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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

A Review of Antenna Technologies for Future NASA Exploration Missions

NASA's plans for the manned exploration of the Moon and Mars will rely heavily on the development of a reliable communications infrastructure from planetary surface-to-surface, surface-to-orbit and back to Earth. Future missions will thus focus not only on gathering scientific data, but also on the formation of the communications network. In either case, unique requirements become imposed on the antenna technologies necessary to accomplish these tasks. For example, proximity (i.e., short distance) surface activity applications such as robotic rovers, human extravehicular activities (EVA), and probes will require small size, lightweight, low power, multi-functionality, and robustness for the antenna elements being considered. In contrast, trunk-line communications to a centralized habitat on the surface and back to Earth (e.g., relays, satellites, and landers) will necessitate high gain, low mass antennas such as novel inflatable/deployable antennas. Likewise, the plethora of low to high data rate services desired to guarantee the safety and quality of mission data for robotic and human exploration will place additional demands on the technology. Over the last few years, NASA Glenn Research Center has been heavily involved in the development and evaluation of candidate antenna technologies with the potential for meeting the aforementioned requirements. These technologies range from electrically small antennas to phased arrays and large inflatable antenna structures. A summary of these efforts will be discussed in this paper. NASA planned activities under the Exploration Vision as they pertain to the communications architecture for the Lunar and Martian scenarios will be discussed, with emphasis on the desirable qualities of potential antenna element designs for envisioned communications assets. Identified frequency allocations for the Lunar and Martian surfaces, as well as asset-specific data services will be described to develop a foundation for viable antenna technologies which might address these requirements and help guide future technology development decisions.

Miranda, Felix A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

A Review of Antenna Technologies for Future NASA Exploration Missions

NASA s plans for the manned exploration of the Moon and Mars will rely heavily on the development of a reliable communications infrastructure from planetary surface-to-surface, surface-to-orbit and back to Earth. Future missions will thus focus not only on gathering scientific data, but also on the formation of the communications network. In either case, unique requirements become imposed on the antenna technologies necessary to accomplish these tasks. For example, proximity (i.e., short distance) surface activity applications such as robotic rovers, human extravehicular activities (EVA), and probes will require small size, lightweight, low power, multi-functionality, and robustness for the antenna elements being considered. In contrast, trunk-line communications to a centralized habitat on the surface and back to Earth (e.g., relays, satellites, and landers) will necessitate high gain, low mass antennas such as novel inflatable/deployable antennas. Likewise, the plethora of low to high data rate services desired to guarantee the safety and quality of mission data for robotic and human exploration will place additional demands on the technology. Over the last few years, NASA Glenn Research Center has been heavily involved in the development and evaluation of candidate antenna technologies with the potential for meeting the aforementioned requirements. These technologies range from electrically small antennas to phased arrays and large inflatable antenna structures. A summary of these efforts will be discussed in this paper. NASA planned activities under the Exploration Vision as they pertain to the communications architecture for the Lunar and Martian scenarios will be discussed, with emphasis on the desirable qualities of potential antenna element designs for envisioned communications assets. Identified frequency allocations for the Lunar and Martian surfaces, as well as asset-specific data services will be described to develop a foundation for viable antenna technologies which might address these requirements and help guide future technology development decisions

Miranda, Felix A.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Comparing Performance of Coded Communications over Fading Channels between the Lunar South Pole & Earth

In this paper we design and analyze an end-to-endcommunication system between a lander/rover on the surface ofthe lunar South Pole and an Earth station. Various communicationsystems on the lander or rover could be used for the Earthto-Moon communication in both the uplink and downlink direction.To communicate to and from the lander/rover on the lunarSouth Pole, low and/or medium directional antennas onboardthe lander/rover will have to be pointed at low elevation anglesbetween 2 to 10 degrees, thus causing multipath fading effectsdue to reflection of a portion of the transmitted electromagneticwaves from the surface of the Moon. These are not commonlyencountered in traditional deep space communications betweena spacecraft and a ground station.We investigate various design methods and analyze such communicationsystems, in the presence of multipath fading. Wemodel the fading channel based on existing and simulated data.For coherent reception, the acquisition and tracking loop shouldacquire and track incoming carrier phase in presence of Ricianmultipath fading. For this communication system in additionto estimating the received carrier phase, the amplitude of thefading signal should also be estimated, in particular to be used inthe decoder. We consider simple modulation and coding schemesin particular those specified in the CCSDS standards for spaceapplications.After designing various components of the communication system,we use Simulink models to obtain the end-to-end performanceof the communication link under investigation. Basedon the available data, the fading channel can be accuratelymodeled as a Rician fading channel with various Rician parametersdepending on the Earth elevation angle, which alsoaffects the Doppler spread. Therefore, the challenge is todesign a communication system robust in the presence of themultipath fading where the channel conditions change in timeand thus produce fading. In summary, this paper comparespossible communication system designs, performance analysis,and simulations for coded system with/without interleaving withhard/soft decision and with/without channel state information(CSI), over a communication link between a lander/rover at theLunar south pole and a Deep Space Network station in presenceof Rician fading.

