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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Notional Artemis Lunar Surface Exploration Package (ArLSEP) based on the Gandalf Staff Platform

Introduction: The Artemis program is planning to deliver crew and cargo to the lunar surface, but there is no current package for supporting lunar in-struments and experiments similar to the Apollo Lunar Surface Exploration Package (ALSEP). This abstract provides a possible concept for such a package using the Gandalf Staff Platform as a common core. Gandalf Staff: The Gandalf Staff is an early prototype system developed over FY’21/FY’22 using NASA Science Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Center Information Fund (CIF) grants to de-sign, build and test “proof-of-concept” components. These components include a 24v battery powered monopole that powers a suite of subsystems, including a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for crew, surface voice and data communications, Lunar Search and Rescue (LunaSAR) navigation and communications, LiDAR, field site external lighting, 360-degree camera, and a geothermal instrument for measuring sub-surface temperature gradient. The staff can be carried independently by an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) astronaut, or can be mounted into a tripod for “hands free” support at a surface site being investigated. The staff can be attached to an external solar array and power storage system for long-duration operations. [1,2] ALSEP: An ASLEP flew on each mission Apollo 12 to Apollo 17. For Apollo 11, a simplified packaged called the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Pack-age (EASEP) was flown. Each package included a “Central Station” that provided the power and communications connected to a variety of instruments and sensors. The power was provided by a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) fueled by Plutoni-um-238 generating 70 watts of power (initially, decayed over time) [3]. The communications system provide for direct to Earth data transfer from the lunar surface. Each pack-age was stowed externally in the Lunar Module (LM) Scientific Equipment (SEQ) bay with a mass up to 163 kg (Apollo 17). The crew unloaded the ALSEP from the LM and deployed the instruments on the lunar surface. Although designed to operate for only 1 year, many sites operated for up to 8 years successfully [4]. The Active Seismic Experiment (ASE) included 3 geophones for detecting seismic waves created by mortars and thumpers deployed by the crew. Other active experiments measured the lunar atmosphere, the heat flow in the subsurface, the lunar gravity and potential gravity waves, the lunar magnetic field, the solar wind and plasma interactions in cislunar space. Passive experiments included collectors for dust and cosmic rays, and retroreflectors for precise measurements of distance using a laser from Earth. The ALSEP program continues to generate insights into lunar formation and evolution. ArLSEP Concepts: The lunar surface science package for the Artemis program will hopefully exceed the capability of the ALSEP. There are multiple issues for discussion leading to the design of a new ArLSEP, needing requirements definition from the science community, NASA mission architecture, and NASA budget planners. 1. Delivery Mechanism Two possible projects currently provide capability to deliver scientific cargo to the lunar surface: 1) the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) [5] and the Human Landing System (HLS) [6, 7]. Each project is controlled by a different organization within NASA and budgeted with different criteria although both support lunar exploration. The HLS system delivers crew (and potentially cargo) to human landing sites. If an ArLSEP is “predeployed” to such a site, the design must include power (either from the vehicle or independently) to keep the electronics functioning until deployed by the crew. If an ArLSEP is delivered on a vehicle after the crew is present on the lunar surface, safety protocols require adequate distance from the humans for impact from descent propelled sur-face regolith ejecta. This distance can not exceed the capability of the crew to walk (if no rover) to the vehicle for ArLSEP deployment. 2. Overall Guidelines The general design of ArLSEP will likely follow the ALSEP with a common system for communications and power; however, significant architecture differences between Apollo and Artemis exist. Power: The RTG will not be available for early Artemis missions nor likely follow-on Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS) missions [8]. Thus, ArLSEP power must be supplied by solar arrays with sufficient battery capability to “keep alive” necessary electronics during any lunar surface eclipse period. Communication: The Artemis program is developing a series of communications satellites for lunar orbit to provide surface transmission of data and voice to Earth. Called “LunaNET”, this network is component useful for ArLSEP since south polar locations may not always have direct “line-of-sight” to Earth [9]. 3. Concept of Operations (ConOps) The general ConOps for ArLSEP is to deliver the package to lunar surface before the crew arrives, and then have the crew deploy the package after some period of time. This requires coordinated design (for power systems) and launch window (for schedule) on both the cargo and crew missions. Once the ArLSEP is deployed, it will operate autonomously for a number of years. It should be designed to be EVA compatible for crew maintenance and upgrade. 4. Notional Design (for discussion purpose only) The landing site near the South Pole is expected to have no eclipse cycle exceeding 5 days, so the “keep alive” power is 144 hours (6 days to include margin). A 12v ArLSEP will use rechargeable LiFePO4 cells, which are common in the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry. With a current of 5 amps and a 125 watt system, the mass is about 90kg. The comm. system and structure adds another 10kg, thus the “Central Station” is approximately 100kg. The solar power is collected on four arrays (each 2m above the surface), and the entire ArLSEP is designed to stow in a 2m x 1m x 1m volume. The experiment and instrument design will vary for each installation and add mass to the total (although they are expected to fit within the 2m3 volume). Seismic wave generation will likely not be provided with mortars, thus an electric “thumper” will be required. Active instruments such as imaging systems and sensing instruments will benefit from the additional power and communication capability provided by ArLSEP. Passive systems such as retroreflectors, witness plates, and cosmic dust collectors can be added to either the landing vehicle and/or the ArLSEP. With repeated HLS missions to the same human site, the ArLSEP can be expanded and easily maintained for long duration science collection on the lunar surface.

