Aegis-Class Rover — Pressurized Lunar Mobility Platform

01 — Overview

Why a Pressurized Rover

Open rovers solve early sortie missions. Aegis solves permanent lunar presence — eliminating the single greatest bottleneck in lunar exploration: EVA fatigue.

Program Scope

ASI develops the pressurized crew module, the integrated power and thermal architecture (SSSRA), and the cFS-based flight software and crew operations console — the systems that define the vehicle. The mobility chassis — suspension, drivetrain, wheels, body structure — is a maturing commodity in the open-architecture lunar rover market, sourced rather than rebuilt; ASI specifies the interface, integrates the platform, and provides the operational software. The platform partnership itself is the open step — a chassis builder and ASI choosing each other around a shared interface.

🫁

Shirtsleeves Environment

Full life support at 55.2 kPa / 38.7% O₂ — equivalent sea-level oxygen. Crew works, sleeps, eats, and plans without suits. Productivity multiplied 4–6× over EVA-only concepts.

☀️

Solar Storm Shelter

Deployable water-wall bladders in Zone C provide ~10 cm shielding on all sides. Reduces August-1972-class SPE dose from unsurvivable to manageable emergency exposure over 12 hours.

🔧

Mobile Command Post

Planning table, science bench with glove box, full tool storage, maintenance bench, medical station with telemedicine. The rover is a workspace, not just transport.

🔗

Aegis Ecosystem Node

Integrated with Aegis Station (orbit), Short-Hoppers, Long-Haulers, Tankers, and WOK prospecting rovers. Closed-loop mobility and water-logistics from orbit to surface.

🤖

Autonomous Modes

Manual, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous. Return-to-base and autonomous scouting modes. Forward-looking LIDAR terrain classification for path planning.

🏥

Medical Capability

Fold-down medical bench, full CMO kit (diagnostics, surgery, IV), AED with cardiac monitoring, telemedicine link. Pressurized refuge during EVA incidents.

02 — Vehicle Architecture

Command Module Dimensions

Every dimension derives from a single constraint: 2.1 m interior cabin height for standing room over 30–60 day missions. The rest follows through structural, thermal, and stability logic.

10.0 m

Overall Length

Cabin interior 8.0 m

4.0 m

Track Width (C-C)

~4.6–4.8 m with treads

3.90 m

Total Height

Incl. SSSRA array tier

3.4 × 8.0 m

Cabin Interior

27.2 m² floor / ~57 m³ gross

6.5 m

Wheelbase

3 axles, 6×6 all-wheel drive

1.54 m

CG Height

SSF 1.30 rollover margin

2.1 m

Interior Height

Standing room, full cabin

~100 mm

Wall Buildup

Liner / Al-Li / MLI / MMOD

Aegis Command Module Cross-Section — looking forward

Cross-Section — Looking Forward — All Subsystems Shown

Aegis Command Module Longitudinal Section — port side view

Longitudinal Section — Port Side View — Zones A through E

03 — Interior Layout

Five Zones, Fore to Aft

Forward is operational, aft is personal. A continuous 0.75 m aisle on the port side is the emergency egress path, stretcher route, and primary circulation spine. Dust stays at the door.

Zone	Name	Length	Area	Functions
A	Forward Command	1.6 m	5.4 m²	Pilot/co-pilot stations, nav displays, forward windows, hand controllers
B	Central Workspace	2.4 m	8.2 m²	Planning table, galley, tool storage, science bench, comm station
C	Crew Quarters	2.2 m	7.5 m²	3 berths (2 lower + 1 upper), hygiene closet, medical bench, lockers
D	Systems Bay	1.2 m	4.1 m²	ECLSS racks, PDU, spares, floor access panels
E	Airlock Vestibule	0.6 m	2.0 m²	Suitports (×2), dust management, HEPA, exterior hatch

Aegis Command Module Cabin Plan View — top down

Cabin Plan View — Top-Down, Roof Removed — Equipment Placement

Suitport EVA Interface

The baseline EVA interface uses suitports rather than a traditional airlock. The dust-covered suit never enters the cabin — crew enters from inside through a sealed hull port, seals, and detaches. On return, the suit docks and crew exits inside. This eliminates ~95% of dust ingress and saves 5–10 kg of atmosphere gas per 60-day mission. Ingress/egress takes 10–15 minutes vs. 30–45 minutes for a full airlock cycle. The vestibule can revert to traditional airlock mode if suitport seals fail.

