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The Autonomous Systems focus on the automation of control systems for the Space Station and mission operations. Telerobotics focuses on automation for in-space servicing, assembly, and repair. The Autonomous Systems and Telerobotics each have a planned sequence of integrated demonstrations showing the evolutionary advance of the state-of-the-art. Progress is briefly described for each area of concern.
The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) technical challenge is the development and integration of a spaceflight quality system with both teleoperative and autonomous capabilities. The system must be safe and reliable in the space environment. Background and rationale leading to the desired FTS telerobotic capabilities are provided. Some of the specific technical requirements to which the FTS must be designed in order to meet the projects goals and operate effectively in the space environment are described.
The ground based demonstration of the extensive extravehicular activity (EVA) Retriever, a voice-supervised, intelligent, free flying robot, is designed to evaluate the capability to retrieve objects (astronauts, equipment, and tools) which have accidentally separated from the Space Station. The major objective of the EVA Retriever Project is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated robotic hardware and on-board software system which autonomously: (1) performs system activation and check-out; (2) searches for and acquires the target; (3) plans and executes a rendezvous while continuously tracking the target; (4) avoids stationary and moving obstacles; (5) reaches for and grapples the target; (6) returns to transfer the object; and (7) returns to base.
The ground-based demonstration of EVA Retriever, a voice-supervised, intelligent, free-flying robot, is designed to evaluate the capability to retrieve objects (astronauts, equipment, and tools) which have accidentally separated from the Space Station. The major objective of the EVA Retriever Project is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated robotic hardware and on-board software system which autonomously: (1) performs system activation and check-out, (2) searches for and acquires the target, (3) plans and executes a rendezvous while continuously tracking the target, (4) avoids stationary and moving obstacles, (5) reaches for and grapples the target, (6) returns to transfer the object, and (7) returns to base.
The goal of this task is to provide technology for the specification and integration of advanced processors into the Space Station Freedom data management system environment through computer performance measurement tools, simulators, and an extended testbed facility. The approach focuses on five categories: (1) user requirements--determine the suitability of existing computer technologies and systems for real-time requirements of NASA missions; (2) system performance analysis--characterize the effects of languages, architectures, and commercially available hardware on real-time benchmarks; (3) system architecture--expand NASA's capability to solve problems with integrated numeric and symbolic requirements using advanced multiprocessor architectures; (4) parallel Ada technology--extend Ada software technology to utilize parallel architectures more efficiently; and (5) testbed--extend in-house testbed to support system performance and system analysis studies.
Publications of research sponsored by the NASA Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) program are listed. The CELSS program encompasses research and technology with the goal of developing an autonomous bioregenerative life support system, which is based upon the integration of biological and physical/chemical processes, that will produce nutritious and palatable food, potable and hygienic water, and a breathable atmosphere by recycling metabolic and other wastes. This research and technology development is being performed in the areas of biomass production/food processing, waste management, and systems management and control. The bibliography follows these divisions. Principal investigators whose research tasks resulted in publication are identified by an asterisk. Publications are identified by a record number corresponding with their entry in the Life Sciences Bibliographic Database, maintained at the George Washington University.
The cost of on-orbit operations remains a significant and increasingly visible concern in the support of satellite missions. Headway has been made in automating some ground operations; however, increased mission complexity and more precise orbital constraints have compelled continuing human involvement in mission design and maneuver planning operations. AI Solutions, Inc. in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has tackled these more complex problems through the development of AutoCon(TM) as a tool for an automated solution. NASA is using AutoCon(TM) to automate the maneuver planning for the Earth Orbiter-1 (EO-1) mission. AutoCon(TM) was developed originally as a ground system tool. The EO-1 mission will be using a scaled version of AutoCon(TM) on-board the EO-1 satellite to command orbit adjustment maneuvers. The flight version of AutoCon(TM) plans maneuvers based on formation flying algorithms developed by GSFC, JPL, and other industry partners. In its fully autonomous mode, an AutoCon(TM) planned maneuver will be executed on-board the satellite without intervention from the ground. This paper describes how AutoCon(TM) automates maneuver planning for the formation flying constraints of the EO-1 mission. AutoCon(TM) was modified in a number of ways to automate the maneuver planning on-board the satellite. This paper describes how the interface and functionality of AutoCon(TM) were modified to support the on-board system. A significant component of this modification was the implementation of a data smoother, based on a Kalman filter, that ensures that the spacecraft states estimated by an on-board GPS receiver are as accurate as possible for maneuver planning. This paper also presents the methodology used to scale the AutoCon(TM) functionality to fit and execute on the flight hardware. This paper also presents the modes built into the system that allow the incremental phasing in of autonomy. New technologies for autonomous operations are usually received with significant, and probably appropriate, trepidation. A number of safeguards have been designed in both AutoCon(TM) and the interfacing systems to alleviate the potential of mission-impacting anomalies from the on-board autonomous system. This paper describes the error checking, input data integrity validation, and limits set on maneuvers in AutoCon(TM) and the on-board system.
