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BELLCOMM. INC. ,’ g63 t6098
955 L‘ENFANT PLAZA NORTH, S.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20024

SUBJECT: S c r e e n i n g of Line of S i g h t t o LM by DATE: J u n e 30 , 1969

C r a t e r s a t Apollo S i t e 2 -
Mission G
Case 320 FROM: I . I . Rosenblum

ABSTRACT

D i f f i c u l t i e s a r i s e i n attempting t o provide
c o n t i n u o u s communications coverage between t h e LM and a
r o v i n g r e c e i v e r on proposed advanced l u n a r m i s s i o n s where
t r a v e r s e s o u t t o a 5 km r a d i u s may o c c u r . P a r t of t h e
coverage problem i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h d i r e c t s c r e e n i n g of t h e
l i n e of s i g h t by c r a t e r r i m s and o t h e r t e r r a i n f e a t u r e s .
S p e c i f i c c r a t e r p a r a m e t e r s g i v e n by a v a i l a b l e t o p o g r a p h i c a l
map d a t a f o r S i t e 2 p r o v i d e t h e b a s i s f o r e s t i m a t i n g shadowipg
e f f e c t s by crater r i m s o u t t o a r a d i u s of 5 km, f o r s e v e r a l
combinations o f LM and ROVER a n t e n n a h e i g h t s , ( t h e h i g h e s t
v a l u e s used a r e 5 0 0 f e e t f o r LM and 50 f e e t f o r R O V E R ) . Single
k n i f e - e d g e and double k n i f e - e d g e d i f f r a c t i o n ( a f t e r WILKERSON
1 9 6 6 ) i s t h e method used f o r a p p r o x i m a t i n g t h e s i g n a l l o s s
w i t h r e s p e c t t o free s p a c e i n t h e shadow areas b o t h i n s i d e t h e
s i t e c r a t e r s and beyond t h e c r a t e r r i m s . Results indicate t h a t
a s i g n i f i c a n t s c r e e n i n g p r o b l e m e x i s t s a t 300 MHz.

(NASA-CR-106745) SCREENING Of LINE OF SIGHT

TO LB B Y CRATERS AT AEOLLLO S I T E 2 - XISSfON
G (Bellcomm, rnc,) 20 p

00/32 11689

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ORY’
! BELLCOMM.
INC.
955 L'ENFANT PLAZA NORTH. S.W. WASHINGTON. D. C. 20024

SUBJECT: S c r e e n i n g of Line o f S i g h t t o LM by DATE: June 30 , 1 9 6 9

C r a t e r s a t Apollo S i t e 2 - Mission G
Case 320 FROM: I . I. Rosenblum

MEMORANDUM FOR F I L E

I. INTRODUCTION

I n o r d e r t o g a i n a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e
i n f l u e n c e of t e r r a i n f e a t u r e s on communication b e t w e e n LM and
a r o v i n g r e c e i v e r on t h e l u n a r s u r f a c e f o r advanced l u n a r
e x p l o r a t i o n , an i n v e s t i g a t i o n w a s made o f t h e p r e d i c t e d
shadow a r e a s a t S i t e 2 (G M i s s i o n ) . T h i s s i t e was chosen
b e c a u s e d e t a i l e d t o p o g r a p h i c a l d a t a a r e a v a i l a b l e and b e c a u s e
t h i s s i t e , by h a v i n g numerous and v a r i e d s i z e d c r a t e r s
w i t h i n a 5 k m r a d i u s , w i l l perhaps s u g q e s t t h e r e l a t i v e
magnitude of t h e communication problems over t h e t e r r a i n of
t h e more advanced m i s s i o n s i t e s ( f o r which d e t a i l e d
t o p o g r a p h i c a l d a t a are n o t y e t a v a i l a b l e ) .

11. ANALYSIS

The s i g n i f i c a n t c r a t e r s w i t h i n a 5 km r a d i u s of t h e
proposed LM l a n d i n g s i t e were i d e n t i f i e d from map d a t a i n
Reference 1 (which g i v e s r i m h e i g h t and c r a t e r d e p t h ) , p a r t
of which i s reproduced a s F i g u r e 1. E s t i m a t e s of c r a t e r
d i a m e t e r s and d i s t a n c e s from t h e proposed LM l a n d i n g s i t e
w e r e determined from s c a l e measurements of t o p o g r a p h i c a l
map d a t a o r from Lunar O r b i t o r p h o t o g r a p h s , and a r e g i v e n i n
Table - 1.

