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NASA NTRS2019

The Lunar IceCube EM-1 Mission: Prospecting the Moon for Water Ice

Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite mission designed to prospect, locate, and measure volumes and composition of water ice deposits and other volatiles on the Moon in support of future exploitation by robots and human explorers. Lunar IceCube is one of several public -private partnerships selected under NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Broad Agency Announcement for the development of advanced exploration systems. Among the first small satellites planned to explore deep space, Lunar IceCube, along with the 12 other Exploration Mission One (EM -1) missions will help lay a foundation for future small-scale planetary missions. In addition to providing useful scientific data, Lunar IceCube will help inform NASA's strategy for sending humans farther into the solar system.

Benjamin K. Malphrus↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute – Building A SmallSat Community

Small spacecraft (smallsats) continue to find meaningful applications in the exploration of space and the Earth. Many agencies, companies, and universities are successfully exploiting these lower cost platforms, with their associated higher flight frequencies to rapidly develop and test novel technologies, conduct robotic exploration missions, and perform a wide range of science investigations. In addition to their lower costs to develop, integrate, launch, and operate, smallsats foster alternate approaches that can be used to conduct space research. This allows non-traditional individuals, groups, and organizations to contribute to space exploration and science applying novel management approaches spanning mission design, testing, and operations. Many of these approaches are based on collaborations and networks and have origins in related industries. Over time, a smallsat community has evolved to embody a new way of doing space. NASA, through various methods supports the development and growth of these communities, both within the agency and externally. This paper describes the processes, tools, and resources that NASA has developed and deployed to enable, inform, streamline, and sustain the smallsat community for the benefit of the space agency.

Bruce D. Yost↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Update and Future Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at: NASA SSRI Knowledge Base | Explore. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content; development of an Application Programming Interface (API); improved user interfaces; scalable and searchable Best Practices and Lessons Learned (BPLL) lists with ratings; and custom website analytics. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, demonstrate the existing tool, and outline plans for further development. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Update and Future Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at: NASA SSRI Knowledge Base | Explore. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content; development of an Application Programming Interface (API); improved user interfaces; scalable and searchable Best Practices and Lessons Learned (BPLL) lists with ratings; and custom website analytics. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, demonstrate the existing tool, and outline plans for further development. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Use Case Review and Future Functionality and Content Direction

NASA’s Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI), in conjunction with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI), has developed the SSRI Knowledge Base to improve mission confidence for small spacecraft. The SSRI Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community at: NASA SSRI Knowledge Base | Explore. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. All 58 of the planned topic pages that comprise the SSRI Knowledge Base have been recently completed and include over 450 unique resources that are now available for review. Over the past several months significant enhancements to the tool’s capabilities have been developed and implemented. These enhancements consist of the completed baseline content; development of an Application Programming Interface (API); improved user interfaces; scalable and searchable Best Practices and Lessons Learned (BPLL) lists with ratings; and custom website analytics. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, review of potential use case(s), and outline plans for further development and content generation. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. The S3VI is jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗
NASA NTRS2014