The cost of on-orbit operations remains a significant and increasingly visible concern in the support of satellite missions. Headway has been made in automating some ground operations; however, increased mission complexity and more precise orbital constraints have compelled continuing human involvement in mission design and maneuver planning operations. AI Solutions, Inc. in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has tackled these more complex problems through the development of AutoCon as a tool for an automated solution. NASA is using AutoCon to automate the maneuver planning for the Earth Orbiter-1 (EO-1) mission. AutoCon was developed originally as a ground system tool. The EO-1 mission will be using a scaled version of AutoCon on-board the EO-1 satellite to command orbit adjustment maneuvers. The flight version of AutoCon plans maneuvers based on formation flying algorithms developed by GSFC, JPL, and other industry partners. In its fully autonomous mode, an AutoCon planned maneuver will be executed on-board the satellite without intervention from the ground. This paper describes how AutoCon automates maneuver planning for the formation flying constraints of the EO-1 mission. AutoCon was modified in a number of ways to automate the maneuver planning on-board the satellite. This paper describes how the interface and functionality of AutoCon were modified to support the on-board system. A significant component of this modification was the implementation of a data smoother, based on a Kalman filter, that ensures that the spacecraft states estimated by an on-board GPS receiver are as accurate as possible for maneuver planning. This paper also presents the methodology use to scale the AutoCon functionality to fit and execute on the flight hardware. This paper also presents the modes built that allow the incremental phasing in of autonomy. New technologies for autonomous operations are usually received with significant, and probably appropriate trepidation. A number of safeguards have been designed in both AutoCon and the interfacing systems to alleviate the potential of mission-impacting anomalies from the on-board autonomous system. This paper describes the error checking, input data integrity validation and limits set on maneuvers in AutoCon and the on-board system.
CUBESATS are relatively new spacecraft platforms that are typically deployed from a launch vehicle as a secondary payload, providing low-cost access to space for a wide range of end-users. These satellites are comprised of building blocks having dimensions of 10x10x10 cm3 and a mass of 1.33 kg (a 1-U size). While providing low-cost access to space, a major operational limitation is the lack of a propulsion system that can fit within a CubeSat and is capable of executing high Delta V maneuvers. This makes it difficult to use CubeSats on missions requiring certain types of maneuvers (i.e. formation flying, spacecraft rendezvous). Work has been performed investigating the use of iodine as a propellant for Hall-effect thrusters (HETs) that could subsequently be used to provide a high specific impulse path to CubeSat propulsion. One of the systems under development to support such a technology is the propellant feed system, which must be capable of storing solid iodine propellant, applying heat to sublime the stored solid into the vapor phase, and then control the flow of low-pressure gaseous iodine to both the thruster and cathode. In a test conducted in 2016, a first-generation iodine propellant feed system was integrated with a cathode and Hall thruster. While this test had to be terminated, the feed system in this first test was able to support both cathode and integrated cathode and thruster operation prior to the termination of the test. In the present paper, we describe work performed since that initial integrated test. The effort uses lessons learned from the previous integrated test, retiring risk associated with the iodine propellant feed system, answering open design-space questions, and demonstrating iodine flow control in an integrated system. The work is undertaken at both the component level and then at the integrated subsystem level to systematically improve the feed system design, improving the hardware fidelity so the appearance and operation of the system are as flight-like as possible. At the component level, the work focuses on the propellant tank, the feed system tubing, the valves used to control the flow to the cathode and thruster, and the heaters that maintain the temperature of the flowpaths and keep iodine from redepositing and clogging the system. Work on the propellant reservoir focuses on fabricating a tank that matches the geometry of the flight design, which allows for the identification of flight tank fabrication issues that may arise and