Cheung, Kar-Ming↗
NASA NTRS2006

Antenna Technologies for Future NASA Exploration Missions

NASA s plans for the manned exploration of the moon and Mars will rely heavily on the development of a reliable communications infrastructure on the surface and back to Earth. Future missions will thus focus not only on gathering scientific data, but also on the formation of the communications network. In either case, unique requirements become imposed on the antenna technologies necessary to accomplish these tasks. For example, surface activity applications such as robotic rovers, human extravehicular activities (EVA), and probes will require small size, lightweight, low power, multi-functionality, and robustness for the antenna elements being considered. Trunk-line communications to a centralized habitat on the surface and back to Earth (e.g., surface relays, satellites, landers) will necessitate wide-area coverage, high gain, low mass, deployable antennas. Likewise, the plethora of low to high data rate services desired to guarantee the safety and quality of mission data for robotic and human exploration will place additional demands on the technology. Over the past year, NASA Glenn Research Center has been heavily involved in the development of candidate antenna technologies with the potential for meeting these strict requirements. This technology ranges from electrically small antennas to phased array and large inflatable structures. A summary of this overall effort is provided, with particular attention being paid to small antenna designs and applications. A discussion of the Agency-wide activities of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) in forthcoming NASA missions, as they pertain to the communications architecture for the lunar and Martian networks is performed, with an emphasis on the desirable qualities of potential antenna element designs for envisioned communications assets. Identified frequency allocations for the lunar and Martian surfaces, as well as asset-specific data services will be described to develop a foundation for viable antenna technologies which might address these requirements and help guide future technology development decisions.

Miranda, Felix A.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Free-Space Optical Communication for CubeSats in Low Lunar Orbit (LLO)

The NASA ARTEMIS Program will include LunaNet, a highly extensible, open architecture, lunar communications and navigation network. A constellation of CubeSats in Low Lunar Orbit (LLO), 100 km, could form an optical communications and navigation network as part of LunaNet, with terminals on the lunar surface, including mobile ones such as with astronauts and rovers. The proposed CubeSat nodes should provide data relay and navigational aid services. The proposed effort herein is to develop a fine pointing capability for laser beam pointing to augment body pointing by CubeSats. Body pointing was used by Aerospace Corporation for the CubeSats in LEO in NASA’s Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) program [1]. Previously, this fine pointing capability was computer simulated for the OCSD program [2,3]. With fine pointing, the spot size on the Earth was reduced by a factor of eight with a reduction in laser output power by a factor of sixty-four, thereby mitigating the thermal load challenge on the CubeSats. The same reductions in spot size and laser output power can be achieved for CubeSats in LLO. A new method is described for optical data transmissions from satellites, which uses laser arrays for laser beam pointing. It combines a lens system and an array of vertical-cavity, surface-emitting lasers and photodetectors, an VCSEL/Photodetector Array, (both mature technologies), in a novel way. This system is applied to CubeSats in low lunar orbit, (LLO), which use body pointing. Also, It may be able to replace current architectures which use dynamical systems, (i.e., moving parts) to point the laser, and which may also use vibration isolation platforms. The computer simulations used the optics code, OpticStudio, from Zemax, LLC, which has the capabilities to model the laser source and diffraction effects from wave optics. These capabilities make it possible to model laser beam propagation over long space communication distances.