Solar and Drag Sail Propulsion: From Theory to Mission Implementation

Solar and drag sail technology is entering the mainstream for space propulsion applications within NASA and around the world. Solar sails derive propulsion by reflecting sunlight from a large, mirror- like sail made of a lightweight, reflective material. The continuous sunlight pressure provides efficient primary propulsion, without the expenditure of propellant or any other consumable, allowing for very high V maneuvers and long-duration deep space exploration. Drag sails increase the aerodynamic drag on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft, providing a lightweight and relatively inexpensive approach for end-of-life deorbit and reentry. Since NASA began investing in the technology in the late 1990's, significant progress has been made toward their demonstration and implementation in space. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed the development and testing of two different 20-m solar sail systems and rigorously tested them under simulated space conditions in the Glenn Research Center's Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station, Ohio. One of these systems, developed by L'Garde, Inc., is planned for flight in 2015. Called Sunjammer, the 38m sailcraft will unfurl in deep space and demonstrate solar sail propulsion and navigation as it flies to Earth-Sun L1. In the Flight Center (MSFC) managed the development and testing of two different 20-m solar sail systems and rigorously tested them under simulated space conditions in the Glenn Research Center's Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station, Ohio. One of these systems, developed by L'Garde, Inc., is planned for flight in 2015. Called Sunjammer, the 38m sailcraft will unfurl in deep space and demonstrate solar sail propulsion and navigation as it flies to Earth-Sun L1. In the interim, NASA MSFC funded the NanoSail-D, a subscale drag sail system designed for small spacecraft applications. The NanoSail-D flew aboard the Fast Affordable Science and Technology SATellite (FASTSAT) in 2010, also developed by MSFC, and began its mission after it was ejected from the FASTSAT into Earth orbit, where it remained for several weeks before deorbiting as planned. NASA recently selected two small satellite missions for study as part of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program, both of which will use solar sails to enable their scientific objectives. Lunar Flashlight, managed by JPL, will search for and map volatiles in permanently shadowed Lunar craters using a solar sail as a gigantic mirror to steer sunlight into the shaded craters. The Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission will use the sail as primary propulsion allowing it to survey and image one or more NEA's of interests for possible future human exploration. Both are being studied for possible launch in 2017. The Planetary Society's privately funded LightSail-A and -B cubesat-class spacecraft are nearly complete and scheduled for launch in 2015 and 2016, respectively. MMA Design launched their DragNet deorbit system in November 2013, which will deploy from the STPSat-3 spacecraft as an end of life deorbit system. The University of Surrey is building a suite of cubesat class drag and solar sail systems that will be launched beginning in 2015. As the technology matures, solar sails will increasingly be used to enable science and exploration missions that are currently impossible or prohibitively expensive using traditional chemical and electric rockets. For example, the NASA Heliophysics Decadal Survey identifies no less than three such missions for possible flight before the mid-2020's. Solar and drag sail propulsion technology is no longer merely an interesting theoretical possibility; it has been demonstrated in space and is now a critical technology for science and solar system exploration.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2016

Our Human Journey to Mars - The Next Steps

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be launching the super-heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) by the end of the decade. This launch marks the next steps of human exploration of Mars and continues the journey that began over 50 years ago with Mariner and most recently ExoMars. SLS is the only rocket with the power capable of sending humans to deep space and the large systems necessary for human exploration all the way to Mars. Exploration Mission (EM)-1 will be the first integrated flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft - journeying farther into space than Apollo. NASA will also expand the science and exploration capability of SLS by deploying thirteen small satellites into deep space for the first time. These small satellites, created through partnerships with small businesses, Universities and international partners, will carry out various scientific missions to better understand our universe and the challenges of living and working in deep space. SLS EM-1 will provide the framework and serve as a test flight, not only for vehicle systems, but also for payload accommodations, ground processing and on-orbit operations. The results of this mission will validate capabilities for sending explorers to Mars and create the opportunity to pioneer solutions to challenges to deep space exploration. SLS's versatile design will evolve for future exploration needs and accommodate bigger payloads, such as large aperture telescopes for scientific research or manned human deep space exploration missions to Mars. The achievement of EM-1 will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to deep space and inspire the world to pursue greatness in the exploration of our universe.

