Developing Future Deep-Space Telecommunication Architectures: A Historical Look at the Benefits of Analog Research on the Development of Solar System Internetworking for Future Human Spaceflight

Abstract

Exploration analog field tests, missions, and deployments enable the integration and validation of new and experimental concepts and/or technologies through strategic experimental design. The results of these operations often create new capabilities for exploration and increase confidence in, and credibility of, emerging technologies, usually at very low cost and risk to the test subjects involved. While these experiments resemble missions 10-30 years into the future, insights obtained are often of immediate value. Knowledge gained in the field translates into strategic planning data to assist long-range exploration planners, and planners influence the experimental design of field deployments, creating a synergistic relationship. The Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) communication architecture is a high-fidelity analog program that emulates conditions impacting future explorers on the martian surface. This article provides (1) a brief historical review of past analog operations that deliberately used elements of a flight-like telecommunication infrastructure to add fidelity to the test, (2) samples of the accomplishments made through analog operations, and (3) potentially significant deep-space telecommunication insights gained from the BASALT program in support of future extravehicular activity exploration of Mars. This article is paired with and complements Miller et al. in this issue which focuses on the telecommunication infrastructure utilized by the BASALT team during the field deployment.

A Flexible Telecommunication Architecture for Human Planetary Exploration Based on the BASALT Science-Driven Mars Analog

“…The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), various space agencies in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, and a variety of nongovernmental organizations (industry, academic organizations) have been performing field test experiments and analogs as early as the Mercury program (Schaber, 2005;Seibert et al, 2019). These fieldbased deployments have provided a low-risk, high-researchreturn environment within which to test proposed scientific, operational, and technical elements associated with future human and robotic spaceflight architectures.…”

“…Wireless telecommunications infrastructure. Wireless telecommunication capabilities will be central to the design of a human planetary mission (Seibert et al, 2019). For the BASALT program, the telecommunications team investigated a variety of methods and protocols to deploy a high-TRL system comprised largely of commercial offthe-shelf (COTS) products that aligned with NASA's current architecture roadmap (NASA, 2014).…”

“…The network data demand demonstrated from BASALT, especially the observation that video consumed 95% of the data bandwidth, suggests that the current Deep Space Network architecture for Mars must evolve to support the higher bandwidth requirements of human exploration missions, especially if live streaming video is a requirement. Seibert et al (2019) outline the current upgrade plans for the Mars telecommunication architecture. Further effort should also be devoted to investigating the optimal streaming video frame rate, resolution, and compression algorithms to ensure adequate scientific data return while making efficient use of network bandwidth.…”

“…A brief derivation of the BASALT architecture is provided, as well as a description of the process of architecture implementation, operation, and data analytics. For a more detailed account of the history and applications of analog field tests with regard to the development of a telecommunication architecture for future human and robotic spaceflight, see the work of the companion paper by Seibert et al (2019). Finally, this paper presents a utilization analysis of the BASALT telecommunication infrastructure for the BASALT-1 (Idaho 2016) and BASALT-2 (Hawai'i 2016) field deployments (described in Lim et al, 2019) and summarizes the data demands imposed on the architecture.…”

Using Science-Driven Analog Research to Investigate Extravehicular Activity Science Operations Concepts and Capabilities for Human Planetary Exploration

“…The BASALT Science program is investigating how microbial communities and habitability correlate with physical and geochemical characteristics of chemically altered basalt environments in Mars-analog terrestrial sites (Brady et al , 2019; Hughes et al , 2019; Lim et al , 2019). The BASALT Science Operations and Technology programs are examining concepts of operations (ConOps) and capabilities that enable and enhance scientific return during human–robotic exploration under Mars mission constraints (Beaton et al , 2019; Marquez et al , 2019; Miller et al , 2019; Seibert et al , 2019; Norheim et al , 2018).…”