Goorjian, P. M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hardware Systems and EDU Demonstration of the Tall Lunar Tower Project

The Tall Lunar Tower (TLT) project developed a robotic tower assembly system (RTAS) and TLT Truss engineering development units (EDUs) to perform a ground demonstration of supervised semi-autonomous robotic assembly of a truss-based tall tower. Truss structures provide exceptional strength-to-weight ratios for payload capabilities supporting large masses. On the lunar surface, tall towers are a critical structural system that will enable significant solar power generation by supporting vertical solar arrays and beyond-the-horizon communications at the lunar south pole, supporting the Artemis mission architecture, as well as a lunar economy. Tall towers, greater than 30-meters-tall, provide the elevation needed for more consistent solar power generation due to low inclination sunlight and deep shadowing from surface features on the lunar surface at the poles. The robotic structural assembly technologies developed for truss-based tall towers will also enable other large-scale functional lunar structures to be built, including launch plume deflectors, lunar safe havens for astronauts and assets, surface transportation for cargo, and other critical infrastructure. Robotic assembly of truss structures for lunar surface infrastructure is near-term enabling for future Artemis mission campaign and Moon to Mars Objectives needs for power and communication. The project team designed, fabricated, tested, and demonstrated the RTAS EDU by assembling a TLT Truss EDU in a laboratory environment. The hardware systems and the supervised semi-autonomous assembly process for a TLT assembled EDU design, along with descriptions of a hardware demonstration are presented.

Lunar Infrastructure↗
NASA NTRS2010

Orion Optical Navigation for Loss of Communication Lunar Return Contingencies

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) will replace the Space Shuttle and serve as the next-generation spaceship to carry humans back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo program. For nominal lunar mission operations, the Mission Control Navigation team will utilize radiometric measurements to determine the position and velocity of Orion and uplink state information to support Lunar return. However, in the loss of communications contingency return scenario, Orion must safely return the crew to the Earth's surface. The navigation design solution for this loss of communications scenario is optical navigation consisting of lunar landmark tracking in low lunar orbit and star- horizon angular measurements coupled with apparent planetary diameter for Earth return trajectories. This paper describes the optical measurement errors and the navigation filter that will process those measurements to support navigation for safe crew return.

Getchius, Joel↗
NASA NTRS2023

Flexible User Radio for Lunar Missions

NASA’s Artemis program and other lunar exploration and development programs are planning over 40 lunar missions before 2030. Lunar missions, both crewed and uncrewed, include orbiters, landers, rovers, and surface stations. All these missions require communications with Earth, either via Direct to Earth (DTE) links or through relays in lunar orbit. Multiple DTE options are available among existing and planned ground stations: Deep Space Network (DSN), European Space Agency, and others. Relay options include the planned Lunar Gateway, LunaNet compliant relays, and some lunar landers propose to launch dedicated orbiters. The dilemma for lunar system designers is to identify a communication link which meets mission requirements but does not have issues of limited access (e.g. DSN is in high demand supporting deep space missions with high priority and some with inflexible schedules), system impacts (high power Radio Frequency (RF) for DTE links), cost (dedicated relay), or operational date. To avoid this difficult decision, a Flexible Radio for Lunar Missions is proposed, which will enable system designs to proceed prior to any final decision on the communication network to be used, by enabling compatibility with any of multiple DTE or orbital relay communication systems. The Flexible Radio will support the necessary frequency, bandwidth, modulation, and power requirements to interoperate with the majority of known or planned DTE or relay systems, and can be designed into a lunar mission without prior knowledge of which link will ultimately be used. Furthermore, the link being used can be changed as needed during the mission, in near real time. The Flexible Radio design will leverage work already completed at NASA in the areas of Wideband RF, Software Defined Radio, Adaptive Coding and Modulation, and Phased Array antennas. The Flexible Radio requires sufficient bandwidth to cover the allocated frequencies for both the operation of links in cislunar space and for space-to-Earth links; the flexibility to support multiple modulations, data rates, and coding schemes; the ability to identify available relays, detect and recognize the signals of those relays, and adapt its own frequency, modulation, symbol rate, and code rate to operate with the detected relay (or DTE station); and finally, it requires appropriate software to support network configuration and interoperability with the detected network. The Flexible Radio can be designed in a sufficiently small, lightweight, and low-power package to be used in a wide variety of lunar systems. The initial implementation, as proposed, will focus on the Ka-band, supporting up to 2 GHz bandwidth around the 27 GHz frequency for return links, and 23 GHz for forward links. Other frequency bands are under consideration for future configurations. The software defined modem will support OQPSK, BPSK, and NASA-defined modulations which also support two-way ranging with data. For near-real time adaptation, the Flexible Radio will scan the sky for available relays, using a phased array antenna with Adaptive/Cognitive Communications. It will then configure for network interoperability supporting DTN and other protocol options. The Flexible Radio will support scheduled connections and on-demand use when available.

