Model Investigation of Technique for Full Scale Landing Impact Tests at Simulated Lunar Gravity

An investigation of a 1/6-scale dynamic model has been made to develop and evaluate a technique for conducting full-scale landing-impact tests at simulated lunar gravity. Landings were made at touchdown pitch attitudes of -15 degrees, 0 degrees, and 15 degrees. All landings were made with two gear pads forward and at a roll attitude of 0 degrees. Both roll and yaw attitudes were constrained. Vertical landing speed was varied from 5 to 15 feet per second (1.5 to 4.6 m/s) and horizontal speed was varied from 0 to 10 feet per second (0 to 3.0 m/s). Most of the landings were made at a vertical and horizontal speed of 10 feet per second or 3.0 m/s (45 degree flight-path angle) while pitch attitude and surface characteristics, friction and topography, were varied. These parameters were investigated with the free-body earth-gravity and the simulated lunar-gravity test techniques. The landings were made at a model mass corresponding to a full-scale lunar weight (force due to gravity) of 1,440 pounds (6.41 kN) or an earth weight of 8,640 pounds (38.4 kN).