Localized Environmental Characterization System for the Lunar and Mars Surfaces

As crewed space travel to the moon and Mars becomes more frequent, permanent and semi-permanent structures will be needed to support long-duration surface missions. Environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and radiation are critical to consider when planning the placement of these structures due to the prolonged exposure to these environmental factors. Degradation of performance of critical electrical systems, such as thermal control or life-support systems, is well-known with respect to component aging, temperature swing, and radiation. These environmental factors are currently monitored by satellite, but local, real-time monitoring and characterization of environmental events is non-existent. To this end, Collins Aerospace has developed a deployable technology that allows for localized environmental characterization for temperature, radiation (both accumulated dose and single event effects), and humidity. These standalone units have a form-factor that allows astronauts performing a surface extravehicular activity (EVA) to carry and deploy during the mission. Over time, the network will generate a map of ideal locations to place critical structures based on the real-time environmental data each device collects and transmits over life. Due to the complexity of characterizing radiation in space, a radiation sensor was designed to determine the mean failure rate of both commercial and radiation-hardened electronic components with while actively monitoring and characterizing total dose and Single Event Effects. This paper will discuss the sensing systems and characterization algorithm and explore the advantages of investment in this technology.