ALSEP↗

NASA NTRS2020

Icy and Ocean World Exploration Enabled by Radioisotope Power Systems

As the interest in exploring icy and ocean worlds gains increasing traction among scientists and mission communities, there are many potential icy and ocean world targets for in-situ lander missions. Potential targets include Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Triton, Ceres, Pluto, and more, which will allow the scientific community to address icy and ocean world related questions for understanding the distribution of life in the Solar System. Beyond Jupiter, solar power is infeasible for any landed missions and primary batteries are infeasible for long-duration missions. Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) can be enabling for these long-duration in-situ missions. However, the interaction of RPS waste heat with icy world surfaces must be understood to assure the science and mission communities that RPS are a safe, enabling option to explore the surface of icy bodies. This paper describes a study for the RPS Program that was conducted by the RPS Mission Analysis Team and JPL’s Team X to investigate the system-level impact of a heat rejection system that would be required for RPS-enabled exploration of icy and ocean worlds.

Lee, Young H↗

NASA NTRS2020

Direct Exploration of the L2 Isolated Invariant Set Using Isolating Neighborhoods

Previous studies have used isolating blocks to explore the isolated invariant set around the L2 Lagrange point in the circular restricted three-body problem by computing trajectories on the asymptotic set and using them to track particular orbits. Once an initial map of the location of the orbits within the isolated invariant set projected into configuration space has been found, it is possible to further explore these orbits more directly by starting from appropriately chosen points within the mapped space. Here, we develop a method that uses these points to explore the periodic and quasiperiodic orbits within the isolated invariant set.

Lo, Martin W.↗

NASA NTRS2020

High-capacity ATHLETE Offloader Mobility Constructor Concept for Human Surface Exploration

Using cross-cabled, winch-tendon four-bar frames, a new Artemis-class ATHLETE system is a multi-limbed robotic mobility platform that is designed for surface traverse, precision placement, and offloading of heavy habitats and other large human exploration payloads from high-decked landers. Building upon lessons learned from the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) robotic mobility system developed for Constellation Lunar Surface Systems and Evolvable Mars Campaign, a high-capacity articulated crane / lift vehicle concept has been devised that would be equipped with multi-limb six-degree-of-freedom dexterity for a variety of tasks supporting planetary surface human exploration missions and outposts. The Artemis-class ATHLETE vehicle would use any combination of three to six wheel-onlimb combinations to provide a wide “outrigger” stance to transfer loads from a high center-of-gravity on sloped terrain to low stable carry configurations for long-distance traverses, and be capable of precision docking of payloads to previously positioned elements. The new vehicle concept improves upon previous Constellation-class ATHLETE versions by allowing modular hot-swapping of individual limbs to improve maintenance and flexibility. The extreme-capacity independent limbs can individually function as single cranes, and can be delivered separately via multiple lander manifests for later congregation into self-driving “Tri-ATHLETE” vehicles after delivery to the surface. This paper provides mission architecture targets and vehicle masses for stepped payload capacity values in Earth, Mars, and Lunar gravity environments, and discusses a variety of swappable tools, including wheeled mobility attachments, grippers, excavation tools, repair fixtures, ISRU extraction, winches, block & tackle rigging combinations, 3D printheads, and construction aids.

