Results for “extended mission” — Page 18

NASA NTRS2017

In-Flight Thermal Performance of the OCO-2 Instrument

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), launched on July 2, 2014, continues to operate nominally after successfully completing its primary mission of two years in space. It is hoped that, following a Senior Review and proposal phase, NASA will fund a two year extended mission, which would start in June 2017. The thermal design provides three temperature zones required by the instrument, specifically at 120 K, 267 K and 297 K. A single-stage pulse tube cryocooler provides refrigeration to three focal plane arrays to 120 K, via a high conductance flexible thermal strap. A variable conductance heat pipe (VCHP) based heat rejection system transports waste heat from the instrument, located inside the spacecraft, to the space-viewing radiators, providing tight temperature control of the spectrometer optics to 267 K, and maintains the electronics and cryocooler at 297 K. Soon after entering the A-Train on August 3, 2014, the optics and focal planes were cooled to their operating temperatures. Ice contamination of the cryogenic surfaces led to increased cryocooler loads and drove the need for two focal plane decontamination cycles between September 2014 and October 2014. A decrease in the radiometric gain of the O2 A-Band channel led to five additional focal plane decontamination cycles, between January 2015 and February 2017, and is now the primary driver of decontamination cycles. This paper provides a general overview of the thermal and cryogenic system design and reviews the inflight thermal performance for the mission.

Na-Nakornpanom, Arthur↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) Mission Update

The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will be the first practical solar sail for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [1] ACS3 will also be the first spaceflight demonstration of NASA compact deployable composite boom technology.[2] The primary mission objective of ACS3 will be to deploy and characterize an 80-m2 composite boom structure solar sail technology in low Earth orbit. Extended mission goals will be to demonstrate controlled solar sailing flight via a series of orbit raising and lowering maneuvers. Target mission orbit is a 1000 km x 1000 km midnight-noon sun-synchronous orbit. Launch of ACS3 is scheduled for July 2023 with sail deployment in September 2023. Mission duration is expected to be six to nine months. The ACS3 solar sail vehicle is a 12U Cubesat consisting of a bus module, containing flight and solar sail control avionics, and a solar sail module, containing the composite booms and metallized polymer solar sail membranes of the solar sail structure stowed within a boom deployer mechanism. A four-camera instrument suite for 360-degree imaging of the ACS3 solar sail during and after deployment is also housed within the bus module. The ACS3 80-m2 solar sail design is a sub-scale version of an intermediate-size 500-m2 solar sail using NASA deployable composite boom technology. The sail consists of four metallized 2-m thick polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) 20-m2 triangular quadrants supported by four 7-m long lenticular cross-section composite booms. Booms are flattened and co-coiled for stowage within a tape-spool driven deployer mechanism. Total mass of the ACS3 space vehicle including solar sail is 16 kg. An overview of the ACS3 mission and mission systems will be provided in this presentation. This overview will include descriptions of the solar sail structures and materials technology used with ACS3, and discussion of the scalability and extensibility of the ACS3 solar sail to future larger-scale solar sailing mission requirements. An update on progress towards the launch of ACS3 in July 2023 will also be provided. References [1] https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/ACS3 [2] https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/projects/dcb

Solar sail↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Development and Demonstration of Technologies Enabling Swarms and New Spacecraft Platforms with AI and Edge Computing

