Aerospace and Electronic Systems - May 2019 - 42

Feature Article:

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2019.2917566

An Emergency Mitigation System for Safer Lunar
Surface Exploration
Morris Vanegas, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
Kyle Kotowick, Paul LaTour, Mike Curry, Jordan Foley, Jeffrey Hoffman,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Samuel Schreiner, Timothy Setterfield, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, USA
Lynn Geiger, Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD, USA
David Barmore, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Daniel Roberson, Boeing Company, Chicago, IL, USA
Benjamin Putbrese, US Navy, Washington, DC, USA
Aleksandra Stankovic, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA,
USA

INTRODUCTION
MOTIVATION
One of the central achievements of the Apollo program
was the development of rover vehicles which significantly
increased the range and scientific capabilities of lunar
surface exploration. Given the mission specifications of
the Apollo program-which generated a combined total
of 3 days and 6 hours of lunar surface Extra-Vehicular
Activity (EVA) time-the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 mission
vehicles were designed primarily for short-duration exploration. However, as proposed future space exploration
Authors' current addresses: M. Vanegas, Northeastern
University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. E-mail: (mvanegas@alum.mit.edu). K. Kotowick, P. LaTour, M. Curry,
J. Foley, J. Hoffman, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. S. Schreiner,
T. Setterfield, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA 91109, USA. L. Geiger, Lockheed Martin,
Bethesda, MD 20817, USA. D. Barmore, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. D. Roberson,
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL 60606, USA.
B. Putbrese, US Navy, Washington, DC 20350-1200,
USA. A. Stankovic, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory,
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Manuscript received November 27, 2018, revised February
27, 2019, and ready for publication May 15, 2019.
Review handled by P. Willett.
0885-8985/19/$26.00 ß 2019 IEEE
42

looks ahead to longer duration missions, and perhaps even
to the establishment of a permanent manned lunar presence [1], the capabilities of unpressurized rover vehicles
must be expanded, not only in terms of surface range, but
also in their ability to tolerate unexpected emergency
scenarios.
Since longer intervals of surface exploration result in
increased risk exposure, the level of risk acceptable during
Apollo will not be acceptable for more frequent, longer
duration missions. Therefore, the ability of rover vehicles
to meet unexpected mission contingencies and to mitigate
risk will be integral to sustaining extended lunar surface
exploration. To this end, this paper presents the conceptual
design and analysis of a rover-based, single-day mission
emergency mitigation system for manned lunar surface
exploration.
During the Apollo missions, a major constraint on the
rover excursions was the crew required to remain within
"walk-back" range of the Lunar Excursion Module
(LEM) [2]. If the rover was disabled for any reason, the
crew had to be able to walk back to the lunar lander within
the time limit given by their current Environment Control
and Life Support System (ECLSS) consumables levels.
This constraint limited the distance away from base that
the astronauts could explore.
The work presented in this report is set within the context of the next generation of lunar surface exploration.
The earliest future lunar missions are assumed to be comparable in capability and scope to the later Apollo missions,
with modest advances. Rather than the large pressurized

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