FTB (Flying Test Bed) Experiment for Lunar Landing

An automatic lunar landing mission (SELENE-B) is now being studied in the Japanese SELenological and ENgineering Explorer project. The objectives of the mission are to develop technologies for future lunar exploration and to acquire scientific data of the moon. In this mission, a lander will make a soft-landing at a predetermined point meaningful for lunar science. Obstacle detection and controls for safe landings are serious technical subjects. In this paper, the flight test results of a SELENE-B flying test bed (FTB), and the design of a model-following controller are described.