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[USA – Canada] International Moon Day Tele – Robotics

July 20, 2022 @ 09:00 – 17:00

July 20, Online

The United Nations approved the creation of the International Moon Day (IMD) as an annual educational, cultural and scientific event. The International Moon Day is to be observed annually on 20 July to raise awareness among the public and generate support for sustainable Moon Exploration and Utilization. The International Moon Day encourages and promotes events around the globe on 20 July, including community panel discussion, lectures, webinar, concerts exhibits and screening of educational videos.

The Moon Village Exploration Analogues (MVA) Working Group (https://moonvillageassociation.org/technical-activities/exploration-analogues/ ) provides a forum for identifying and coordinating activities related to terrestrial analogues for the Moon Village. It also addresses the associated topic of the use of the Moon as an analogue/testbed for future exploration of Mars and other destinations. This Working Group will support the creation of Analogue test sites around the world as a tool to contribute to capacity building in space developing countries and in general as outreach to the public.

In order to support the International Moon Day (IMD) and demonstrate the leadership of the MVA, the Moon Village Exploration Analogues (MVA) Working Group is organizing an International Moon Day Tele-Robotics event for schools and universities. In this event groups of up to 4 students from each institution can tele-operate a lunar rover prototype in Canada or Hawai’i, USA from any location around the world.

Partners

REGISTRATION CLOSED

There are two groups that have graciously agreed to provide a robot and tele-operations software for the International Moon Day event on July 20, 2022:

Mission Control Space Services https://www.missioncontrolspaceservices.com/software/platform/

(Canada) The Mission Control Software platform empowers mission controllers working in distributed teams to command and monitor remote assets in space and on Earth.

The Mission Control Software platform is the operations powerhouse of Mission Control’s end-to-end solution. When combined with one or more of our applications, the solution provides core mission functions such as:

Command, control, guidance, and navigation of spacecraft, planetary rovers, surface and orbital robots, payloads, guidance and robotic systems
AI-based data processing of payloads and imagery
Interfaces with common space software frameworks and protocols, such as CCSDS, NASA cFS, Cubesat, and others

Figure 1. Mission Control Space Services Husky Rover (left) with Mission Control Software platform (right)

Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) https://pacificspacecenter.com/

(Hawaii, USA) in collaboration with the International Moonbase Alliance https://moonbasealliance.com/ (Hawaii, USA) and Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), (https://www.hi-seas.org/ ), which is a Mars and Moon exploration analog research station.. The International MoonBase Alliance (IMA) is an association comprised of leading scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs from space agencies and industries worldwide to advance the development and implementation of an international base on the Moon.

PISCES will provide the use of the HELELANI PLANETARY ROVER as a mobile testing platform for tele-robotic software and hardware systems. Named “Helelani” (Heavenly Travels), this 700-pound (318 kg) rover is outfitted with a suite of instruments and camera systems that can be controlled remotely via a handheld radio controller or through an internet connection from anywhere in the world. Helelani’s hardware and software systems are continually developed and refined.

Figure 2. HELELANI Planetary Rover testing on a Hawaiian Volcano

The Moon Village Analogue (MVA) Working Group is organizing a tele-robotics event for the International Moon Day using the Helelani planetary rover. Each rover will be available for tele-operations from multiple sites across the globe in order to promote international collaboration and cooperation.

Tele-operations Schedule:

Schools and Universities are invited to sign up below for a tele-robotics experience. Groups of 4 students can be accommodated in each hourly time slot. The sessions are limited to one hour per institution and the reservations are on a “first come – first served” basis. Please sign up soon to avoid disappointment!

Upon acceptance, the Moon Village Association will send further instructions for logistics and software preparation to tele-operate a robot on July 20. 2022.