月球熔岩管探索：LunarLeaper
Lava Tube Exploration with LunarLeaper
- ETH Zurich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）
- University of Bern（伯尔尼大学）
- German Aerospace Center（德国航空航天中心）
- University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学）
- Royal Observatory of Belgium（比利时皇家天文台）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。
AI总结：
本文提出LunarLeaper，一个结合多种仪器的腿式机器人任务概念，旨在对月海坑洞进行首次原位调查，以解决月球火山地层和地下空洞等关键科学问题。
AI中文摘要：
月球坑洞，其中一些被解释为下方熔岩管的塌陷特征，暴露了原本难以触及的地层，并可能提供进入地下空洞的入口，这些空洞保存着月球火山活动的记录，并为未来人类探索提供潜在场所。我们综合了目前关于月球坑洞和熔岩管的知识状况，涵盖其形态特征、分类、提出的形成机制、力学稳定性以及从轨道探测的方法。随后，我们回顾了坑洞和坑壁调查特别适合解决的开放科学问题，涵盖月海火山地层学、风化层的结构和横向变化，以及地下通道的尺寸和可达性。为了评估如何原位解决这些问题，我们评估了地球物理和遥感调查对地下空洞和地表露头的可行性和预期性能，主要关注重力测量、探地雷达、高分辨率成像和光谱学。在此基础上，我们提出了LunarLeaper，一个小型腿式机器人任务概念，结合重力仪、探地雷达、高分辨率成像仪、光谱仪和基于腿的地质力学实验，以进行对月海坑洞的首次原位调查。该概念以Marius Hills坑洞及其相关沟槽为目标，其移动架构针对坑洞边缘和漏斗斜坡遇到的崎岖地形进行了优化。
英文摘要：
Lunar pits, some of which are interpreted as collapse features into underlying lava tubes, expose otherwise inaccessible stratigraphy and may provide entry points to subsurface voids that preserve records of lunar volcanism and offer potential sites for future human exploration. We synthesize the current state of knowledge on lunar pits and lava tubes, covering their morphological characteristics, classification, proposed formation mechanisms, mechanical stability, and detection from orbit. We then review the open science questions that pit and pit-wall investigation is uniquely placed to address, spanning the volcanic stratigraphy of the lunar maria, the structure and lateral variability of the regolith, and the dimensions and accessibility of subsurface conduits. To evaluate how these questions can be tackled in situ, we assess the feasibility and expected performance of geophysical and remote-sensing investigations for subsurface voids and surface exposures, mainly focusing on gravity measurements, ground-penetrating radar, high-resolution imaging, and spectroscopy. Building on this, we present LunarLeaper, a small legged robot mission concept combining a gravimeter, ground-penetrating radar, high-resolution imager, spectrometer, and leg-based geomechanical experiments to deliver the first in situ investigation of a mare pit. The concept targets the Marius Hills Pit and its associated rille, with a mobility architecture optimized for the rugged terrain encountered at pit edges and funnel slopes.
