Team Members
Samantha Allen, Shawn Cettei, Amanda Dischinger, Tyler Less, Raian Sadman, Jamie Wilson, Kayla Woods
Abstract
The next generation of NASA’s lunar missions will be to explore and study the lunar south pole region. Abeona is a robust system designed to support missions in and around lunar outposts and ensure the safety of crew members. Abeona is designed to make a round trip within a 300 km radius of Shackleton Crater Station (SCS) while carrying a payload configuration of up to 200kg. Payload configurations can vary between a small, pressurized canister for supplies, an unpressurized rack for hardware, or a SPOT rover. The LOX/Methane propulsion platform incorporates SPILCE technology to allow 10m landing accuracy anywhere within its range. At a moment’s notice, Abeona will launch from SCS into a suborbital flight towards missions needing assistance. The flight will be monitored by onboard GNC systems and communication will be relayed via the X-band communications suite on board. After landing on site, the payload can be deployed or loaded by the astronauts on the ground. Abeona can then do a similar flight path to return to SCS. The engineering philosophy is for Abeona to be a dependable system relied upon for a variety of mission support. These characteristics are at the heart of Abeona’s design. Complex mechanisms are limited and reliability is maximized. Abeona will be a successful platform for supporting the future of lunar exploration.