Design Goals
"One
of the lessons learned in previous Apollo missions was the difficulty
in performing rover and astronaught excursions in the rugged,
bright-wight terrain of the moon; it is extremely easy for astronauts
to lose their way in this featureless environment filled with valleys,
hills, and crators" - NASA093-007 SBIR
The
main objective of the Lunar Astro-Track System is to provide lunar
exploring astronauts the ability find their way back to the lunar
lander for a safe return to earth. NASA's first priority is
always safety, especially when it comes to manned space flight.
With that in mind, this design maximizes the ability of the
astronauts to find their way back, even when lost on the lunar surface.
A full list of requirements are as follows:
1) Provide a means via RFID tags to navigate the lunar surface
2) Provide a high data rate link back to the lunar lander with non-line of site capabillity up to 2 kilometers
3) Operating frequency range must lie between one to three gigahertz