Wilcox, Brian↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Search for Extant Life on Mars: A Human Exploration Objective

A search for evidence of extant life on Mars should be conducted prior to and as part of human exploration missions. Potentially habitable environments for modern life occur on Mars. Despite a vigorous campaign of exploration of the surface over the last 3 decades, no mission has attempted to search for signatures of extant life since the Viking landers in 1976. Finding an example of extant life beyond Earth would be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. This is especially important because (once discovered) the biochemistry and metabolism of the life form can be studied. Earth and Mars exchange materials over geologic time because impacts eject rock and crustal materials into space that are eventually deposited on other planets and moons [1]. Therefore, Earth and Mars could share life with a common origin and similar biochemistry; if this is the case, life on Mars likely experienced billions of years of evolution in isolation from Earth. Alternatively, Mars may host a distinct genesis of life which could be evident from its different biochemistry. Either discovery would change our understanding of life in the solar system and beyond. The Mars 2020/Perseverance sample collection mission is not optimized for finding extant life because the site for sample collection, Jezero Crater, was chosen for its ancient habitability and likelihood to host fossil evidence of life. Furthermore, the samples collected will not be returned for at least a decade. Within that period, technology development for human exploration will likely be underway and it is possible that humans will land on Mars without an updated knowledge of extant life on Mars, which may pose a risk both to those mission crews and to Earth when they return. Thus, it is important to perform a search for extant life on Mars prior to humans landing at a site where life may persist. Salts and shallow ground ice are particularly important environments to evaluate for extant life prior to human missions because they may be encountered and interacted with by human crews.

C.R. Stoker↗

NASA NTRS2022

Planetary Protection Policy and Technology Developments for the Crewed Exploration of Mars

As part of planning for potential future crewed exploration of Mars, NASA is developing its planetary protection policy for crewed missions, building on concepts developed within the international space exploration community. COSPAR (The Committee on Space Research), together with participating space agencies, has over the last several years organized and held interdisciplinary meetings to consider next steps in addressing knowledge gaps for planetary protection for the first human missions to Mars. Beginning with these workshop discussions as a base, NASA has held follow-on planning activities to identify the necessary steps to be accomplished to close those knowledge gaps. Significant overlap was identified between the planetary protection needs, including; microbial monitoring requirements for crew health and medical systems; studies of the microbiome of the built environment; environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) venting and disinfection strategies; waste management, and; planetary surface operations. In many cases, efforts to mature exploration systems for Mars that are occurring in other technology domains can be leveraged with minor changes to address planetary protection gaps as well. In other cases, work planned for testing on ISS as an analog for Mars transit, or on the lunar surface as an analog for Mars surface operations, can be used to close gaps in current planetary protection capabilities. This presentation provides a status update on the findings of the COSPAR Meetings on this topic to date, together with NASA’s responses in terms of agency-level plans and activities.

James N Benardini↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Exploration in the 21st Century

The Apollo and Luna missions to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s unambiguously established that the Moon is useful, interesting, and attainable. Starting with the Clementine mission in 1994, Moon has been the focus of a new series of increasingly ambitious science and exploration missions from many nations. In 2025, it is expected that the Artemis III mission will be the first human landing on the Moon in the 21st Century, eventually leading to the establishment of a field station at the lunar south pole. In the United States, lunar missions have been guided by a series of community documents that established lunar science and exploration objectives. In this talk, I will summarize the long-established science goals of US lunar exploration missions as expressed in foundational community documents and the processes used to establish these science goals.

