Cost Breakdown
The per-mission cost of utilizing RMAPS on a lunar excursion is broken down in the table below. The total cost provided below reflects the combined costs incurred from all moonwalks during the mission. Enough materials are purchased so that two astronauts can be on moonwalks simultaneously with 1,000 BreadCrumb® devices each.
| Item | Quantity | Unit Price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Instruments CC2520 | 2,000 | $1.95 | $3,900.00 |
| Texas Instruments CC2531 | 3 | $5.60 | $16.80 |
| Texas Instruments CC2591 | 2 | $1.75 | $3.50 |
| PowerSonic PS-6120FP | 2 | $21.62 | $43.24 |
| Lander/Astronaut Antenna | 3 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Research & Development | 100 Hours | $25 | $2,500 |
| Personnel Costs | 30% | 6,463.54 | $1,939.06 |
| Total | $8,402.60 |
Physical Costs
For an astronaut on a mission, the weight of the RMAPS equipment will be very insignificant. The bulk of the weight will come from the battery which weighs 4.8 pounds. Size will vary depending on how many BreadCrumb® devices the astronaut carries. The battery will be the bulk of the rest of the equipment but is still rather small. The astronauts will also have to carry the BreadCrumb® in a container capable of blocking signal in order to prevent excessive noise from the undeployed chips.