A lunar landing safety estimation methodology using lidar acquired DEM

This paper presents a safety estimation methodology for soft landing explorations on the Moon. In our application we use digital elevation models (DEM) of given lunar terrain extracted from on-board lidars. Currently most landing safety analysis methods are based on topographical analysis which needs quite a lot of computation. Here we adopt a Monte-Carlo simulation method which doesn't need to identify complex lunar topographical characteristics and needs less computation. After developing lunar lander's collision detection model, lander gradient model, and lander aspect model, Monte-Carlo simulations of landing on given DEM are conducted iteratively. Safety estimation is implemented by analyzing corresponding simulation results using statistical analysis method. Simulation errors of this algorithm are also deduced and analyzed in this paper. Computer simulation results show that this method can provide valuable information to estimate landing safety of given terrain for lunar soft landing missions.