Landing on the Moon

Name: Wangwang Liu (25)
Nationality: Chinese
Promoters: Professor Weiren Wu (Beijing Institute of Technology) and temporarily Prof. Boudewijn Ambrosius (TU Delft, faculty of Aerospace Engineering)
Subject: Lunar descent and ascent
Thesis defence: In 2.5 years

“Many countries are showing renewed interests in exploring the Moon, Mars and other planetary objects of the solar system. The European Space Agency plans to send a capsule with a robot to the Moon in 2018, China plans to do so in 2013, and if all goes well India and Russia will land a robot in 2014.

My research focus is on the guidance, navigation and control software necessary for the landing and subsequent take off again of lunar capsules. When I have finished my thesis, I’d like to work for the China National Space Administration (the space organization of China).
Decades have passed since Nasa astronauts landed on the Moon, so you might think that space agencies have the know-how by now. The descents and ascents of the missions to come are more complicated, however. During its Apollo program, Nasa landed its lunar modules near the Moon’s equator. The landing location was sometimes tenths of kilometers away from the designated landing site, but that was not very problematic, since the terrain is relatively flat near those landing sites. The new landing sites however are near the South Pole, which is a much more rugged terrain, with lots of craters, so space agencies can no longer afford big landing errors. Space agencies want to land on the South Pole, because they hope to find water there.

In 2014 I will follow India and Russia’s Moon mission with great interest. I hope that they will not land directly in a straight line, but rather instead they will use the so-called ‘transfer orbit approach’, in which they put the spacecraft into orbit around the Moon first. This allows for a gentler landing and consumes less energy as well. This is the maneuver that I’m currently investigating.
I’m performing the main part of my PhD research at the Beijing Institute of Technology. The Chinese government offered me a grant to work for one year at TU Delft. It’s a great opportunity. I’ve been here for three months now and have noticed quite some differences with the Beijing Institute of Technology. For instance, here PhD students are more stimulated to think creatively and come up with innovative ideas. And the section has a secretary who does a lot of supporting work, so that all the staff members can concentrate on their research.”