permits thermal testing of a tank possessing the same size and thermal mass as the flight design, which can be used to anchor thermal modeling of the component. This is critical for finalizing the tank heater power requirements that feed into the heater design. All metallic materials in the feed system are hastelloy or Inconel, as these materials are resistant to chemical attack by the highly-reactive iodine vapor. The tubing in the iodine feed system must possess ports to permit a neutral gas purge of the system that clear impurities after iodine is loaded into the propellant tank. A procedure is discussed whereby these ports are crimped and sealed after the purge process is completed so as to not re-expose the iodine system to air. The valves are a critical component for control of the flow to the thruster and the cathode. Significant effort has gone into upgrading the materials of the valves to make them more resistant to chemical attack and into developing an understanding of the use of these valves during the startup and operation of the cathode and thruster. The heaters that line the entire feed system are designed to draw minimal power from the power processing unit (PPU) while still having the capacity to maintain all the feed system components at the temperatures required to discourage iodine deposition inside components downstream of the propellant tank exit. The heaters possess two separate resistive traces, giving the design redundancy should a failure occur in the primary heater circuit of one of the heater zones. The task of operating a feed system in conjunction with a thruster and cathode is undertaken in a series of sub-steps. The system is first assembled and operated on xenon gas, using the valves for cathode startup and thruster control based on measurement of the discharge current. After startup and control on xenon are demonstrated, the thruster will be transitioned to iodine operation, demonstrating thruster startup and feed system control while using a xenon-fed cathode. Finally, the last step is to integrate an iodine-compatible cathode with the system, demonstrate autonomous cathode start-up with open-loop control and thruster start-up with closed-loop control for multiple cycles.
The Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) project is investigating how to integrate increasingly autonomous aircraft into the current air traffic management system. The project aims to help develop airspace procedures and technologies that are scalable to future autonomous operations. The purpose of this brief is to inform a working group on past and future PAAV efforts. The working group specializes in "m:N" operations, which refers to remote operations where one or more ground-based pilots cooperatively control multiple unmanned aircraft. The PAAV team will detail an upcoming tabletop exercise that is designed to elicit feedback from subject matter experts on current barriers to m:N operations for unmanned cargo operations and potential solutions to those obstacles. The working group will be given an opportunity to provide feedback on the objectives and methodology to be used in the PAAV tabletop exercise.
This presentation offers an overview of NASA's Balloon Program Office, which is responsible for the design, development, and execution of scientific balloon missions for a variety of scientific disciplines. The paper discusses the history of the program, its current capabilities, and future plans for expanding the scope of its scientific investigations. The paper also provides details on the various types of balloons used by the program, as well as the unique challenges involved in launching and recovering these balloons from remote locations around the world. In addition, the paper highlights some of the significant scientific achievements made possible by the program, including the study of cosmic rays, the search for dark matter, and the exploration of the Earth's atmosphere. Finally, the paper outlines the potential future directions of the program, including the development of larger, longer-duration balloons and the integration of new technologies such as optical communication and autonomous systems. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of NASA's Balloon Program Office and its ongoing efforts to advance scientific understanding of our world and the universe beyond.
The NASA High Density Vertiport project has completed a multi-aircraft flight test of a scalable autonomous vertiport prototype system. These tests included end to end system integration testing of hardware and software, operational procedure testing of defined roles and responsibilities within a vertiport environment, and human factors data collection. This paper provides an overview of the flight test setup , scenarios, and summary results.
