Cognition: Distributed Data Processing System for Lunar Activities

Moon exploration has gained significant momentum in recent decades, with growing interest from space agencies and private investors. A diverse range of activities is associated with moon exploration, encompassing spacecraft design, payload transportation, launcher capabilities, resource identification and mining, and establishing a sustained presence on our only natural satellite. Such endeavors would require the shipment of both scientific and life-sustaining equipment. However, communication between Earth’s mission control and the Moon’s bases can still present challenges. In this paper, we introduce Cognition – a rover-lander distributed system that approaches this problem by distributing the data processing between the rover and the lander. The primary goal of the Cognition system is to optimize lunar surface exploration by minimizing data transmission to the Earth’s surface, prioritizing the transfer of valuable data, and augmenting the level of autonomy in the process.