Development and Field-Testing of Smart Small Logistics Containers for Crewed Planetary Exploration

Paper number

IAC-08.D3.3.11

Author

Mr. Arthur Guest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States

Year

2008

Abstract

As space agencies prepare to bring humans back to the Moon and, eventually, on to Mars, they will need to make improvements in storing, transporting, and tracking supplies on planetary surfaces in order to carry out successful new exploration programs. This micrologistics problem is complicated by additional likely constraints involving mass and available crew-time. This paper discusses the background, field-testing, and results of a the Smart Small Logistics Container (SSLC) research project, which aims to increase flexibility in logistics while allowing for the use of much less crew time in tracking the logistics items.

The SSLC project is the combination of two streams of research being undertaken at MIT. The first stream focuses on the efficiency and flexibility benefits that can be added to lunar exploration architectures by replacing or complementing the current concept of large pressurized storage containers, similar to the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules used to support the ISS, with smaller human-sized logistics containers. The second stream of research, the RAMSES (Rule-Based Analytic Asset Management for Space Exploration Systems) project, focuses on providing a robust method of tracking supplies during a lunar mission that does not require a large amount of the astronauts’ time. This research has shown the benefits of using RFID technology to track supplies.

These research projects were combined in the development of the Smart Small Logistics Container (SSLC). This container is a prototype of the design created in the Small Logistics Container research project that has been fitted with an RFID system developed during the RAMSES project. The purpose of this container was to allow for field-testing of the technologies at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in southern Utah. 

During the February 2008 field test, numerous facets of the design were tested, including mobility issues for the container design and a field demonstration of the RAMSES technology.  Mobility of the design was tested via excursions on brief simulated EVAs while two crewmembers carried the SSLC, and field demonstrations of the RFID technology examined the read accuracy of the system under different configurations of tagged items, number of antennas, and tag type.  This paper highlights the results of these tests along with lessons learned from performing the analogue-site research.

Abstract document

IAC-08.D3.3.11.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.D3.3.11.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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