Engineering topics

Highsmith, Dolan

Publications and source records attributed to Highsmith, Dolan.

7 records

NASA NTRS2019

Independent Optical Navigation Processing for the Osiris-Rex Mission Using the Goddard Image Analysis and Navigation Tool

The OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid(101955) Bennu heavily relies on optical navigation to provide relative state information between the asteroid and the spacecraft. These measurements enable determination of the spacecraft's orbit to the tight requirements needed to meet the science goals of the mission. In this document we describe the algorithms and techniques used by the Goddard independent verification and validation navigation effort to extract these measurements from the images taken by the spacecraft during the mission.We also demonstrate the capabilities of the techniques by showing the high accuracy of the results when used in an orbit determination solution.

Liounis, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS2019

A Novel Surface Feature Navigation Algorithm Using Ray Tracing

We demonstrate a novel single-bounce ray tracing approach to landmark identification for surface feature-based relative navigation. A priori knowledge of the camera pose and known topographic maps for each landmark are used to render the potentially visible landmarks via ray tracing into the image frame. These templates are registered with a search region around the predicted location for each landmark in the image, to locate its observed center. This procedure is applied to images from the OSIRIS-REx Orbital A and Orbital B mission phases, and the results are compared with those obtained via previous landmark identification methods.

Gnam, Chris↗

NASA NTRS2008

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Navigation During the Primary Science Phase

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began science operations in November 2006, with a suite of seven instruments and investigations, some of which required navigation accuracies much better than previous Mars missions. This paper describes the driving performance requirements levied on Navigation and how well those requirements have been met thus far. Trending analyses that have a direct impact on the Navigation performance, such as atmospheric bias determination, are covered in detail, as well as dynamic models, estimation strategy, tracking data reduction techniques, and residual noise.

MRO↗

NASA NTRS2007

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Interplanetary Cruise Navigation

Carrying six science instruments and three engineering payloads, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is the first mission in a low Mars orbit to characterize the surface, subsurface, and atmospheric properties with unprecedented detail. After a seven-month interplanetary cruise, MRO arrived at Mars executing a 1.0 km/s Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) maneuver. MRO achieved a 430 km periapsis altitude with the final orbit solution indicating that only 10 km was attributable to navigation prediction error. With the last interplanetary maneuver performed four months before MOI, this was a significant accomplishment. This paper describes the navigation analyses and results during the 210-day interplanetary cruise. As of August 2007 MRO has returned more than 18 Terabits of scientific data in support of the objectives set by the Mars Exploration Program (MEP). The robust and exceptional interplanetary navigation performance paved the way for a successful MRO mission.

You, Tung-Han↗

NASA NTRS2005

Atmosphere variability at Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter science orbit altitudes based on Mars Express Reconstructions

This paper describes the orbit reconstruction of Mars Express (MEX) with the specific goal of estimating the atmospheric density near periapsis and evaluating its variability and predictability. The desired outcome is to validate the covariance analysis assumption of atmospheric variability for the 2005 NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), as well as evaluate the accuracy of the density estimates output from the atmosphere model used by MRO. Topics covered include the MRO atmosphere model, MEX orbit determination and post-fit Doppler residuals, and atmosphere trending statistics gleaned from the orbit reconstructions.

Higas, Earl↗

NASA NTRS2004

Mars Express Interplanetary Navigation from Launch to Mars Orbit Insertion: The JPL Experience

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) played a significant role in supporting the safe arrival of the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express (MEX) orbiter to Mars on 25 December 2003. MEX mission is an international collaboration between member nations of the ESA and NASA, where NASA is supporting partner. JPL's involvement included providing commanding and tracking service with JPL's Deep Space Network (DSN), in addition to navigation assurance. The collaborative navigation effort between European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and JPL is the first since ESA's last deep space mission, Giotto, and began many years before the MEX launch. This paper discusses the navigational experience during the cruise and final approach phase of the mission from JPL's perspective. Topics include technical challenges such as orbit determination using non-DSN tracking data and media calibrations, and modeling of spacecraft physical properties for accurate representation of non-gravitational dynamics. Also mentioned in this paper is preparation and usage of DSN Delta Differential Oneway Range ((Delta)DOR) measurements, a key element to the accuracy of the orbit determination.

Deep Space Network (DSN)↗

NASA NTRS2004

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Navigation

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will launch in August 2005 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The heavyweight spacecraft will use a Lockheed-Martin Atlas V-401 launch vehicle. It will be the first mission in a low Mars Orbit to characterize the surface, subsurface, and atmospheric properties. The intensive science operation imposes a great challenge for Navigation to satisfy the stringent requirements. This paper describes navigation key requirements, major challenges, and the sophisticated dynamic modeling. It also details navigation strategy and processes for various mission phases. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will return significant amount of scientific data in support of the objectives set by the Mars Exploration Program. A robust and precise navigation is the key to the success of this mission.

navigation↗