Citation
Abstract
This article provides a comprehensive model to describe a single coherent reflection between a vehicle landed on a planetary body (e.g., the Moon or Mars) and a distant receiver on Earth. Equations to describe the received signal, and the relative phase and Doppler shift of the reflected electromagnetic wave, are first derived as a function of the system geometry. These equations are then specialized to the case of a lander and a rover, highlighting some of the differences between both types of vehicles. The resulting model is used to study the dynamics of the multipath channel in both the uplink and downlink directions using the null-to-null time interval as the metric of interest. To validate the model, the obtained analytical expressions are compared against empirical data collected with the Deep Space Network, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, and the Intuitive Machines 1 mission.
Keywords
Details
- Volume
- 42-240
- Published
- February 15, 2025
- Pages
- 1–32
- File Size
- 3.0 MB