Citation
Abstract
This article describes an experimental campaign to measure multipath effects between the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Deep Space Network (DSN) when the spacecraft sets behind or rises from the far side of the Moon. The primary objective of this campaign was to measure the Doppler spread of the received reflections and characterize the extent of the scattering area from terrain properties such as surface roughness. All experiments were conducted opportunistically without imposing any operational constraints or requirements to LRO. This approach expedited the measurement campaign, but also limited the resulting science output. In this article, we describe the experimental setup and provide an exploratory analysis of the collected samples. In particular, we first describe the experiment planning phase, including coordination with the LRO project, selection of DSN tracks, and information on the sequence of events that occur during each measurement opportunity. Next, we analyze three of the nine DSN tracks executed. This exploratory analysis includes measurements of the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and residual frequency, as well as estimation of the specular reflection point and its associated Doppler shift. Finally, a discussion on how the available data can be used to estimate the scattering area. This article is intended as an introduction to this effort. A companion article provides an in-depth discussion of the science results, including estimation of the Doppler spread and the scattering area.
Keywords
Details
- Volume
- 42-222
- Published
- August 15, 2020
- Pages
- 1–22
- File Size
- 6.2 MB