FIG. 5 has an endless track 61 for traveling on a celestial body surface G and a pair of drive wheels 6.
It has a vertically symmetric running device wound between 2, 63. The upper and lower grounding portions 61a of the endless track 61,
An exploration device 64 is provided on the inner side in the up-down direction between 61b. It should be noted that the unmanned rover 60 has a spacecraft body 1 that is filled with a gas-filled bag in the gap.
0, and the structure is released by releasing the gas in the bag after landing.

Next, the operation and effect of the celestial locator 100 of the present embodiment having the above-described structure will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the celestial locator 100 of this embodiment descends toward the celestial body surface G while injecting the descending engine 40 downward. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the ground contact portion 54 of the landing leg 50 touches the celestial body surface G, the tip portion 52 slides into the outer cylinder 51 and sinks to compressively deform the honeycomb core 53, and the landing core 50 Absorbs shock.

Immediately after the celestial body 100 lands on the celestial body surface G, as shown in FIG.
Upright on the celestial body surface G. However, since the pair of front and rear landing legs 50 are arranged in the central plane P of the probe main body 10, the balance in the left-right direction eventually collapses, and the probe main body 10 is located on the celestial body surface G as shown in FIG. It falls down in either direction on the left or right, using the part that touches the ground as a pivot point. At this time, the airbag device 30 deployed immediately after the probe main body 10 lands serves as a cushion, so that the shock when the probe main body 10 falls on the celestial body surface G can be reliably absorbed.

The probe main body 10 that has fallen toward the celestial body surface G falls on the celestial body surface G with the ceramic honeycomb material 20 on the left side facing down, as shown in FIG. At this time, the overturning momentum is excessive and the upper surface 11
Even if the ground comes in contact with the celestial body surface G, since the upper surface of the spacecraft main body 10 is formed in a gable roof shape in a convex shape,
It does not fall on the celestial body surface G with the upper surface 11 facing down. In addition, the pair of front and rear landing legs 50 extending from the lower surface of the probe main body 10 serve as counterweights, thereby preventing the upper surface 11 of the probe main body 10 from touching the celestial body surface G. Further, since the pair of front and rear landing legs 50 extend downward and divergently downward, the pair of front and rear side surfaces 16 and 17 of the probe body 10 does not fall so as to contact the celestial body surface G.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the probe main body 10 falls down, for example, to the left, the probe main body 10 lays down on the celestial body surface G with the ceramic honeycomb material 20 on the left side down. At this time, the ceramic honeycomb material 20 is
The impact when the probe body 10 falls on the celestial body surface G is absorbed by its own deformation. At the same time, the ceramic honeycomb material 20 cuts off heat transfer between the spacecraft main body 10 and the celestial body surface G, and the devices housed inside the spacecraft main body 10 operate under the influence of the temperature of the celestial body surface G. Prevent from being disabled.

A pair of left and right side surfaces 14, 1 of the probe body 10
5 is disposed symmetrically with respect to the center surface P, so that the probe body 10 falls down on the celestial body surface G in the same posture regardless of which one is on the lower side. Further, since the pair of left and right side surfaces 14 and 15 of the spacecraft main body 10 are formed in large rectangular planes, respectively, when the spacecraft body 10 falls down on the celestial body surface G as shown in FIG. The posture is extremely stable.

Further, when the probe main body 10 is lying on the celestial body surface G, the upper surface 11 of the probe main body 10 comes very close to the celestial body surface G. Thus, when the pair of left and right lids 12 and 13 forming the upper surface of the probe main body 10 are opened to open the upper opening 18 of the probe main body 10, these lids 1 are opened.
Since either one of 2, 13 serves as a road plate, the probe body 10
The unmanned rover 60 stored in the inside of the vehicle can be easily dropped on the celestial body surface G.

The unmanned exploration vehicle 60 is formed symmetrically in the up and down direction and the equipment for exploration is connected to the upper and lower grounding portions 61.
a, 61b, the probe body 10
Even if one of the pair of left and right side surfaces 14 and 15 falls down on the celestial body surface G, the vehicle can easily start on the celestial body surface G.

As mentioned above, one embodiment of the celestial locator according to the present invention has been described in detail. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a pair of front and rear landing legs is used. However, when a plurality of descent engines are used, only one landing leg coaxial with the center axis of the probe main body can be used. . In this case, the probe main body can be turned over in a specific direction by, for example, gas injection.

[0042]

As is apparent from the above description, the landing of the celestial body according to the present invention is completed in a state where the body of the crater is lying down on the surface of the celestial body. Therefore, the landing leg only needs to absorb the impact at the time of landing, and it is not necessary to return to the predetermined position in order to maintain the spacecraft body in the predetermined landing position. It can be significantly reduced. In addition, one or two landing legs are sufficient since the probe only needs to fall down, so there is a high degree of freedom in the arrangement of the probe relative to the probe, and the astronomical probe is greatly reduced in size. can do. Furthermore, as long as the impact absorption function at the time of landing is not lost, part of the landing gear may be damaged by receiving the exhaust heat of the descent engine during landing. As a result, the size of the astronomical explorer can be greatly reduced. In addition, since the landing leg separates from the celestial body surface after the explorer body lays down on the celestial body surface, heat conduction between the explorer main body and the celestial body surface via the landing leg can be prevented.