Samuel Lawrence↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Science Technology Development Programs for Ocean Worlds Exploration

The exploration of icy satellites such as Europa and Enceladus supports NASA’s goal to search for life and potentially habitable regions elsewhere in the universe, and further promises to help us understand the origins, evolution, and limits of life on Earth. Over the past several years, NASA’s Planetary Science Division has funded several technology development programs to enable future surface and subsurface missions to ocean worlds. These programs include Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration (ICEE), Concepts for Ocean Worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTech), Scientific Exploration Subsurface Access Mechanism for Europa (SESAME), Applied Information Systems Research: Autonomous Robotics Research for Ocean Worlds (AISR:ARROW), and Astrodynamics in Support of Icy Worlds Missions. Tasks selected under these programs include the development of scientific instruments including seismometers, imagers, spectrometers, and organic analyzers, and also platform technologies including drills, melt probes, through-ice communications, radiation-hard electronics, and autonomy for surface operations. This paper describes the objectives of each of these programs and provides a summary of the work that has been completed or is underway in each.

science instruments↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of a Microlith® Catalytic Oxidizer for Exploration Trace Contaminant Control

The state-of-the-art in long mission duration spacecraft trace contaminant control processes rely on high-temperature catalytic oxidation for light contaminant removal. Target compounds for oxidation include metabolic methane, carbon monoxide, and low molecular weight volatile organics such as formaldehyde and methanol. Precision Combustion, Inc. and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have been developing and testing prototype high temperature catalytic oxidizers based on PCI’s patented Microlith® technology to meet the requirements of future spaceflight exploration missions. To this end, our latest generation Microlith oxidizer, featuring an integrated heat recuperator, was subjected to endurance testing to simulate catalyst ageing over a Mars transit mission duration. Periodic reactor health testing indicates our approach results in a robust contaminant control solution for exploration missions beyond low earth orbit. Based on the demonstrated performance of this unit, a next-generation prototype was designed to meet exploration contaminant load control demands while upgrading the prototype form and fit to match flight-compatible interfaces. Prototype design considerations intended to reduce power consumption, impacting process thermal and hydraulic performance, are discussed herein.

Trace Contaminant Control↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Science Investigations and Exploration in Celestial Mapping System