Singer, Jody↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Viability of Small Dimension Crew Quarters for Surface Habitation

It is possible that in the next twenty years NASA may fly crew quarters on twice as many spacecraft as it has in the past fifty years. In short, US experience with spacecraft crew quarters is limited and with few available standards to guide their design there is significant uncertainty facing spacecraft currently in development, several of which are also subject to substantial mass and volume challenges. Those spacecraft developments will face considerable pressure to minimize crew quarters size, including those intended for use on the lunar surface. Given that a crew quarters is the only space a crew member can call his or her own during missions that can last weeks to years in duration, providing an appropriate volume is especially important. This is even more critical when one considers the reality that all crew quarters flown to date have been smaller than minimum standards for US jail cells. This research will categorize functional capabilities of crew quarters and explore physical and virtual prototypes of small crew quarters that have attempted to include these capabilities. The Exploration Atmospheres Test at NASA Johnson Space Center represents the first opportunity to collect multi-day test data on crew quarters of this size in a gravitational environment. Intended to validate exploration prebreathe protocols, this test will house eight people inside a vacuum chamber that has been outfitted as a habitat prototype for twelve days. In addition to their other test activity, the crew will evaluate the acceptability of their crew quarters. This data will aid in establishing design guidelines for crew quarters in both short and long duration missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Crew Quarters↗
NASA NTRS2023

NASA Kennedy Space Center Swamp Works: Innovation Methods for Advanced Research & Technology Development

Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Swamp Works, provides government and commercial space ventures with the technologies required for working and living on the surfaces of the Moon or other planets and bodies in our solar system. The Swamp Works team establishes agile, innovative and cost effective exploration mission solutions through leveraging of partnerships across NASA, industry and academia. Concepts start small and build up efficiently, with lean development processes and a hands on approach. Testing is performed in early stages to drive design improvements and progressively increase Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). Swamp Works provides concepts, architecture studies and trades, designs, data, technology development, technology demonstration hardware, flight hardware, testing, flight support and knowledge in support of the development of surface systems. This paper will summarize the state of the art in innovation methods, and it will compare the various other methods to how innovation is accomplished at the NASA KSC Swamp Works. Since 2013, Swamp Works has developed a wide variety of technologies, and has demonstrated viable methods for innovation while also collaborating with other government agencies, industry and academia to support space exploration. These methods focus on agile design, test, build iterations where each cycle of prototyping results in improved knowledge and designs. Failures are tole rated in the early stages of these iterations, since the overall development cycle is shorter more efficient and cost effective by retiring risk early in the cycle. Momentum is maintained and the development teams remain highly motivated by the high level of team work, technical excellence, engagement and creative freedom.

Robotic Mining↗
NASA NTRS2015

Measurements of Shock Effects Recorded by Hayabusa Samples

We requested and have been approved for 5 Hayabusa samples in order definitively establish the degree of shock experienced by the regolith of asteroid Itokawa, and to devise a bridge between shock determinations by standard light optical petrography, crystal structures as determined by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), and degree of crystallinity as determined by electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) [1,2]. As of the writing of this abstract we are awaiting the approved samples. We propose measurements of astromaterial crystal structures and regolith processes. The proposed research work will improve our understanding of how small, primitive solar system bodies formed and evolved, and improve understanding of the processes that determine the history and future of habitability of environments on other solar system bodies. The results of the proposed research will directly enrich the ongoing asteroid and comet exploration missions by NASA, JAXA and ESA, and broaden our understanding of the origin and evolution of small bodies in the early solar system, and elucidate the nature of asteroid and comet regolith.

Zolensky, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2016

Measurements of Shock Effects Recorded by Itokawa Samples

We requested and have been approved for 5 Hayabusa samples in order definitively establish the degree of shock experienced by the regolith of asteroid Itokawa, and to devise a bridge between shock determinations by standard light optical petrography, crystal structures as determined by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), and degree of crystallinity as determined by electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). As of the writing of this abstract we are awaiting the approved samples. We propose measurements of astromaterial crystal structures and regolith processes. The proposed research work will improve our understanding of how small, primitive solar system bodies formed and evolved, and improve understanding of the processes that determine the history and future of habitability of environments on other solar system bodies. The results of the proposed research will directly enrich the ongoing asteroid and comet exploration missions by NASA, JAXA and ESA, and broaden our understanding of the origin and evolution of small bodies in the early solar system, and elucidate the nature of asteroid and comet regolith.

