Space Truckin’ Needs Careful Planning

Apollo missions packed all they needed on board and deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS) is straightforward compared to the complexity of interplanetary logistics. NASA is taking successfully delivery of supplies to future long-term bases on the Moon and Mars very seriously. Scheduling the vital shipments of food, fuel, or equipment will be assisted by a new software – called SpaceNet – developed by MIT’s Space Logistics Project. Inspired by existing terrestrial supply chains, the program will take into account the needs of different bases, the capabilities of the various vehicles, as well as the changes in the relative positions of the bases and the gravitational pull of the planets.

Source: MIT Space Logistics Project