Lifetime Enhancement Techniques For MANET Routing In Space Exploration Applications

Lifetime is a major concern when it comes to space applications such as Mars exploration missions. In such missions, rovers are set to rotate in circular orbits to sense useful data and transmit it to a mother ship in the center of the orbits. Rovers rely on the sun as a source of energy at day time and use their charged batteries for night work. With the energy being too scarce on Mars, further techniques need to be implemented to achieve the highest possible system lifetime. In this paper, the optimum initial position is determined to extend the lifetime of Mars exploration missions. Furthermore, a new more capable rover design is proposed and the best orbit in which it should be positioned, is determined. The results obtained from simulations showed that the proposed two techniques resulted in a higher lifetime of the mission.