Zolensky, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1994

Discovery Planetary Mission Operations Concepts

The NASA Discovery Program of small planetary missions will provide opportunities to continue scientific exploration of the solar system in today's cost-constrained environment. Using a multidisciplinary team, JPL has developed plans to provide mission operations within the financial parameters established by the Discovery Program. This paper describes experiences and methods that show promise of allowing the Discovery Missions to operate within the program cost constraints while maintaining low mission risk, high data quality, and reponsive operations.

low cost planetary exploration Discovery mission o↗
NASA NTRS2007

NASA's Discovery Program: Moving Toward the Edge (of the Solar System)

NASA's Planetary Science , Division sponsors a competitive program of small spacecraft missions with the goal of performing focused science investigations that complement NASA's larger planetary science explorations at relatively low cost. The goal of the Discovery program is to launch many smaller missions with fast development times to increase our understanding of the solar system by exploring the planets, dwarf planets, their moons, and small bodies such as comets and asteroids. Discovery missions are solicited from the broad planetary science community approximately every 2 years. Active missions within the Discovery program include several with direct scientific or engineering connections to potential future missions to the edge of the solar system and beyond. In addition to those in the Discovery program are the missions of the New Frontiers program. The first New Frontiers mission. is the New Horizons mission to Pluto, which will explore this 38-AU distant dwarf planet and potentially some Kuiper Belt objects beyond. The Discovery program's Dawn mission, when launched in mid-2007, will use ion drive as its primary propulsion system. Ion propulsion is one of only two technologies that appear feasible for early interstellar precursor missions with practical flight times. The Kepler mission will explore the structure and diversity of extrasolar planetary systems, with an emphasis on the detection of Earth-size planets around other stars. Kepler will survey nearby solar systems searching for planets that may fall within the habitable zone,' a region surrounding a star within which liquid water may exist on a planet's surface - an essential ingredient for life as we know it. With its open and competitive approach to mission selections, the Discovery program affords scientists the opportunity to propose missions to virtually any solar system destination. With its emphasis on science and proven openness to the use of new technologies such as ion propulsion, missions flown as part of the program will test out technologies needed for future very deep-space exploration and potentially take us to these difficult and distant destinations.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2017

Flight Dynamics of Mars Helicopter

Starting with the first attempted flybys of Mars in the 1960s, human exploration of the Red Planet has evolved through ever-more sophisticated means, with the use of orbiters, stationary landers, and more recently rovers that have traveled over distances of tens of kilometers in search of new knowledge. Yet, despite discussion since the early days of space exploration, no mission has so far attempted to unlock the aerial dimension of Mars exploration through the use of atmospheric flyers. This could be about to change, as NASA is currently considering sending a small helicopter to the Martian surface as part of a future mission, as a technology demonstration to verify the feasibility and utility of using helicopters for future Mars exploration. The use of helicopters promises to bridge a resolution gap in current Mars exploration capabilities—betweeen orbiters providing large-area imagery at low resolution, and rovers that provide detailed imagery limited by line-of-sight from the current rover location. Paired with a rover, a helicopter can act as a forward reconnaisance platform, helping to identify promising science targets or mapping the terrain ahead of the rover. Looking further ahead, helicopters may one day carry their own science payloads to areas that are inaccessible to rovers.

San Martin, Miguel↗
NASA NTRS2009

The International Lunar Network (ILN) Anchor Nodes Mission Update

NASA s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) established the Lunar Quest Program (LQP) to accomplish lunar science objectives embodied in the National Academies report The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon (2007) and the NASA Advisory Council-sponsored Workshop on Science Associated with the Lunar Exploration Architecture (2007). A major element of LQP's lunar flight projects is the International Lunar Network (ILN), a network of small geophysical nodes on the lunar surface. NASA plans to provide the first two stations around 2014 and a second pair in the 2016-2017 timeframe. International involvement to provide additional stations will build up the network so that 8-10 nodes could be simultaneously operating. This flight project complements SMD's initiatives to build a robust lunar science community through R&A lines and increases international participation in NASA's robotic exploration of the moon.

