Lunar Imaging Camera (LIC) -Pre-flight tests and operation plan

概要

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Lunar Imaging Camera (LIC) is a small, compact and lightweight monochromatic imager designed and developed for LUNAR-A, Japanese lunar mission. The scientific objectives of the camera address impact cratering, tectonic processes, volcanic features, and optical properties of the regolith surface.The image sensor is a linear CCD and is aligned with the spin axis of the spacecraft, which orbits the Moon at altitudes of 200-300 km. The two-dimensional image is taken using the spin motion of the spacecraft. The total field of view (FOV) of the camera is 360°(around the spin axis)×14.6°(along the CCD-array). LIC obtains an image in one spin. The angular resolution of the camera is about 20 arcsec/pixel at a spin rate of 3 rpm. The spatial resolution is about 25 m/pixels at the surface when the altitude is 250 km. The spin axis of the LUNAR-A approximately points toward the Sun, therefore, LIC can take images of the lunar surface with highly oblique illumination conditions near the terminator. A series of pre-flight tests of LIC was performed. In those tests, the hardware performance and the functions of LIC were verified and the data for radiometric and geometric corrections were obtained. This paper outlines the scientific objective, characteristics of LIC, the procedure and the results of the pre-flight tests and the operation plan of LIC.
宇宙航空研究開発機構の論文