S c r e e n i n g of t h e l i n e of s i g h t was e v a l u a t e d f o r
t h e f o l l o w i n g combinations of LM a n t e n n a h e i g h t and rover
r e c e i v e r antenna h e i g h t :
ROVER ANTENNA H E I G H T ( f t )

LM ANTENNA HEIGHT ( f t ) 6 25 50

25 X X X
100 X X X

50 0 X X X

I n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n it w a s d e s i r e d t o f i n d t h e
areas w i t h i n t h e 5 k m r a d i u s which would be shadowed by
 B E L L C O M M ,I N C . - 2 -

c r a t e r r i m s f o r t h e s e a n t e n n a h e i g h t s and r o u g h l y t o q u a n t i z e
t h e communication loss i n t h e shadowed r e g i o n .

The e v a l u a t i ~n of t h e shadow area w a s a c c o m p l i s h e d

by r e s o r t i n g t o p l a n e s u r f a c e geometry and by r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e
c r a t e r r i m s as perfect::- absorbing knife-edge d i f f r a c t i o n
l i n e s . EPSTEIN and PETLRSON r e p o r t c d ( i n R e f e r e n c e 2 ) u s e f u l
agreement between e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a ( a t 850 MHz) and
t h e o r e t i c a l p r e d i c t i o n s b a s e d on t h e k n i f e - e d g e t h e o r y , f o r
t h e shadow r e g i o n b e h i n d h i l l s e v e n though o r d i n a r y h i l l s are
a n y t h i n g b u t k n i f e e d g e s . C r a t e r r i m s would t h u s e q u a l l y
a p p e a r t o be a p p r o p r i a t e l y r e p r e s e n t e d a s k n i f e - e d g e s .
WILKERSON ( i n F.ef. 3 ) h a s shown t h a t f o r t h e d o u b l e k n i f e -
edge d i f f r a c t i o n c a s e , t h e a t t e n u a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s can be
s a t i s f a c t o r i l y d e t e r r l i n e d ( u s u a l e r r o r o f 1 o r 2 d b ) by
u s i n g t h e EPSTEIN and PETERSON a p p r o x i m a t i o n . I n t h i s method
i t i s assumed t h a t t h e t o t a l a t t e n u a t i o n i s t h e p r o d u c t of
t h e a t t e n u a t i o r s a t e a c h r i d g e t o p due t o t h e o t h e r r i d g e .
P . e f e r r i n g t o F i g u r e 2 , t h e a t t e n u a t i o n s are a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
r a y p a t h s TP1 P 2 and P 1 P2 3 r e s p e c t i v e l y . The a t t e n u a t i o n
is g i v e n by:
A 2 , EP = F1 (Bl) F2 ( B 2 ) (1.1)

where B 1 and B 2 a r e g i v e n i n e q u a t i o n ( 1 . 4 ) o f R e f e r e n c e 3.
I n Reference 3 , p a r t 2 , W I L K E R S O N d i s c u s s e s and g i v e s a
straightforward expression for numerically determining values
o f B1 and B2 i n t h e +c,llowing form:
~ 1 2 , = 2.583 01, 2 [f*rlr2/(rl+r2)l 1/2
(1.2)
where f = f r e q u e n c y i-1 “llz

and where, r e f e r r i n g t o F i g u r e 3 ,

-01 and 0 2 are t h e d i f f r a c t i o n a n g l e t a n g e n t s

( e q u a l t o t h e a n g l e f o r s m a l l 01, d e t e r m i n e d
from t h e geometry

O r l r 2 , and r 3 are t h e s e p a r a t i o n d i s t a n c e s i n
,

k i l o m e t e r s , and

.H1, H 2 , and H9 are t h e h e i g h t s o f t h e LM a n t e n n a ,

c r a t e r r i m and r o v e r antenna r e s p e c t i v e l y .

As a sinplification t o the investigation, an a l t e r n a t e

f o r m of t h e above e x p r e s s i o n ( 1 . 2 ) w a s u s e d t o o b t a i n R 1 (and
B 2 ) namely:
t

B E L L C O M MI ,N C . - 3 -

B 1 = .707 01 I 1/2
[ n (rl r2)/X(r1+r2)
where a l l l e n g t h s are i n meters and X = t h e wavelength.