Cohen, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Advances in Small Particle Handling of Astromaterials in Preparation for OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2: Initial Developments

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation office at NASA Johnson Space Center has established an Advanced Curation program that is tasked with developing procedures, technologies, and data sets necessary for the curation of future astromaterials collections as envisioned by NASA exploration goals. One particular objective of the Advanced Curation program is the development of new methods for the collection, storage, handling and characterization of small (less than 100 micrometer) particles. Astromaterials Curation currently maintains four small particle collections: Cosmic Dust that has been collected in Earth's stratosphere by ER2 and WB-57 aircraft, Comet 81P/Wild 2 dust returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft, interstellar dust that was returned by Stardust, and asteroid Itokawa particles that were returned by the JAXA's Hayabusa spacecraft. NASA Curation is currently preparing for the anticipated return of two new astromaterials collections - asteroid Ryugu regolith to be collected by Hayabusa2 spacecraft in 2021 (samples will be provided by JAXA as part of an international agreement), and asteroid Bennu regolith to be collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and returned in 2023. A substantial portion of these returned samples are expected to consist of small particle components, and mission requirements necessitate the development of new processing tools and methods in order to maximize the scientific yield from these valuable acquisitions. Here we describe initial progress towards the development of applicable sample handling methods for the successful curation of future small particle collections.

Snead, C. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems Program - Recent and Upcoming Technology Demonstrations and Development Efforts

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) program strengthens U.S. ability to conduct unique missions by rapidly developing and demonstrating capabilities for SmallSat exploration, science, and commercial space. In collaboration with NASA Centers, other government agencies, commercial industry, and academia, SSDS advances next generation SmallSat technologies like power, processing, propulsion, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures (swarms), and applications (AI/ML/Edge Computing)—to extend missions beyond LEO into cislunar and planetary space. Various investment mechanisms exist for SSDS to select and fund projects that will ultimately advance NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture. Presented here are the latest achievements and findings from recently completed SSDS projects, along with updates from ongoing efforts and planned future work. Successful missions like Starling and CAPSTONE continue to demonstrate their capability after several years on-orbit. Advancements in next generation swarm configurations are being implemented by Starling for space traffic monitoring and management applications. Findings from recent SSDS flight projects are discussed: DiskSat, a unique SmallSat platform alternative to canisterized nanosatellites, launched December 2025 and is gathering data; the PTD series of missions concluded in December 2025. Current SSDS efforts are focused on addressing NASA Shortfalls relating to rendezvous and proximity operations, neuromorphic computing, and space situational awareness.

Roger C Hunter↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Recent and Upcoming Technology Demonstrations and Development Efforts

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) program strengthens U.S. ability to conduct unique missions by rapidly developing and demonstrating capabilities for SmallSat exploration, science, and commercial space. In collaboration with NASA Centers, other government agencies, commercial industry, and academia, SSDS advances next generation SmallSat technologies like power, processing, propulsion, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures (swarms), and applications (AI/ML/Edge Computing)—to extend missions beyond LEO into cislunar and planetary space. Various investment mechanisms exist for SSDS to select and fund projects that will ultimately advance NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture. Presented here are the latest achievements and findings from recently completed SSDS projects, along with updates from ongoing efforts and planned future work. Successful missions like Starling and CAPSTONE continue to demonstrate their capability after several years on-orbit. Advancements in next generation swarm configurations are being implemented by Starling for space traffic monitoring and management applications. Findings from recent SSDS flight projects are discussed: DiskSat, a unique SmallSat platform alternative to canisterized nanosatellites, launched December 2025 and is gathering data; the PTD series of missions concluded in December 2025. Current SSDS efforts are focused on addressing NASA Shortfalls relating to rendezvous and proximity operations, neuromorphic computing, and space situational awareness.

Roger Hunter↗