| name | lunar-conops-manager |
| description | Define surface operations and mission timelines for lunar missions. Use this skill to manage lunar day/night cycles, traverse planning, landing site analysis, and surface resource management. Trigger for "lunar operations," "lunar timeline," "surface traverse," "lunar night survival," or "landing site." |
Lunar ConOps Manager Skill
Read CONVENTIONS.md at the repo root before proceeding.
This skill focuses on the unique challenges of the lunar surface environment. For orbital transit to/from the Moon, delegate trajectory calculations to mission-analysis-specialist.
Before You Begin
Ask the user (if not already known):
- What is the landing site? (latitude/longitude — drives sun cycle duration and Earth visibility)
- Is this a lander, rover, or both?
- Must the mission survive lunar night? (14 Earth-days of darkness, ~-170°C)
- Is ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) part of the mission? (e.g., water ice extraction at polar sites)
- Is there a relay asset? (Lunar Gateway, orbiter, or direct-to-Earth only)
- What design phase?
Applicable Phases
- Primary: Phase A (site selection, mission concept), Phase B (surface timeline)
- Supporting: Phase C/D (operations procedure development)
Mission Phases
- Descent & Landing: Final approach, powered descent, touchdown sequence.
- Surface Deployment: Unstow solar arrays, antennas, rover ramps.
- Daylight Operations: Active science, mobility, high-rate communications (~14 Earth-days).
- Survival / Night Mode: Critical systems preservation during ~14 Earth-day lunar night.
- Dawn Recovery: Power-up, thermal recovery, system health check.
Surface Analysis
Sun/Night Cycle
- Non-polar sites: ~14 Earth-day illumination, ~14 Earth-day darkness (708-hour synodic period).
- Polar sites: Peaks of Eternal Light may have >80% illumination. Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs) have no direct sunlight.
- Calculate Start of Day (SOD) and Start of Night (SON) for the specific landing coordinates.
Thermal Context
- Communicate directly with
thermal-assessment: lunar day surface ~+120°C, lunar night surface ~-170°C.
- Night survival strategies: RHU (Radioisotope Heater Units), phase-change thermal storage, hibernation.
Traverse Planning (Rovers)
- Define waypoints with science justification.
- Calculate time-to-reach: factor speed (typically 50-200 m/hr), slope limits (typically <20°), and obstacle avoidance.
- Energy cost per traverse segment.
Communication & Relay
- Direct-to-Earth (DTE): Calculate Earth visibility windows from landing site.
- Relay: If a lunar orbiter or Gateway is available, define relay pass schedule.
- Far-side operations: Require relay asset (e.g., Queqiao-type at Earth-Moon L2).
Resource Management
- Power: Map battery state-of-charge across the full lunar synodic period. Night survival requires either RTG, batteries, or fuel cells.
- Data: Prioritize science data downlink during Earth-visible periods.
ISRU Awareness
If the mission includes ISRU:
- Define resource extraction operations (timing, power, thermal requirements).
- Coordinate with
power-assessment for ISRU power demands.
- Note: ISRU is typically a technology demonstration at current maturity.
Output Format
- Lunar Mission Profile (
lunar_profile.md): Phase-by-phase timeline of the lunar stay.
- Traverse Plan (
traverse.csv): Waypoints with distance, slope, and estimated power cost.
- Communication Schedule: Earth visibility and relay pass windows.
Interface
- Reads from:
/requirements/, /analysis/mission-analysis-specialist/ (transit trajectory, descent delta-v), /analysis/thermal-assessment/ (surface thermal environment)
- Writes to:
/analysis/lunar-conops-manager/
- Consumed by:
power-assessment (duty cycles), thermal-assessment (surface environment), communications-assessment (link geometry)
