SELENESafe Exploration for Lunar Environments: Navigation Experts |
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Given Abstract |
As we move closer to establishing long-term manned scientific studies on the lunar surface, more sophisticated communications must be employed for safe navigation across the celestial body. The Moon is a deceptive environment, with the lack of distinct landmarks and limited depth perception leading to precarious exploration missions. Without proper navigational systems in place, it is a simple matter for an astronaut to become potentially lost when line-of-sight with the lunar lander is lost. SELENE has developed and proposed a new communications system aimed towards reliable navigation for astronauts based upon a system of passive, inexpensive RFID tags. These identifier tags act as location beacons, allowing the exploring astronaut to maintain an accurate measure of his position and distance from the lunar lander. The system provides links between both the astronaut and the lander itself, as well as the multitude of RFID beacons which provide triangulation of the astronaut’s position and directs the astronaut back to the lander at completion of the mission. The varying subcomponents of the proposed application can be understood and broken into the following broad categories: Communications System Navigation Algorithm Power Budget To show the cost-effectiveness of our solution, we have included a detailed cost analysis of the proposed system which tracks from R&D to the full-scale deployment. A Gantt chart outlining the tasks and milestones within Phase-II is demonstrated to show an estimated timeline for the project.
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