HMP Research Station | Haughton-Mars Project: Exploration Sysems Report Archives

July 31, 2009

Dr Stephen Braham, Chief Field Engineer, HMP (SFU)

Dr Stephen Braham, the Associate Director of HMP (Mars Institute) and Chief Field Engineer (Simon Fraser University), discusses communications and exploration systems support at the HMP Research Station.

Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org

Posted by Elaine Walker at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2009

Exploration Systems Report

From the Office of the Chief Engineer

-by Dr. Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director)

Ka-band (right) and C-band (middle) satellite terminals, the Planetary Uplink Facility (PUF) tent, and the regional medium-gain, high-power, antenna (right) for the long-range digital voice network. All sit on the Mars-like Maynard Hill near base camp, connected to camp by a road we call the Information Superhighway.

copyright 2009 Mars Institute

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure at HMP is central to supporting Science and Exploration work for NASA and CSA on Devon Island, as well as the field safety and research needs of the Mars Institute and its many partners on the HMP. This ICT infrastructure is quickly being filled out and brought online. We build in stages to support incoming projects, and meet our own test requirements.

ICT is run by my team, the Exploration Systems Operations Centre (ExSOC) team, lead by Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada, out of a lab I direct, the PolyLAB for Advanced Collaborative Networking, a unit of the SFU Telematics Research Laboratory (TRL). The latter is directed by my colleague Professor Peter Anderson. We work to understand ICT in critical environments, from disasters to human spaceflight.

This year, we are making more steps in the systems we have been building at HMP since 1999 - the most advanced and highest fidelity planetary analog ICT infrastructure anywhere in the world. Our team includes super-capable undergraduate student Starla Talbot, from SFU, and we're being helped greatly by Dr Sarah Thompson of NASA Ames, in yet another exciting collaboration with Dr Brian Glass (also NASA Ames).

Continue reading "Exploration Systems Report" »

Posted by Elaine Walker at 5:49 PM | Comments (0)