S i n c e o n l y approximate d a t a w a s b e i n g s o u g h t , t h e
v a l u e s o f B 1 , B2 w e r e e q u a t e d w i t h t h e d i m e n s i o n l e s s p a r a m e t e r
v , and n u m e r i c a l v a l u e s f o r F 1 ( B l ) , F1 ( B 2 ) w e r e approximated,
b a s e d on t h e a t t e n u a t i o n curve f o r v g i v e n i n F i g u r e 3 of
R e f e r e n c e 3 , by:

F1, 2 (db) = 6 db + 6.95 (B1,2) (1.4)

from t h e 6 db p o i n t t o t h e 12.95 db p o i n t and above 12.95 db

by:

F1, 2 (db) = 12.95 db + 2 0 log ( B l , 2 ) (1.5)

F o r t h e cases where t h e LM a n t e n n a h e i g h t exceeded

t h e c r a t e r r i m h e i g h t , s i n g l e k n i f e - e d g e d i f f r a c t i o n over
t h e f a r c r a t e r r i m was e v a l u a t e d a d f o r t h e c a s e s where
rover a n t e n n a h e i g h t exceeded crater r i m h e i g h t (LM a n t e n n a
l o w e r t h a n c r a t e r r i m ) s i n g l e k n i f e - e d g e d i f f r a c t i o n over
t h e n e a r c r a t e r r i m w a s taken.

A communication frequency of 300 MHz w a s used f o r

t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n as an approximation t o t h e LM voice
f r e q u e n c i e s of 296.8 MHz and 259.7 MHz.
111. FtESULTS

A. S c r e e n i n g Beyond Crater R i m s

C a l c u l a t i o n s w e r e made of t h e d i f f r a c t i o n l o s s
r e l a t i v e t o free s p a c e f o r e a c h of 20 s p e c i f i c c r a t e r s w i t h i n
5 km of t h e proposed LM l a n d i n g p o i n t f o r S i t e 2. Diagrams
showing t h e shadowing created by t h e s e craters are g i v e n i n
F i g u r e s 4 t h r o u g h 1 2 , e a c h of which shows t w o ( 2 ) s h a d i n g s
r e p r e s e n t i n g t w o ( 2 ) gross l e v e l s of shadow l o s s . These
f i g u r e s p r o v i d e d i r e c t i n d i c a t i o n of t h e e x t e n t t o which
t e r r a i n f e a t u r e s a t a s i t e can i n h i b i t c o m n m i c a t i o n ; t h e y
show t h e approximate p o i n t of 12db a t t e n u a t i o n a n d , where
a p p l i c a b l e , t h e l i n e of s i g h t d i s t a n c e , d e f i n e d a s t h e
d i s t a n c e a t which t h e s i g n a l p a t h j u s t g r a z e s t h e i n t e r v e n i n g
t e r r a i n , which i s marked as t h e 6db p o i n t . The unshaded areas
w i t h i n t h e r a d i a l l i n e s r e p r e s e n t loss areas of less t h a n 6db.

As can b e s e e n , even w i t h t h e v e r y s u b s t a n t i a l LM
a n t e n n a h e i g h t of 153 meters, s i g n i f i c a n t a r e a s w i t h i n t h e
5 km r a d i u s are s c r e e n e d by c r a t e r r i m s .
 BELLCOMM,I N C . - 4 -

B. Screening I n s i d e Crater R i m s

Screening w i t h i n S i t e 2 craters w a s e v a l u a t e d
u s i n g s i n g l e k n i f e - e d g e d i f f r a c t i o n over t h e n e a r r i n t o a
r e c e i v i n g p o i n t l o c a t e d a t t h e n e a r s l o p e , S1, t h e c r a t e r
b o t t o m , B , o r t h e f a r s l o p e , S2. (see F i g u r e 1 3 ) . F o r t h i s
e v a l u a t i o n t h e s l o p e a n g l e was assumed t o be 35'. The results
f o r t h e most f a v o r a b l e a n t e n n a c o m b i n a t i o n examined (LFI =
153M, ROVER = 15.2M), a r e g i v e n i n T a b l e - 2 which shows:

1. The loss a t t h e bottom of S1 where a t t e n u a t i o n i s

greatest.

2. The loss a t t h e c r a t e r c e n t e r ( b o t t o m ) .

3. The d i s t a n c e , r 6 , a t which t h e t h e o r e t i c a l loss

i s a b o u t 12db ( g e n e r a l l y p a r t way up S 2 ) .

A s s e e n from t h e v a l u e s of r 6 compared t o t h e c r a t e r
d i a m e t e r s , r 2 , a h i q h p e r c e n t a g e of t h e a r e a o f e a c h c r a t e r
s u f f e r s a s i g n a l loss of 12db o r g r e a t e r , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n
o f a s m a l l and n e a r b y c r a t e r ( # 1 3 i n t h e T a b l e ) . The
average a t t e n u a t i o n a t t h e c r a t e r c e n t e r f o r a l l c r a t e r s i s
a p p r o x i m a t e l y 26db.

