We’re millions of miles from Earth inside a giant white face. What’s impossible?
– Mission to Mars
NASA is studying the feasibility of using IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) on the Moon for astronauts exploring the surface (PowerPoint).
They’ve identified a high level system profile of an 802.16e deployment (pdf) that meets the data flow requirements of the EVA system.
A network in which all radio resources are arbitrated by a central controller is not a viable solution so NASA is designing a radio system that is similar to an 802.16e based radio network.
The Toyon Corporation (under a 2007 Phase II Small Business, Innovative Research contract), has developed a mobile client along with a custom link layer. Design, development, and integration of the first prototype radio system will extend through September of 2009.
NASA would like to utilize WiMAX relay stations, based on the evolving WiMAX 802.16j standard (pdf) to extend coverage and increase data throughput. Relays extend base station coverage and support multiple hops. Mobile Stations (clients) would use Multihop Relays to communicate with the base station, the orbiting Lunar Relay Satellite and eventually Earth.
NASA plans to develop a host of spacecraft and booster vehicles in order to replace the Space Shuttle and return astronauts to the Moon and then possibly send them to Mars by 2030.
The Lunar Mission, scheduled for sometime after 2022, may use a variant of Mobile WiMAX on the lunar surface, providing a 5.8 km range. Communications may be relayed to an lunar orbiter using a 200 Mbps Ka band link from a base station. The orbiting relay could connect to Earth at 25 Mbps using an S-band radio.
The U.S., China, India and Japan are all planning to launch new orbiters to the Moon in the coming years. Russian lunar and Mars missions may face delays, says Craig Covalt. Luna-Glob, slated to be launched in 2012, would obtain multispectral data in a search for signs of lunar water ice, while seismometers on ground penetrators would help determine if the Moon has a molten core. It will build on the Japanese SELENE, Chinese Chang’e 1 and Indian Chandrayaan 1 orbiters currently operating at the Earth’s Moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is on deck for the next NASA rocket launch.
A delay of the Russian Mars moon lander, a sample return spacecraft, is expected to delay that flight from October of this year to the next Mars launch window in late 2011 or early 2012.
This month a small $80 million TacSat 3, is expected to be launched, demonstrating how a tech-savvy soldier can quickly obtain satellite imagery in minutes, compared to days from a $1 billion advanced KH-11 or Lacrosse. TacSat 3 uses IP-based connectivity.
George Dyson explains how the United States planned a nuclear-powered rocket to Saturn.
Additional Dailywireless articles include; Mars Phoenix Lander: Mission Accomplished, SpaceX: Down Not Out, Nuclear Powered Spacecraft , Geosync Spies, Mars Rovers: 5 Years On, Mars Phoenix Lander: Mission Accomplished, Mars Update, The Ultimate Scoop, Mars Landing Sunday, Mars Global Surveyor: R.I.P., Picture Perfect Opportunity, Good News from Mars, Spirit Goes Black, Spirit In Dirt, Mars in Living Color, Mars & Venus Missions, Man on the Moon, Extraterrestrials Land Sunday, LGMs: Virus Threat?, Nuclear Powered Spacecraft, Reality Now!, Telepresence Now!,Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Global Surveyor: R.I.P.,On Titan.
