Stephen Braham

Communication system architecture for planetary exploration

Future human missions to Mars will require effective communications supporting exploration activities and scientific field data collection. Constraints on cost, size, weight and power consumption for all communications equipment make optimization of these systems very important. These information and communication systems connect people and systems together into coherent teams performing the difficult and hazardous tasks inherent in planetary exploration. The communication network supporting vehicle telemetry data, mission operations, and scientific collaboration must have excellent reliability and flexibility. We propose hybrid communication architectures consisting of space-based links, a surface-based deployable mid-range communications network and a cluster of short-range links to solve the problems of connectivity and bandwidth, while meeting the other constraints of weight and power. A network of orbiting satellites could cover much of the planet surface, but this space-based capability may not be optimal for cost or performance. Specifically, a minimal space-based capability can be augmented using mobile cellular repeaters deployable by robots and human EVA. This method results in an increase in the number of radio nodes, but the distances separating them is decreased. This results in a significant increase in bandwidth and decrease in radio power and therefore node size, complexity and power consumption. The paper discusses the results of field-testing such hybrid radio systems for the support of scientific surveys. System analysis of design tradeoffs will yield insight into optimal solutions that will be compared to other approaches providing a method of effectively evaluating new candidate architectures.

Investigation of EVA Information Interface Technology in a Mars Analog Arctic Field Science Setting

Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International (HSSSI) participated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute and Simon Fraser University in the 2001 field season of NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) to study information technologies concepts and hardware systems for advanced Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The research was focused on developing an improved understanding of the uses of the interface in an exploration / field science context. Interface integration with communication, navigation and scientific data systems, and the special challenges posed by the expeditionary environment were investigated. This paper presents a discussion of the field test systems, test activities and results. Recommendations for future, higher fidelity research are included.

Space networking and protocols for planetary exploration and analog planetary sites

System flexibility and simplicity must be maximized for future human and robotic missions to Mars and other planets. A network deployed on the surface of another planet must interoperate with a space-based communication link and/or network, as well as the Earth-side networking segment. The operation of the space-based segment should be simple, but should be able to respond to environmental and system variations causing varying degradation of the link quality. An ongoing study into space and regional communication issues is taking place in the Canadian Arctic, at a prime Mars analog research field site. Preliminary results are demonstrating the needs for simplified operation of the space-based component, and a need to respond to ionospheric and tropospheric propagation variations. Such variations require fine control of the space-based segment, but also require network protocols and operational protocols that can maximize the science and other data uplink and downlink capacity of the complete integrated network system at any given moment of time.

Deployment of a Fully-Automated Green Fluorescent Protein Imaging System in a High Arctic Autonomous Greenhouse

Higher plants are an integral part of strategies for sustained human presence in space. Space-based greenhouses have the potential to provide closed-loop recycling of oxygen, water and food. Plant monitoring systems with the capacity to remotely observe the condition of crops in real-time within these systems would permit operators to take immediate action to ensure optimum system yield and reliability. One such plant health monitoring technique involves the use of reporter genes driving fluorescent proteins as biological sensors of plant stress. In 2006 an initial prototype green fluorescent protein imager system was deployed at the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse located in the Canadian High Arctic. This prototype demonstrated the advantageous of this biosensor technology and underscored the challenges in collecting and managing telemetric data from exigent environments. We present here the design and deployment of a second prototype imaging system deployed within and connected to the infrastructure of the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse. This is the first imager to run autonomously for one year in the un-crewed greenhouse with command and control conducted through the greenhouse satellite control system. Images were saved locally in high resolution and sent telemetrically in low resolution. Imager hardware is described, including the custom designed LED growth light and fluorescent excitation light boards, filters, data acquisition and control system, and basic sensing and environmental control. Several critical lessons learned related to the hardware of small plant growth payloads are also elaborated.

An Overview of the Smart Sensor Inter-agency Reference Testbench (SSIART)

In this paper, we present an overview of a proposed collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), which is designed to facilitate the introduction of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) radios for smart-sensing applications into international spaceflight programs and projects. The proposed work will produce test hardware reference designs, test software reference architectures and example implementations, test plans in reference test environments, and test results, all of which will be shared between the agencies and documented for future use by mission planners. The proposed collaborative structure together with all of the anticipated tools and results produced under the effort is collectively referred to as the Smart Sensor Inter-agency Reference Testbench or SSIART. It is intended to provide guidance in technology selection and in increasing the related readiness levels of projects and missions as well as the space industry.

Evolutionary Development of Exploration EVA Systems Design and Operations Through Analog Field Tests: Lessons from the NASA Haughton-Mars Project, 2008-2010

Hamilton Sundstrand has collaborated with NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) over the past decade in order to develop a better understanding of the design requirements for, and challenges facing, Extravehicular Activity (EVA) systems for planetary exploration. Each summer, mock-up systems emphasizing specific aspects of EVA system design have been deployed to the Haughton Crater test site on Devon Island, High Arctic, for evaluation in the context of NASA’s broader analog environment research effort. During the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010, the systems deployed and field evaluation activities have focused on the effective integration of a rear entry EVA suit system design and suit-port interface with evolving NASA exploration system concepts. The fielded mock-up systems, although of limited fidelity and technical maturity, have contributed significantly to NASA’s investigation of exploration operational concepts, and the field test experience has contributed directly to advances in design concepts for EVA suit system – suit-port integration. This paper describes the field research activities in which HS participated, HS mock-up systems employed, and principal test results at HMP over the past three years. It discusses lessons learned and resulting design concept improvements, and illustrates the role of analog environment field research experience in exploration system development and of the potential synergy between evolving hardware designs and operational concepts in analog environment field tests.

NAOMI one: North American OpenMath Initiative goes online

The North American OpenMath Initiative (NAOMI) is a recently formed organization to promote, develop, and implement the OpenMath standard in North America. NAOMI held its first workshop in Vancouver this February, and launched full-scale operations.