Design, Development, and In Situ Testing of Lunar Technologies
Publication: Earth and Space 2022
ABSTRACT
As space agencies again turn their sights to lunar exploration, they will find a dearth of modern technologies at TRL 7–9 for the lunar environment. As a remedy, NASA is enabling new commercial testing services in tandem with commercial partners to provide a path for achieving TRL 8 or 9 through technology demonstrations on the lunar surface, including two from Aegis Aerospace, Inc. Transport to and operation on the Moon require survival of thermal extremes, extended radiation exposure, hard vacuum, pervasive dust, and other lunar peculiarities. In addition to environmental considerations, practical size, weight, and power (SWaP) considerations require systems to balance mass and structure, design electronics and software for power and bandwidth restrictions, and devise intelligent operations and ground systems. In combination with traditional verification and validation, several comprehensive tests are appropriate for lunar operations, including dusty TVAC, orbital demonstrations, and integrated mission lifetime testing at the payload and system levels. However, it is impossible to fully replicate the lunar environment, resulting in residual risk that cannot be fully mitigated with testing in simulated environments. While the lunar environment harbors many unknowns, this paper provides information for successfully designing, developing, and testing the technologies that will be integral to establishing a constant presence on the Moon.
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Earth and Space 2022
Pages: 832 - 845
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Published online: Jan 5, 2023
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