Further, the astronomical explorer of the present invention can land in a stable posture in the front-rear direction by a pair of landing legs symmetrical in the front-rear direction. After landing, the probe body rolls in the left or right direction and falls on the surface of the celestial body, using the straight line connecting the parts where the front and rear landing legs contact each other to the surface of the celestial body as a rotation axis. A specific portion of the side surface of the main body can be reliably grounded on the surface of the celestial body.

In the astronomical probe according to the present invention, even if the probe body rolls over in the left or right direction and lays down on the surface of the celestial body after landing, it lands on the celestial body surface in exactly the same attitude with respect to the celestial body surface. can do.

In the astronomical probe according to the present invention, the pair of right and left grounding surfaces are respectively covered by the ceramic honeycomb material. Therefore, when the probe body falls down, the honeycomb material is compressed and deformed. Can be reduced. Further, since a ceramic honeycomb material is used, heat conduction between the celestial body surface and the probe main body can be significantly reduced as compared with a case where a metal honeycomb material is used. Accordingly, even when the temperature of the surface of the celestial body becomes extremely low, it is possible to prevent heat from being taken away from the main body of the probe by heat conduction and the equipment stored inside the main body of the probe to become inoperable.

Further, in the celestial locator of the present invention, the impact acting on the cradle main body at the time of falling can be reduced by the airbag device.

In the astronomical probe according to the present invention, the lid provided on the upper surface of the probe body is opened because the side surface of the probe body and the upper surface of the probe body that are grounded on the celestial body surface are adjacent to each other. Thereby, the search vehicle stored inside the search device main body can be easily started with respect to the surface of the celestial body. At this time, by using the open lid as the road plate, the rover can be more easily started with respect to the celestial body surface.

Further, in the celestial locator according to the present invention, even if one of the pair of right and left grounding surfaces of the locator main body is grounded on the celestial body surface, the rover can start on the celestial body surface. In addition, since the exploration equipment is disposed inside the vertical direction between the upper and lower grounding portions of the traveling device, even if the exploration vehicle is in contact with the surface of the celestial body on either the upper or lower side, the traveling will not be obstructed.

In the astronomical probe according to the present invention, the upper surface of the probe main body is formed in a convex shape even if the upper surface of the probe body comes into contact with the surface of the celestial body when the probe body rolls over. Since the grounding posture is unstable, it is possible to reliably prevent the probe from falling down with the upper surface of the probe body grounded.

Also, since the landing leg of the astronomical explorer of the present invention only needs to absorb the impact of landing and does not need to return to a predetermined position, a very lightweight and small landing leg is formed by using the honeycomb core. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an astronomical explorer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the celestial locator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the celestial locator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state in which the astronomical detector shown in FIG. 1 falls down.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state in which the celestial locator shown in FIG. 1 has fallen on the celestial body surface;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Explorer main body 11 Top surface 12,13 Lid body 14,15 A pair of right and left side surfaces 16,17 A pair of front and rear side surfaces 18 Opening 20 Ceramic honeycomb material 30 Airbag device 40 Engine for descent 50 Landing leg 51 Outer cylinder 52 Tip part 53 Honeycomb core 54 Ground contact portion 60 Unmanned rover 61 Endless track 62, 63 Driving wheel 64 Exploration device 100 Astronomical exploration device of one embodiment according to the present invention

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An astronomical explorer which performs an exploration by landing on a surface of an astronomical object, wherein the explorer main body in which instruments are stored, and a lower end of the explorer abuts on the surface of the celestial body to absorb a shock at the time of landing. A landing leg extending downward from the aircraft body, wherein the landing leg is separated from the celestial body surface when the explorer body rolls over and falls on the celestial body surface with a portion in contact with the celestial body surface as a fulcrum. An astronomical explorer characterized by being arranged. 2. The astronomical spacecraft according to claim 1, wherein the landing leg is disposed in a central plane including a center axis extending in a vertical direction of the spacecraft body. 3. The probe body has a pair of left and right side surfaces which are arranged in parallel and symmetrically with respect to the plane and which contact the surface of the celestial body when lying down.
The astronomical spacecraft described in. 4. The celestial locator according to claim 3, wherein the pair of left and right side surfaces are respectively covered with a ceramic honeycomb material. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the probe body further includes an airbag device that expands before falling down on the surface of the celestial body and absorbs an impact at the time of falling down. Astronomical spacecraft. 6. The probe body has an opening on its upper surface for taking out a probe housed therein, and a lid for closing the opening is provided when the probe is opened. The astronomical explorer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the astronomical explorer serves as a road plate running on the celestial body surface. 7. In the search vehicle, a traveling device for traveling on the surface of the celestial body is configured to be vertically symmetrical, and an exploration device is disposed inside a vertical direction between upper and lower grounding portions of the traveling device. The astronomical explorer according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The astronomical explorer according to claim 1, wherein an upper surface of the explorer main body is formed in a convex shape. 9. The celestial body exploration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the landing leg has a shock absorbing honeycomb material that is compressed and deformed when the lower end abuts on the celestial body surface. Machine.