Lunar Space Communications↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flexible User Radio for Lunar Missions

NASA’s Artemis program and other lunar exploration and development programs are planning over 40 lunar missions before 2030. Lunar missions, both crewed and uncrewed, include orbiters, landers, rovers, and surface stations. All these missions require communications with Earth, either via Direct to Earth (DTE) links or through relays in lunar orbit. Multiple DTE options are available among existing and planned ground stations: Deep Space Network (DSN), European Space Agency, and others. Relay options include the planned Lunar Gateway, LunaNet compliant relays, and some lunar landers propose to launch dedicated orbiters. The dilemma for lunar system designers is to identify a communication link which meets mission requirements but does not have issues of limited access (e.g. DSN is in high demand supporting deep space missions with high priority and some with inflexible schedules), system impacts (high power Radio Frequency (RF) for DTE links), cost (dedicated relay), or operational date. To avoid this difficult decision, a Flexible Radio for Lunar Missions is proposed, which will enable system designs to proceed prior to any final decision on the communication network to be used, by enabling compatibility with any of multiple DTE or orbital relay communication systems. The Flexible Radio will support the necessary frequency, bandwidth, modulation, and power requirements to interoperate with the majority of known or planned DTE or relay systems, and can be designed into a lunar mission without prior knowledge of which link will ultimately be used. Furthermore, the link being used can be changed as needed during the mission, in near real time. The Flexible Radio design will leverage work already completed at NASA in the areas of Wideband RF, Software Defined Radio, Adaptive Coding and Modulation, and Phased Array antennas. The Flexible Radio requires sufficient bandwidth to cover the allocated frequencies for both the operation of links in cislunar space and for space-to-Earth links; the flexibility to support multiple modulations, data rates, and coding schemes; the ability to identify available relays, detect and recognize the signals of those relays, and adapt its own frequency, modulation, symbol rate, and code rate to operate with the detected relay (or DTE station); and finally, it requires appropriate software to support network configuration and interoperability with the detected network. The Flexible Radio can be designed in a sufficiently small, lightweight, and low-power package to be used in a wide variety of lunar systems. The initial implementation, as proposed, will focus on the Ka-band, supporting up to 2 GHz bandwidth around the 27 GHz frequency for return links, and 23 GHz for forward links. Other frequency bands are under consideration for future configurations. The software defined modem will support OQPSK, BPSK, and NASA-defined modulations which also support two-way ranging with data. For near-real time adaptation, the Flexible Radio will scan the sky for available relays, using a phased array antenna with Adaptive/Cognitive Communications. It will then configure for network interoperability supporting DTN and other protocol options. The Flexible Radio will support scheduled connections and on-demand use when available.

Lunar Space Communications↗
NASA NTRS1971

Apollo 15 mission 5-day report

Preliminary data evalution from Apollo 15 inflight and lunar surface experiments with analysis of extravehicular, module, support, and communication systems performance

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2023

Addition of First-Person Visualization Capabilities to the Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite (GCAS)

The ability to visualize large sets of data is important to giving an understanding of abstract ideas to large groups. With the ability to visualize the terrain of lunar surfaces in three dimensions from both an orbital and first-person view, the capabilities of the Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite (GCAS) will have expanded to allow specific landing sites to be seen more realistically. GCAS will utilize GeoTIFF-based data to visualize the lunar terrain.

