Mobile network field testing at HMP-2000

Future human planetary exploration field teams will need daily communications with their base and with mission control. A remote field wireless digital network will be a requirement for safe and productive human exploration. Proper selection of radio-frequency hardware and antennas will be vital to its success in remote, hostile environments. This paper reviews the communications techniques explored in the Mobile Exploration 2000 field season at the Haughton-Mars Project, which was located at a remote impact crater field science site in the Canadian Arctic. Results from 2.4 GHz spread-spectrum signal-strength and data throughput tests, conducted during remote field deployments, show a marked variability with given hardware and antenna choices, with directional antenna performance less than expected from theory. Changing the antenna schemes for repeater-to-base and repeater-to-rover increased the rover´s effective communication range to base camp to over 3 km