2024 ASCEND Call for Sessions Session Format: Panel Session Topic: Space Exploration and Infrastructure: Exploring, Living, and Working in Space (The panel must map to one of six Session Topics - https://www.ascend.events/presenters/call-for-sessions/#sessiontopics) Title: Autonomy to Enable NASA Missions from Aeronautics to Space Short Session Description: In this panel discussion the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will discuss the role that autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play as humanity moves off-world. Recent advances in general autonomy tools are changing the way NASA and its partners leverage autonomy for its air and space initiatives, including Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concepts and potential lunar and Martian operations. The panelists will consist of autonomy subject matter experts familiar with the current state of the art for autonomy across both aeronautical and space domains. They will discuss how those technologies could evolve as operations become more complex and which autonomy technologies can be used in both the space and aeronautical domains. For example, perhaps autonomy work originally developed for terrestrial applications, like Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), could be applied to off-world lunar and Martian applications and vice versa. Additionally, the panel will address common misconceptions of these technologies, obstacles to implementation, and possible solutions for overcoming those obstacles. Join NASA in exploring how research activities can align to streamline autonomy development efforts, advancing NASA's goals to expand humanity's reach beyond Earth for the benefit of all. Contact Information: • Dr. Adam Yingling • Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS) • Adam.j.yingling@nasa.gov, 703-416-9129 Session Length: 1.25 hours, 75 minutes Extended Description: Moderator: Dr. Adam Yingling, NASA, Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy Panel Speakers: • Autonomy Forum Principals o Dr. Charles Norton, Deputy Chief Technologist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) o Dr. Carolyn Mercer, Chief Technologist, Space Mission Directorate (SMD) o Dr. Parimal Kopardekar (PK), Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Integration Manager o Danette Alan, NASA, Senior Leader for Autonomous Systems, Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) o Duane Armstrong, Intelligent Systems Lead, Autonomous Systems Laboratory (ASL) Panel Format: • Introduction (10 min): The panel moderator will provide a 10-minute session introduction that will include an overview NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture, AAM autonomy research, and an introduction of the principals as panel speakers. • Moderated Session Part 1 (30 min): There will be a 30-minute moderated session among the moderator and the five autonomy principals to discuss the current state of art for autonomy and how work developed in one domain may be applicable to other domains; including the merits and challenges for implementing those technologies. • Moderated Session Part 2 (25 min): The moderator will then ask the principals to consider how technologies developed across all the domains might be able to address the most salient challenges identified in the previous session. • Q&A (10 min): The session will conclude with 10-minutes of audience Q&A. Session Goals and Outcomes: The session goals are 1) to communicate the importance of autonomy for both aeronautical and space mission, 2) Investigate potential synergies across autonomy research efforts that will enable scalable operations, and 3) to receive community feedback as NASA leverages autonomy to evolve aviation on Earth and enable humanity to live and work off-world.
The In-Time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) Concept of Operations (ConOps) envisions new capabilities to monitor, assess, and mitigate flight safety risks. Systems will be tailored to mission type, vehicle/equipage type, operational environment, and safety risk tolerance. Within an IASMS framework, several capabilities may be implemented spanning three operational phases (pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight/off-line); and consisting of lower level functions and information services which may reside onboard the aircraft, on third-party server(s), and/or on ground/operator station(s). Each capability will be designed to produce and disseminate safety-relevant information; perform detection, diagnosis, and prediction of unsafe situations; and/or execute mitigation actions when hazardous events warrant such changes. This paper focuses on recent testing of airborne capabilities that demonstrate inflight aspects of the overarching concept for autonomous unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations in urban environments. A flight test architecture is described that applies run-time assurance principles (e.g., executes independent of the unassured autopilot), real-time risk assessment, and a technique to execute contingencies if necessary either automatically or via pilot intervention. Several tests using small UAS were conducted to verify the assured in-flight risk mitigation capability. The paper draws significantly from a larger NASA technical report and recent prior conference papers, providing additional details. Data is analyzed for two representative flights to illustrate the performance for various sequential and simultaneous hazards used during testing. During each automated flight, several hazards are encountered at various points along the flight path. At each point, the hazard is mitigated by the system, with the vehicle then continuing to subsequent points. The paper concludes with lessons-learned regarding relevant aspects of the overarching IASMS concept and how it may be updated and further advanced in the future.
The Mars 2020 Mission’s primary objective is to collect 20 geographically unique samples during its prime mission of one and a quarter Martian years, or just over 2 Earth years. Mission planners determined the project needed to develop a system that would enable the operations team to analyze engineering and science data, make science decisions, select viable rover targets at a millimeter resolution and validate an uplink bundle for a car sized rover with more complex science instruments than any previous Mars surface mission. All this had to be done within a five hour time frame. Doing this with a small team would be a challenge, but this had to be accomplished by a large team of engineers and scientists located across North America and Europe. Achieving this level of operational efficiency was unheard of in the prime mission. In addition, the mission had another set of requirements that had nothing to do with surface operations; the Mars 2020 Ground Data System (GDS) was also expected to comply with a new set of security requirements to keep up with the ever changing cybersecurity landscape. The Mars 2020 Ground Data System (GDS) is a re-architected version of the Mars Science Laboratory GDS. The primary goal was to integrate the lessons learned from previous Mars surface missions, accommodate a set of new requirements and capabilities required to ensure mission success, and comply with a new set of cybersecurity controls. The new architecture includes several unique qualities including a data lake, language-agnostic system-wide event-based operations, containerization, automated deployment, network segmentation, infrastructure-as-code, API-driven interfaces, and the first Mars surface GDS to operate primarily in the cloud. The new architecture enabled greater access to the system’s data, tighter integration with the operations team, and a higher level of traceability. The availability of the data also enabled a new set of capabilities previously not possible on surface missions. These new capabilities include an autonomous data to information, pipeline for downlink analysis, horizontal scaling of science data processing capabilities, autonomous round trip data tracking of science and engineering data, integration of flight system state into the tactical planning cycle, high fidelity targeting utilizing kinematic data, and hierarchical image and 3d meshes data representations. This paper will introduce the requirements for the Mars 2020 Mission, the heritage architecture, and the rationale for the changes to achieve the new architecture. The paper will continue to describe the fundamental changes made to the GDS architecture, how these changes enabled a more tightly integrated GDS, and the new capabilities that were enabled by the new architecture. The paper will conclude with the lessons learned from the process of rearchitecting a heritage GDS system and from the first 200 days of operations supporting over 800 users from around the world.