ECMAScript↗
NASA NTRS2024

Exploring the Moon: Preserving the Legacy Through Spacesuit Knowledge Capture and Strategic Communication

NASA is returning to the Moon to stay. To establish a sustained lunar presence, astronauts will pack spacesuits, surface-mobility tools, rovers, and decades’ worth of knowledge. The U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (SKC) and Strategic Communications (Strat Comm) team is specialized in capturing, preserving, and sharing space-related knowledge with NASA scientists, technicians, engineers, vendors, and the public to support space exploration. Since the SKC Program’s 2007 inception, its focus has been to capture and share valuable spacesuit-related knowledge with the NASA community. As the program evolved, its notoriety, funding, scope, and staffing expanded from a one-person, part-time, unfunded operation to a small-team, funded entity. Currently, this team has been formulated with a diverse skillset to meet the requirements of its stakeholders. The SKC and Strat Comm team has used its skills to produce over 260 recorded knowledge captures of subject-matter experts (SMEs) and photoshoots. These knowledge captures are in the form of photographs, lectures, workshops, vignettes, videos, and interviews containing essential space-related knowledge. To help educate the space community and public, this trove of information (e.g., videos of world-class facilities, photographs, and SME lectures), produced inside NASA Johnson Space Center, can be obtained through various sources. During Fiscal Year 2024, the SKC and Strat Comm team will focus on several initiatives. Examples of initiatives include the following: 1) share lessons learned during NASA’s internal venues such as Safety & Health Day and Day of Remembrance; 2) share knowledge with the public, educators, and students through a media production titled Exploring the Moon; and 3) highlight NASA’s unique capabilities and expertise in a video series titled What’s Behind This Door? This paper discusses the team's approach, unique capture capability, initiatives, and much more.

Cinda Chullen↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exploring the Moon: Preserving the Legacy Through Spacesuit Knowledge Capture and Strategic Communication

NASA is returning to the Moon to stay. To establish a sustained lunar presence, astronauts will pack spacesuits, surface-mobility tools, rovers, and decades’ worth of knowledge. The U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (SKC) and Strategic Communications (Strat Comm) team is specialized in capturing, preserving, and sharing space-related knowledge with NASA scientists, technicians, engineers, vendors, and the public to support space exploration. Since the SKC Program’s 2007 inception, its focus has been to capture and share valuable spacesuit-related knowledge with the NASA community. As the program evolved, its notoriety, funding, scope, and staffing expanded from a one-person, part-time, unfunded operation to a small-team, funded entity. Currently, this team has been formulated with a diverse skillset to meet the requirements of its stakeholders. The SKC and Strat Comm team has used its skills to produce over 260 recorded knowledge captures of subject-matter experts (SMEs) and photoshoots. These knowledge captures are in the form of photographs, lectures, workshops, vignettes, videos, and interviews containing essential space-related knowledge. To help educate the space community and public, this trove of information (e.g., videos of world-class facilities, photographs, and SME lectures), produced inside NASA Johnson Space Center, can be obtained through various sources. During Fiscal Year 2024, the SKC and Strat Comm team will focus on several initiatives. Examples of initiatives include the following: 1) share lessons learned during NASA’s internal venues such as Safety & Health Day and Day of Remembrance; 2) share knowledge with the public, educators, and students through a media production titled Exploring the Moon; and 3) highlight NASA’s unique capabilities and expertise in a video series titled What’s Behind This Door? This paper discusses the team's approach, unique capture capability, initiatives, and much more.

Cinda Chullen↗
NASA NTRS2013

Trajectory Design for MoonRise: A Proposed Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission

This paper presents the mission design for the proposed MoonRise New Frontiers mission: a lunar far side lander and return vehicle, with an accompanying communication satellite. Both vehicles are launched together, but fly separate low-energy transfers to the Moon. The communication satellite enters lunar orbit immediately upon arrival at the Moon, whereas the lander enters a staging orbit about the lunar Lagrange points. The lander descends and touches down on the surface 17 days after the communication satellite enters orbit. The lander remains on the surface for nearly two weeks before lifting off and returning to Earth via a low-energy return.

NASA's New Frontie↗
NASA NTRS2014

LunarCubes: Application of the Cubesat Paradigm to Lunar Missions

We have evaluated the application of the CubeSat Paradigm for deep space exploration, often referred to as LunarCube. Over the course of this year, we conducted systems definition and design activities, with focus on enhanced guidance, navigation, and control as well as propulsion requirements for cislunar space operation, thermal requirements and communication as dominant drivers for long duration operation on the lunar surface. The end result is costeffective, generic design(s) for a cross-section of future high priority space or surface payloads for planetary, heliophysics, and astrophysics disciplines, the requirements for which are described.

Lunar↗