Introduction: As NASA expands the mission portfolio on the lunar surface, there is a need for applications with a broad range of analytical and functional capabilities that can be simultaneously deployed onto multiple mobile and desktop platforms to perform in-situ operations and hence enabling extensive Lunar exploration. Celestial Mapping System (CMS) [1,2] is developed to address the need for tools for science investigations, mission planning, operations and support for planetary sciences. Built on top of NASA WorldWind libraries, CMS can be simultaneously deployed onto multiple platforms, has the flexibility to update to the latest imagery and terrain datasets as they are being acquired (in real time) before and/or during the exploration mission and has the potential to enable traverse path planning suited for rovers, EVA and surface mobility units. It can provide critical functionalities such as equipment planning and optimized placement on Lunar surface, line of sight analysis to inform the coverage area for various equipment, powerful measurement tools based on 3D terrain, 3D COLLADA models to represent rovers, humans and equipment, visualization of derived mapping products (e.g. resource maps), and a data engine for hosting new observations that are not available in other contemporary lunar data tools [1]. Visualization of PSRs: The current presentation focuses on the work performed by the authors, to consume a unique dataset of super-enhanced images of the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles which were produced by the Hyper-effective nOise Removal U-net Software (HORUS) tool [3]. This tool was developed in direct support of NASA's VIPER and Artemis programs to enhance the extremely low-light images of the interior of PSRs and provide the first-time ability to see within these regions at and discern surface features (i.e. boulders and craters) down to 3 meters in size. We focused on the region near Nobili crater near Lunar south pole, selected site for VIPER mission and stitched several images to create a high-resolution map within one of the PSR of Nobile crater. Line of Sight Analysis and Traverse Planning in PSRs: We have developed an in-built line of sight analysis (LOS) tool in CMS that analyzes the terrain profile and obstructions and provides the visibility of a given terrain for a remote observer. This tool was utilized to perform viewshed analysis to investigate the area inside the PSR, a remote observer such as a rover could see without actually crossing the region. Figure 1 shows the viewshed analysis on the PSR in Nobile region. The yellow pin shows the observer location outside the PSR. The yellow area shows the visible part of PSR. The obstructed area with no visibility for the observer is shown in red. Figure 1: (left) PSR image on top of a high-resolution mosaic of sunlit images of a crater, in Nobile region (right) Viewshed Analysis of the same PSR with observer location shown by yellow pin. This analysis was extended further to set different heights for various observers and then perform the viewshed analysis. Combining the different visibility profiles can help designing improved traverses within the crater. Future plans: Eventually, HORUS datasets will be integrated into CMS as a layer in selected lunar polar regions. Hazard Maps will then be created based on terrain analysis in those regions. This integration will enable multiple scientific and exploration applications, such as designing traverses within PSRs, analyzing potential landing and science mission targets, investigating the meter-scale geomorphology of PSRs, including craters, boulder, surface roughness, mass wasting features and other indications of the presence of water-ice and other volatiles. Acknowledgments: CMS developers team including Kaitlyn J. Dickinson, Tyler A. Lucarz, Tyler W. Choi from USRA, NASA WorldWind Advisory team including Mark Peterson and Guillermo Miguel Del Castillo, HORUS team member V.T. Bickel, Robinson, M., LRO MOON LROC 2 EDR V1.0, LRO-L-LROC-2-EDR-V1.0, NASA Planetary Data System (PDS), 2009. https://doi.org/10.17189/1520643 References: [1] https://celestial.arc.nasa.gov [2] Agrawal et. al. “Celestial Mapping System for Lunar Surface Mapping and Analytics”, Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium, 2021 [3] Bickel V. et al. (2021) Nat Commun 12, 5607

Lunar Mapping↗

NASA NTRS2022

FY22 X-Hab: Colorado School of Mines: Planetary Resource & In-Situ Material Habitat Outfitting for Space Exploration (PRISM-HOUSE)

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) was awarded a project under the Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation (M2M X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge on June 10, 2021 for the proposed Planetary Resource & In-Situ Material Habitat Outfitting for Space Exploration (PRISM-HOUSE) lunar habitat system. The project deliverables have been executed concurrently with coursework in the CSM Space Resources program, specifically for the Space Resources Project I & II classes. A team was established in the fall semester of 2021 and a Systems Engineering process was followed to brainstorm initial concepts, determine objectives, flow down top-level requirements, and identify areas for which the project could best further the understanding of the overall system through targeted detailed design and design evaluation testing. This report summarizes the overall project, as well as specific work completed in the spring semester of 2022. PRISM-HOUSE is a lunar habitat system that is deployed on the lunar surface robotically and supports safe, long-term human occupancy while maximizing the use of in-situ resources and minimizing the mass of supplies and equipment that must be delivered from Earth. In this report, the team provides an overview and description of the objectives, the system, and how the current design was selected from various alternatives, as well as the resulting products of systems engineering tasks such as product and specification trees and flow-down requirements. A review of current risks and planned mitigation are reviewed. Four key PRISM-HOUSE systems are explored: the inflatable Habitat, External Structures & Environmental Protection (ESEP), Human Interior Goods (HIG), and ECLSS & Remote Outfitting (E&RO); for each, the team provides a detailed system description and an overview of analyses performed supporting final design, followed by a review of each Design Evaluation Test (DET) performed and resulting conclusions. The report closes with a suggestion of next steps.

