Guidance navigation and control for Chang’E-3 powered descent

Abstract

It is the first time for ChangE-3 lander landing on an extraterrestrial celestial body in China. Guidance, navigation and control system is one of the most important systems. Guidance, navigation, hazard avoidance and attitude control are demanded strictly for safe landing during powered descent. Adaptive powered explicit guidance, multibeam fault-tolerant navigation and partition quaternion control are proposed for ChangE-3 mission. The results in orbit show that these techniques are reasonable. The landing mission is successful and the performances of landing precision, attitude and velocity are better than the corresponding requirements. This paper presents requirement, composing and technique of ChangE-3 GNC system and results in orbit.