Investigation on soft-landing dynamics of four-legged lunar lander

In order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of soft-landing dynamic calculation of lunar lander, this paper proposed a new soft-landing dynamic model with seven free degrees and the inertia force was also taken into consideration during the landing process. The force condition of lander during soft-landing was investigated; moreover dynamics and kinematics equations were deduced. Besides, the landing process was studied by mathematical model, which is verified by results of scale lander prototype and landing test platform. The result shows that the calculation could match the test results effectively, which verifies accuracy and availability of seven free degrees soft-landing dynamic model. (C) 2014 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.