Crew Habitability

Private sleeping berths (2.0 × 0.70 × 0.85 m) with sound-attenuating curtains, individual LED reading lights, and USB-C ports. Circadian lighting system transitions from 5000K blue-enriched (day) through 3000K warm (evening) to 1800K amber (night) on a 24-hour schedule. Zone C targets ≤45 dBA for sleep quality. No shower — body cleaning uses no-rinse wipes consistent with ISS and submarine practice. Exercise via EVA activity plus resistance bands and isometric protocols.

Cabin Atmosphere: 55.2 kPa (8.0 psia) / 38.7% O₂ / 21.4 kPa ppO₂ (sea-level equivalent)
Temperature: 20–22°C day, 18–19°C sleep | Humidity: 40–55% RH
CO₂ limit: <0.53 kPa nominal, alarm at 0.67 kPa | Particulate: <1.0 mg/m³ respirable
Benefit: Reduced hull structural loads + EVA prebreathe cut to ~40 min (vs. 2–4 hr from 101.3 kPa)
⚠ All interior materials must pass NASA-STD-6001 flammability at >35% O₂

04 — Power & Thermal

Stacked Solar-Shade Radiator Architecture

The SSSRA places a solar array tier above a flat-plate radiator, shading it from direct solar flux while generating power. A low-emissivity backside coating is the key enabler — without it, IR backradiation erodes the shade benefit.

20 m²

Roof Solar Array

~724 W at 6° south pole sun

6.0 m²

Radiator Area

1,530 W rejection at degraded EoM

100 kWh

Battery Capacity

4 × 25 kWh LFP modules

1–3 kW

Fuel Cell

H₂-O₂ for night operations

ε ≤ 0.10

Backside Emissivity

VDA coating — ~20 W/m² IR penalty

310 K

Radiator Temp

Operating temp, fluid loop

0.4 m

Clearance Gap

Array-to-radiator spacing

2 × 5 m²

Deployable Wings

Tilted arrays, ~3,480 W combined

Power Budget (24-hr traverse day):
Cruise (6 hr): 4,590 W → 27.5 kWh | Station-keeping (12 hr): 2,170 W → 26.0 kWh | Sleep (6 hr): 1,200 W → 7.2 kWh
Daily total: ~60.7 kWh | Peak transient: 8,890 W

Battery System — LFP by Design

NMC/NCA chemistries were explicitly rejected. Thermal runaway at 140–170°C with violent oxygen release, fire, and HF gas is unsurvivable in a sealed 57 m³ cabin. LFP (LiFePO₄) is stable above 250°C with slow, self-limiting failure and no fire. The mass penalty — 700–860 kg pack vs. 450–550 kg for NMC — is accepted. The battery sits underfloor at 0.75–0.95 m height, pulling the CG low.

Pack Architecture

Four independent 25 kWh modules, each in a sealed stainless steel enclosure rated 2–5 bar burst. Dedicated vent line per module routes gas to hull exterior through burst disc + flame arrestor. Pyrotechnic + solid-state contactors for isolation. Ceramic fiber thermal barriers between modules. Any single module can be permanently disconnected — vehicle continues on 75% capacity.

Thermal Mgmt

Internal cold plates bonded to each cell stack → main thermal loop → SSSRA radiator. Heat generation 150–600 W normal ops. Heating during darkness via resistive mats (200–400 W total) + MLI insulation + variable-conductance cabin coupling. Operating range: charge 5–40°C, discharge −10–55°C.