Peter Corwin↗

NASA NTRS2022

The Event Horizon Explorer Mission Concept

The Event Horizon Explorer (EHE) is a mission concept to extend the Event Horizon Telescope via anadditional space-based node. We provide highlights and overview of a concept study to explore the feasibility ofsuch a mission. We present science goals and objectives, which include studying the immediate environment aroundsupermassive black holes, and focus on critical enabling technologies and engineering challenges. We provide anassessment of their technological readiness and overall suitability for a NASA Medium Explorer (MIDEX) class mission.

Peter Kurczynski↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Search for Extant Life on Mars as a Focusing Scientific Goal for Future Human Exploration Missions

A search for evidence of extant life on Mars provides a focusing goal for human exploration missions that are planned for the 2030s. Finding an example of extant life beyond Earth would be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Human exploration brings extraordinary improvements over robotic missions in both payload and analytical capability. Environments that may be habitable for modern life on Mars include salts and brines, ground ice, caves, and deep subsurface aquifers [Carrier et al. 2020]. The habitability case for each environment is reviewed as well as how human missions may enable the search. It is important to determine if life exists on Mars prior to human exploration activities to prevent both the risk to Earth of inadvertently bringing potentially harmful organisms from Mars, risks to astronaut health, and the complication of recognizing Mars life once terrestrial contamination has occurred.

C.R. Stoker↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Planetary Surface Operations and Utilization: How ISS and Artemis Missions Can Be Used to Model Human Exploration of Mars

As NASA moves forward with plans to send astronauts to the Moon under Artemis missions and prepare for human exploration of Mars, the Agency is developing a set of high-level objectives for human spaceflight, identifying 50 points falling into four overarching categories of exploration. An element in NASA’s overall process of achieving these objectives is to leverage its assets and missions – such as the many crew increments sent to the International Space Station and future Artemis expeditions sent to the Moon – to develop more robust spaceflight systems and build a culture of interplanetary human exploration. This paper describes several examples of how NASA is exercising a process to achieve these objectives for future human Mars surface missions; both (a) building on lessons learned from ISS missions and maturing plans for Artemis missions, and (b) using human Mars mission planning to inform the plans for future ISS and Artemis missions so that the knowledge gained will reduce uncertainty and risk for Mars. One focal point for this two-way interaction between ISS and Artemis with future human Mars missions is a document titled “Reference Surface Activities for Crewed Mars Mission Systems and Utilization” (HEOMD-415), which describes the systems and operations of the crew thought necessary for the first human Mars surface mission. The details described in this paper will address three specific aspects of HEOMD-415 that have been influenced by ISS and where HEOMD-415 is influencing plans in ISS, Artemis, research and technology development, and other related aspects: (1) crew (activity planning and medical), (2) Mars surface infrastructure, and (3) communication and navigation support. The paper will close by describing near-term opportunities for tests and analogs relevant to these aspects of HEOMD-415.

Mars↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

PLANETARY SURFACE OPERATIONS AND UTILIZATION: HOW ISS AND ARTEMIS MISSIONS CAN BE USED TO MODEL HUMAN EXPLORATION OF MARS

Mars↗

NASA NTRS2023

Exploration Medical Capability Science and Research Overview and Update

The mission of the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element is to advance medical system design and risk-informed decision making for exploration beyond low Earth orbit to promote human health and performance in space. In order to accomplish this mission, the Element takes a progressively Earth-independent approach to three main areas: - Answering key clinical and science research questions that will help to address the challenges of providing medical care in the extreme environment of space - Applying systems engineering processes to medical system design with the goal of developing robust requirements that can be fully integrated into future space exploration vehicle designs - Developing and demonstrating novel medical technologies that will improve future medical capabilities in space This presentation will focus on selected scientific and technical conceptual drivers for the Element, the current and future research risks and gaps, and provide an overview of the Element’s progress in 2022. In particular, it will address the ongoing effort for the IMPACT trade space analysis tool suite, the closeout work on a clinical decision support prototype, potential requirements for a long-duration lunar orbit and lunar surface medical system, and an International Space Station technology demonstration of a point-of-care laboratory analysis capability.