I f t h e e x t e n d e d range communication s y s t e m i s
designed t o p r c v i d e a f r e e space f i e l d t h a t i s j u s t adequate
a t 5 km, t h e n a s i g n a l margin w i l l e x i s t a t s h o r t e r r a g e s a s
follows:
5KM 0 db
4KM 2
3KM 4.4
2.5IZM 6
2 8
1.5 10.4
1 14
.7 17
.5 20

O f t h e 2 0 c r a t e r s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h S i t e 2 , o n l y one i s
s u f f i c i e n t l y close ( d i s t a n c e of 700M) s o t h a t t h e s i q n a l
m a r g i n a r i s i n g from i t s p r o x i m i t y i s s u f f i c i e n t t o overcome
t h e c a l c u l a t e d d i f f r a c t i o n losses a t t h e c r a t e r floor, for
t h e case where LM a n t e n n a i s e l e v a t e d t o 153 meters and ROVER
o r EVA a n t e n n a i s e l e v a t e d t o 15.2 meters. (See T a b l e 2 )

F o r t h e u n e l e v a t e d a n t e n n a case, i . e . , w i t h LM a t
7 . 6 meters and EVA a t 1 . 8 m e t e r s , communication t o even t h i s
 BELLCOMM.INC. - 5 -

s h a l l o w and m o d e s t l y rimed c r a t e r (D2-27M, H2-14M) d i s a p p e a r s

as t h e losses i n c r e a s e t o a b o u t 25db a t t h e c r a t e r f l o o r . The
average a t t e n u a t i o n a t t h e c r a t e r c e n t e r f o r a l l 2 0 c r a t e r s ,
w i t h t h i s a n t e n n a combination i s a b o u t 30db.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
From t h i s j n v e s t i g a t i o n i t i s c o n c l u d e d t h a t :

a ) L i n e of s i g h t s c r e e n i n g problems t o LM w i l l e x i s t
i n t h e a r e a s b e h i n d h i l l s and t h e r i m s o f c r a t e r s of modest
r i m h e i g h t s ( 1 4 - 9 0 m e t e r s ) , even f o r c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n d e d
antenna heights.

b ) The bottoms of c r a t e r s r e p r e s e n t a p a r t i c u l a r l y
d i f f i c u l t area i n w h i c h t o m a i n t a i n communications d i r e c t l y
between LM and a r o v i n g receiver a s e v i d e n c e d by t y p i c a l
losses of 25-30 db a t 3 0 0 M H z .

c ) M a i n t a i n i n g c o n t i n u o u s communications t o LM on
advanced l u n a r e x p l o r a t i o n m i s s i o n s a p p e a r s t o r e q u i r e F o r e
d r a s t i c measures t h a n j u s t i n c r e a s e d a n t e n n a h e i q h t s ; r e l a y
d e v i c e s t o LV, a d i r e c t ROVER-to-EARTH l i n k , and f r e q u e n c i e s
i n H F band, among o t h e r s o l u t i o n s , s h o u l d be i n v e s t i s a t e d
further.

20 34-IIR-mbr iC-:‘II . I. Rosenblum

l r
B E L L C O M MI .N C .

REFERENCES

1. Lunar Map ORB-11-6 (100) 1st E d i t i o n , Dec., 1967, Army

Map S e r v i c e , Corps of E n g i n e e r s , U. S. Army f o r NASA.

2. E p s t e i n , J. and D. W. P e t e r s o n (19531, " A n Experimental

Study of Wave P r o p o g a t i o n a t 850 MC", Proc. IRE 4 1 1
NO. 5, 595-611.

3. Wilkerson, R. E . (19661, "Approximations T o t h e Double

Knife-Edge A t t e n u a t i o n C o e f f i c i e n t " , Radio S c i e n c e ,
V o l . 1, N o . 1 2 , D e c . , 1966.
FIGURE 2 - THE EP (EPSTEIN-PETERSON)
APPROXIMATION.
FIGURE 3 - GEOMETRY FOR DOUBLE KNIFE-EDGE DIFFRACTION OVER CRATER RIMS

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LM CRATER

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BELLCOMM, INC.

SUBJECT: S c r e e n i n g of L i n e of S i g h t t o FROM: I. I. Rosenblum

LM by C r a t e r s a t A p o l l o S i t e
2 - Mission G - C a s e 3 2 0

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