05 — Flight Software & Crew Operations Console

NASA cFS-Based Avionics with Real-Time Operator Awareness

The Aegis-Class Rover flight software is built on NASA's Core Flight System (cFS) — the same flight-heritage framework used across NASA missions. The stack runs end-to-end in simulation today: all 16 applications build and execute, and the autonomous safing chain has been exercised live against injected sensor faults. Mission-application source is identical across simulation, bench, and flight targets — only the hardware abstraction layer changes between them — so verification done in simulation carries forward rather than being rebuilt for each environment.

Development status: The flight software runs end-to-end in a desktop simulation — a real cFS workspace, all 16 applications, with autonomous FDIR verified live across the full safing chain. Bench and on-vehicle targets share the same source through the HAL; no flight hardware is committed.

cFS Applications

cFE core + 9 standard cFS + 7 Aegis mission apps

FDIR Safing Modes

NOMINAL → THERM_SAFE → ECLSS_SAFE → LOADSHED → SHELTER

20 Hz

Navigation Rate

aegis_nav navigation & odometry update

CCSDS

Telemetry Protocol

Standards-compliant

WebSocket

Console Live Link

CCSDS-UDP ↔ browser bridge, same schema every env

cFE

Core Flight Executive

Runtime — NASA flight heritage

Autonomous Fault Detection, Isolation & Recovery

The flight software continuously monitors watchpoint signals across thermal, life support, electrical, and radiation domains. When a watchpoint excursion is detected, the system autonomously transitions through the safing chain without requiring crew action. Each mode is a known operational posture with documented entry conditions, system reconfigurations, and crew advisory protocols. Crew override authority is preserved at all levels.

Autonomous Waypoint Navigation with Energetic Range Gating

The navigation system maintains a waypoint catalog and a guidance state machine for autonomous traverse to selected destinations. Reachability is not gated by a static geometric range; it is gated by live state-of-charge, vehicle load, and multi-hop reachability through LUNET surface utility nodes. The planner accounts for available recharge stops along candidate routes, providing crew with reachability information that reflects actual energetic constraints rather than nominal range estimates.

Crew Operations Console

The crew operations console is a browser-based real-time interface for situational awareness and command authority. Pages cover summary system status, navigation and waypoint management, power and thermal, atmosphere and life support, pilot view, and contingency recovery. The same console operates identically across simulation, bench, and flight — supporting consistent operator training and procedure validation across mission phases.

Crew Operations Console — Pilot Page (running in simulation)

The same flight software and console are designed to operate across whichever mobility chassis the crew module is paired with — the integration spine is consistent across platform partnerships.

06 — Mobility Platform Interface

Reference Configuration & Interface Envelope

The crew module is designed to mate to a third-party chassis from the maturing open-architecture lunar rover market. The reference configuration below represents the operational envelope and interface requirements the crew module brings to a candidate platform; specific chassis selection and final parameter values follow once a platform partnership is established around this envelope.

The reference platform provides six independently driven and steered wheels on three axles — no driveshafts, differentials, or transfer cases. In-hub motors with harmonic-drive reduction are the baseline expectation, keeping mechanical complexity and dust-exposed mechanisms off the chassis. A candidate platform need not match this mechanism, but must hold the crew module within the envelope the figures below describe.

1.0 m

Wheel Diameter

Ni-Ti superelastic spring + SS mesh

~6 kPa

Ground Pressure

Target ≤7 kPa for south pole regolith

750 W

Motor (continuous)

Per wheel / 4,500 W system total

500 mm

Suspension Travel

±250 mm jounce/rebound

~6 m

Turn Radius

Front/rear counter-phase steering

25 km/h

Sprint Speed

Short duration, firm terrain

Suspension

The reference suspension is a semi-active double-wishbone at all six stations: titanium control arms, Ni-Ti superelastic coil springs (fatigue-immune across −170°C to +120°C), and electromechanical ball-screw dampers providing passive damping (back-EMF), semi-active rate control, and active ride-height adjustment (±100 mm) — with no working fluids anywhere. This fixes the ride-quality envelope the crew module assumes: ~1.1 Hz ride frequency (lunar-gravity corrected) for automobile-like crew comfort, electronic anti-roll via differential damper control, and active cabin leveling on cross-slopes up to ±10°. A candidate platform is free to meet this differently, but must keep the crew module within that comfort and leveling envelope.