Kris Lehnhardt↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Wizard Staff: A Mobile Tool Supporting Human Exploration on The Lunar Surface

The Wizard Staff is a rechargeable, battery powered mobile tool with multiple uses for lunar surface exploration. It supports human activity as a surface survey tool, provides external illumination to enhance safety, delivers networking, communications, and navigation features to remote sites, and assists crew rescue with an emergency beacon and rigid splint structure. As a survey tool, it assists crewed geologic field site exploration with external lights, cameras, and LiDAR to illuminate, map, and record the sample collection process. As a relay station, it provides a surface intranet communications and navigation node for extended exploration far from the lander or habitation module. A separately developed Search-and-Rescue (SAR) handheld device can broadcast a signal to the Gandalf Staff containing crew position and biometric data. The staff then formats the message and sends it orbiting satellite(s) for emergency response via the LunaNET on a dedicated frequency similar to terrestrial applications using an Emergency Position-Indicating Radiobeacon (EPIRB). The staff is designed with an upper and lower segment. Components in the upper segment are the LiDAR, external lighting arrays, cameras, communications equipment, intelligence devices, and user interface for crew operations. The lower segment is a set of FeLiPO4 battery cells packed into the 2” diameter carbon fiber tube. When the battery pack is discharged, a spring connector (designed for the dusty lunar environment) easily disconnects the two segments for replacement with another fully charged battery pack. The lower segment can be used for Incapacitated Crew Rescue (ICR) as a rigid splint. As a stand-alone science platform, the Wizard Staff provides infrastructure for instruments and sensors to record the lunar environment over long periods of time. After a crew installs the components on the lunar surface, the platform delivers data to the lunar lander or base station for analysis. The stand-alone mode requires an auxiliary power source (e.g. solar array) and energy storage system (e.g. battery), so it could also be used as an electrical recharging station. A working prototype of Wizard Staff has been developed with collaboration between NASA (JSC, MSFC, and GSFC), Texas Space Technology Applications and Research (T STAR), and Texas A&M University (TAMU) using $300k of innovation funding in FY’21 and FY’22. The functional staff weights 36# on Earth (6# on the Moon), stands 2.1m tall and delivers external lighting with an array of 40 LED bulbs generating 1460 Lux at 2m range (near field), or 2 Lux at 50m (far field).

Gandalf Staff↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Long Duration Medical System Foundation for Lunar Orbital and Lunar Surface Exploration Missions

For long-duration lunar orbital and lunar surface (LDLOS) exploration missions, the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has developed a medical system foundation through which clinical considerations may be represented via a systems engineering-based model. Components of the Long Duration Medical System Foundation model include a concept of operations (ConOps), functional decomposition, medical conditions to be addressed, clinical capabilities and resources, technical requirements, and traces of requirements to NASA standards documents and parent-level (Program- and Vehicle habitat system-level) requirements. The Foundation model offers the means to present information in a readily accessible format that is understandable across all clinical, engineering, scientific, and managerial disciplines. Collectively, these components constitute a foundation that serves future programs with similar long duration mission profiles as a starting point for medical system design. The Foundation was developed by a multidisciplinary team of systems engineers, scientists, and clinicians across NASA. The process started with ConOps development, subsequently decomposed into the functionalities needed to diagnose, treat, and prevent medical conditions. The clinical team identified medical conditions most likely needed to be diagnosed and treated during a long-duration lunar exploration mission. Through these approaches, requirements were codified for the LDLOS medical system. These requirements were then traced to NASA standards, medical conditions, medical capabilities, and medical resources, facilitating stakeholders’ use of the Foundation model to analyze traces and to identify medical system interfaces with other vehicle systems or subsystems. In addition, the Foundation may be used as a basis for performing risk trades on medical system mass and volume allocation. This discussion will focus on the processes through which the LDLOS Medical System Foundation was developed, how the Foundation builds a bridge between the medical and engineering domains, and how these processes may be applied more broadly to a crew health and performance system and other system domains.

Jay Lemery↗