Wireless Sensor Networks – A potential tool to probe for water on Moon

A Wireless Sensor Network for in situ probing of lunar water/ice is proposed. The mission scenario in single and multi-tier architectures for probing water in a permanently shadowed region of the Moon and different scenarios of exploration are discussed. The ideas presented in the paper are a positive assertion of feasibility for the sensor node hardware, given current levels of technological advancements.

[1]  P. Weiss,et al.  Feasibility study of a lunar landing area navigation network deployed by impacting micro-probes , 2010 .

[2]  W. Marshall,et al.  The LCROSS Cratering Experiment , 2010, Science.

[3]  Suzanne E. Smrekar,et al.  Penetration tests on the DS-2 Mars microprobes: penetration depth and impact accelerometry , 2000 .

[4]  S. Nozette,et al.  The Clementine Bistatic Radar Experiment , 1994, Science.

[5]  Adrian M. Ionescu,et al.  Ad-hoc wireless sensor networks for exploration of solar-system bodies , 2006 .

[6]  G. Campbell,et al.  Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) for Phoenix , 2009 .

[7]  Mark S. Robinson,et al.  Initial results for the north pole of the Moon from Mini‐SAR, Chandrayaan‐1 mission , 2010 .

[8]  Krishna M. Sivalingam,et al.  Guest Editorial: Special Issue on Wireless Sensor Networks , 2003, Mob. Networks Appl..

[9]  Roger N. Clark,et al.  Detection of Adsorbed Water and Hydroxyl on the Moon , 2009, Science.

[10]  Robert M. Newman,et al.  Wireless Sensor Networks: The Quest for Planetary Field Sensing , 2006, Proceedings. 2006 31st IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks.

[11]  C. Lee,et al.  Software architecture of sensor data distribution in planetary exploration , 2006, 2006 IEEE Aerospace Conference.

[12]  J. Barney,et al.  Commercialization of an ultra wideband precision asset location system , 2003, IEEE Conference on Ultra Wideband Systems and Technologies, 2003.

[13]  Bruce C. Murray,et al.  The behavior of volatiles on the lunar surface , 1961 .

[14]  James R. Arnold,et al.  Ice in the lunar polar regions , 1979 .

[15]  Zhiyong Xiao,et al.  Integrated fuel cell micro power system by microfabrication technique , 2005, The 13th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 2005. Digest of Technical Papers. TRANSDUCERS '05..

[16]  Roland Trautner,et al.  Detection of near‐surface ice on Mars with electromagnetic techniques on board future surface vehicles , 2003 .

[17]  Jan M. Rabaey,et al.  A study of low level vibrations as a power source for wireless sensor nodes , 2003, Comput. Commun..

[18]  Hiroshi Araki,et al.  Illumination conditions at the lunar polar regions by KAGUYA(SELENE) laser altimeter , 2008 .

[19]  R. Sridharan,et al.  The Moon Impact Probe on Chandrayaan-1 , 2009 .

[20]  Nathan Ida,et al.  Path Loss Prediction Over the Lunar Surface Utilizing a Modified Longley-Rice Irregular Terrain Model , 2007 .

[21]  Dana Hurley Crider,et al.  The solar wind as a possible source of lunar polar hydrogen deposits , 2000 .

[22]  Wei Hong,et al.  Model-Driven Data Acquisition in Sensor Networks , 2004, VLDB.

[23]  D. Campbell,et al.  Topography of the lunar poles from radar interferometry: a survey of cold trap locations. , 1999, Science.

[24]  Abdel Aitouche,et al.  Optimal design of fault tolerant sensor networks , 2000, Proceedings of the 2000. IEEE International Conference on Control Applications. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37162).

[25]  Chee-Yee Chong,et al.  Sensor networks: evolution, opportunities, and challenges , 2003, Proc. IEEE.

[26]  Mohamed F. Younis,et al.  A survey on routing protocols for wireless sensor networks , 2005, Ad Hoc Networks.

[27]  M. D. Dyar,et al.  Character and Spatial Distribution of OH/H2O on the Surface of the Moon Seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1 , 2009, Science.

[28]  R. Wiens,et al.  Evidence for water ice near the lunar poles , 2001 .

[29]  Christopher K. Dyer.  Fuel cells for portable applications , 2002 .

[30]  Lori M. Feaga,et al.  Temporal and Spatial Variability of Lunar Hydration As Observed by the Deep Impact Spacecraft , 2009, Science.

[31]  S. Maurice,et al.  Fluxes of fast and epithermal neutrons from Lunar Prospector: evidence for water ice at the lunar poles. , 1998, Science.

[32]  Kieran Delaney,et al.  Development of field programmable modular wireless sensor network nodes for ambient systems , 2005, Comput. Commun..

[33]  Stephen Horan,et al.  Radio frequency channel modeling for proximity networks on the Martian surface , 2005, Comput. Networks.

[34]  Kelly Snook,et al.  Diviner Lunar Radiometer Observations of Cold Traps in the Moon’s South Polar Region , 2010, Science.

[35]  Ian F. Akyildiz,et al.  Wireless sensor networks: a survey , 2002, Comput. Networks.

[36]  Pablo Pavón-Mariño,et al.  Simulation scalability issues in wireless sensor networks , 2006, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[37]  Mark S. Robinson,et al.  Illumination conditions at the lunar South Pole , 1999 .

[38]  Reid F. Cooper,et al.  Volatile content of lunar volcanic glasses and the presence of water in the Moon’s interior , 2008, Nature.

[39]  Vaios Lappas,et al.  Characterising Wireless Sensor Motes for Space Applications , 2007, Second NASA/ESA Conference on Adaptive Hardware and Systems (AHS 2007).

[40]  Refet Firat Yazicioglu,et al.  Technologies for highly miniaturized autonomous sensor networks , 2006, Microelectron. J..

[41]  V. F. Petrenko,et al.  Physics of Ice , 1999 .

[42]  Ramesh Govindan,et al.  Wireless sensor networks , 2003, Comput. Networks.

[43]  William Marshall,et al.  Detection of Water in the LCROSS Ejecta Plume , 2010, Science.

[44]  Ian F. Akyildiz,et al.  A survey on wireless mesh networks , 2005, IEEE Communications Magazine.