The integration of fiber optic sensors into high-temperature materials is critical for real-time monitoring and autonomous operation of engineering systems. This study demonstrated a spark plasma sintering (SPS)-assisted embedding process for integrating sapphire fiber optic sensors into stainless steel components during part fabrication. Optical fibers were encapsulated in stainless steel 316L powders which were sintered at different fabrication conditions using SPS to investigate the effects of sintering parameters on the embedment. Measurements of optical transmittance, combined with microstructural analysis (X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy) and mechanical testing (tensile and microhardness), were conducted to examine the fiber functionality, fiber–matrix bonding quality, and properties of the sintered materials. Here, the results show that under suitable fabrication conditions, intact optical fibers can be encapsulated in highly-densified (>98 % relative density) stainless steel components. These conditions also led to a good bond at the fiber–matrix interface with micron-sized material interdiffusion across the interface. The sintering parameters were observed to affect fiber optical attenuation, where high temperature, pressure, and hold time during SPS enhanced fiber–matrix bonding and adversely affected optical transmission. Tensile testing confirmed the superior tensile strength and ductility of the matrix fabricated by SPS. Furthermore, the materials exhibited limited strength reduction (~70 MPa) upon the integration of fibers. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of SPS for fiber-material integration for high-temperature applications.
This paper presents a novel supervised machine learning (SML) approach for accurate position detection of the receiver coil in wireless power transfer (WPT) systems using only secondary-side electrical measurements, with applications in autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) charging. The proposed method trains a supervised learning model to map measured secondary-side voltage and current features to the receiver’s spatial position with high precision. This enables an autonomous UAV to determine its location relative to the primary coil center, the optimal position for maximizing wireless charging efficiency. The sensing method is fully integrated into a standard WPT system, utilizing the same primary and secondary coils for both power transfer and position detection, thereby eliminating additional sensing hardware. The use of a 6.78 MHz operating frequency enhances positional sensitivity, as high-frequency near-field electromagnetic fields respond strongly to small spatial variations. Experimental validation is performed on a 30 W scaled prototype featuring a 210 mm × 140 mm primary coil, a 50 mm × 80 mm receiver coil, and a 15 mm air gap. Results demonstrate reliable position estimation and a strong correlation between predicted position and optimal coil alignment. This integrated framework unifying position detection and wireless charging offers a promising foundation for future autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) systems, enabling compact, hardware-efficient, and high-accuracy charging solutions.
A terrestrial, open-loop (OL) flight test campaign of the NASA COBALT (CoOperative Blending of Autonomous Landing Technologies) platform was conducted onboard the Masten Xodiac suborbital rocket testbed, with support through the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems (AES), Game Changing Development (GCD), and Flight Opportunities (FO) Programs. The COBALT platform integrates NASA Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) sensing technologies for autonomous, precise soft landing, including the Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) velocity and range sensor and the Lander Vision System (LVS) Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) system. A specialized navigation filter running onboard COBALT fuzes the NDL and LVS data in real time to produce a precise navigation solution that is independent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and suitable for future, autonomous planetary landing systems. The OL campaign tested COBALT as a passive payload, with COBALT data collection and filter execution, but with the Xodiac vehicle Guidance and Control (G&C) loops closed on a Masten GPS-based navigation solution. The OL test was performed as a risk reduction activity in preparation for an upcoming 2017 closed-loop (CL) flight campaign in which Xodiac G&C will act on the COBALT navigation solution and the GPS-based navigation will serve only as a backup monitor.