Traction Control

The reference drive system uses six independent motors for per-wheel torque vectoring, slip detection and limiting (5–25% threshold by mode), electronic stability control, and regenerative ABS — across Highway (5% slip, equal torque), Off-Road (15% slip, adaptive), Rock Crawl (25% slip, per-wheel override), and Emergency (limits relaxed) modes. The governing constraint the crew module imposes is traction, not motor power: at 5,400 kg laden on the Moon, available traction is ~4,374 N, and a 10° climb demands 4,017 N (92% of limit). A candidate platform must deliver stable, slip-managed torque control within this margin; slopes above 12–15° on loose regolith are traction-limited regardless of installed motor power.

Dust Protection at Hub: The platform hub-seal interface is expected to provide a multi-stage seal — labyrinth (outer, centrifugal ejection) → magnetic particle trap (rare-earth, captures ferromagnetic fraction) → PTFE lip seal on Ti wear sleeve (replaceable at turnaround) → optional N₂ purge (~0.1–0.2 g/hr per wheel, 0.5–1.1 kg total / 60 days)

The figures here represent design-baseline expectations consistent with currently demonstrated lunar mobility platforms and serve as the integration starting point for partner discussions.

07 — Safety Architecture

Four-Tier Battery Safety

Defense-in-depth for the most energetic system on a crewed pressurized vehicle. Every tier is independent — each layer assumes the previous has failed.

Cell-Level Prevention

LFP inherent stability (olivine cathode stable >250°C, no oxygen release). CID disconnects on overpressure. PTC limits current >80–90°C. Ceramic-coated separator maintains integrity beyond polymer melt point.

Module-Level Isolation

Sealed enclosure contains worst-case multi-cell vent (2–5 bar). Dedicated vent line to hull exterior — not cabin. Ceramic fiber thermal barriers limit adjacent module surface to <60°C during 200°C transient. Pyrotechnic contactor for permanent irreversible disconnect.

System-Level Detection

BMS monitors every cell at 1 Hz normal / 10 Hz anomaly. Graduated response: Advisory (log + monitor) → Caution (reduce rate, alert crew) → Warning (disconnect module, close thermal valves) → Emergency (fire pyro, auto-vent, isolate bay, master alarm).

Cabin Atmosphere Protection

ECLSS gas sensors (CO, HF, electrolyte vapor, H₂). Battery bays under negative pressure during vent. Fixed fire suppression (Novec 1230 clean agent). Crew SCBA at forward/aft stations, 30-second donning time.

Water & Consumables

Water: 3.2 kg/person/day gross (drinking 2.0 + food rehydration 0.5 + hygiene 0.5 + medical 0.2)
Recovery rate 85% → net 0.48 kg/person/day → ~86 kg makeup for 60-day, 3-crew mission
Vehicle carries ~200 kg at mission start (initial fill + margin)

Food: 1.8 kg/person/day × 3 crew × 60 days = 324 kg (freeze-dried + thermostabilized, 16-day rotation)
O₂: 0.84 kg/person/day × 3 × 60 = ~151 kg | N₂ makeup: ~0.6–1.2 kg total

08 — Mission Roles

Surface Lifecycle Platform

💧

Water & Resource Prospecting

Carry sensors, drills, and ISRU payloads. Cargo module hauls processing equipment to sites identified by WOK prospecting rovers.

🏗️

Construction & Logistics

Haul equipment, deploy robotics, serve as mobile command post. Train-style module configuration allows mission-specific arrangements.

🚀

Long-Range Transport

Move crews safely between outposts, sites, domes, and landers. Passenger module extends capacity to 24 crew for base transfers.

🔭

Science & Exploration

Pressurized visibility modules optional. Science bench with sealed glove box for regolith sample handling without cabin contamination.

Module Train Configuration:
Command Module (~10 m) + Passenger Module (~24 m, up to 24 crew) + Cargo Module (12–24 m) + Systems Module (~6 m)
All modules share standardized mechanical, electrical, and data interfaces