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD) expands U.S. capability to execute unique missions through targeted investment, rapid development, and flight demonstration of small spacecraft technologies applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. SSDS strategically invests in technology development and on-orbit demonstrations executed across NASA, other government agencies, industry, and academia. The program’s University SmallSat Technology Partnerships initiative awards academic researchers with the opportunity to collaborate with NASA to mature innovative technology. Capabilities aligned with RTMD’s technology shortfalls and interests - power, processing, propulsion, sensors, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures, and advanced applications like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and edge computing - are prioritized in SSDS investments. These investments enable distributed, autonomous, and cooperative small spacecraft systems that support swarm missions extending beyond low Earth orbit into cislunar and deep space. This paper highlights representative SSDS flight demonstrations that mature these capabilities to enable a future operational infrastructure needed to support sustained exploration of the Moon and beyond. SSDS’s investment strategy emphasizes rapid development and on-orbit demonstration to validate spacecraft technologies required for swarms and distributed mission architectures. The Starling swarm technology demonstration mission exemplifies this approach by advancing distributed spacecraft autonomy, cooperative operations, and space situational awareness. Extended flight testing and ongoing studies of next generation swarm configurations and on-orbit space traffic monitoring and management continue to inform future swarm designs. DiskSat’s four-spacecraft demonstration mission represents SSDS’s strategic vision to expand the design space for future small spacecraft through its commitment to advance novel platform concepts that can impact how science is performed on orbit. Continuing to invest in future platforms, the notional PY12 concept is a 12-spacecraft swarm hosting neuromorphic processors and is envisioned as an on-orbit testbed for AI, edge computing, and positioning, navigation and timing technologies. SSDS also invests in single-spacecraft technology demonstrations that underpin the success of future swarm missions and accelerate the availability of validated technologies across the small spacecraft ecosystem. Examples of such demonstrations include Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3 (PTD-3), which performed high-rate optical communications; PTD-R, which demonstrated a camera capable of simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing; and CAPSTONE, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology and Operations Navigation Experiment, which validated autonomous navigation in cislunar space. Collectively, SSDS-funded demonstrations advance capabilities across swarms and illustrate a coordinated investment strategy to mature high-impact technologies required for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative small spacecraft systems for low Earth orbit, cislunar, and deep space applications. Technology demonstrations strengthen SSDS partnerships with industry, academia, and other government agencies, and promote small spacecraft community adoption of capabilities required to close technical gaps for swarm missions.

Jan Stupl↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Development and Demonstration of Technologies Enabling Swarms and New Spacecraft Platforms with AI and Edge Computing

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD) expands U.S. capability to execute unique missions through targeted investment, rapid development, and flight demonstration of small spacecraft technologies applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. SSDS strategically invests in technology development and on-orbit demonstrations executed across NASA, other government agencies, industry, and academia. The program’s University SmallSat Technology Partnerships initiative awards academic researchers with the opportunity to collaborate with NASA to mature innovative technology. Capabilities aligned with RTMD’s technology shortfalls and interests - power, processing, propulsion, sensors, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures, and advanced applications like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and edge computing - are prioritized in SSDS investments. These investments enable distributed, autonomous, and cooperative small spacecraft systems that support swarm missions extending beyond low Earth orbit into cislunar and deep space. This paper highlights representative SSDS flight demonstrations that mature these capabilities to enable a future operational infrastructure needed to support sustained exploration of the Moon and beyond. SSDS’s investment strategy emphasizes rapid development and on-orbit demonstration to validate spacecraft technologies required for swarms and distributed mission architectures. The Starling swarm technology demonstration mission exemplifies this approach by advancing distributed spacecraft autonomy, cooperative operations, and space situational awareness. Extended flight testing and ongoing studies of next generation swarm configurations and on-orbit space traffic monitoring and management continue to inform future swarm designs. DiskSat’s four-spacecraft demonstration mission represents SSDS’s strategic vision to expand the design space for future small spacecraft through its commitment to advance novel platform concepts that can impact how science is performed on orbit. Continuing to invest in future platforms, the notional PY12 concept is a 12-spacecraft swarm hosting neuromorphic processors and is envisioned as an on-orbit testbed for AI, edge computing, and positioning, navigation and timing technologies. SSDS also invests in single-spacecraft technology demonstrations that underpin the success of future swarm missions and accelerate the availability of validated technologies across the small spacecraft ecosystem. Examples of such demonstrations include Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3 (PTD-3), which performed high-rate optical communications; PTD-R, which demonstrated a camera capable of simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing; and CAPSTONE, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology and Operations Navigation Experiment, which validated autonomous navigation in cislunar space. Collectively, SSDS-funded demonstrations advance capabilities across swarms and illustrate a coordinated investment strategy to mature high-impact technologies required for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative small spacecraft systems for low Earth orbit, cislunar, and deep space applications. Technology demonstrations strengthen SSDS partnerships with industry, academia, and other government agencies, and promote small spacecraft community adoption of capabilities required to close technical gaps for swarm missions.

Jan Stupl↗

NASA NTRS2018

Mission Summary of Cassini Spacecraft Guidance and Control Hardware Health and Performance

The Cassini-Huygens mission ended on September 15, 2017, after nearly two decades in ight. The well-designed Cassini spacecraft had robust hardware that permitted two extended missions, lasting nine years longer than the expected prime mission. At the end of the mission, the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS) was using two pieces of redundant back-up of hardware, one reaction wheel and the hydrazine thruster branch, due to hardware anomalies earlier in the mission. The back-up hardware performed nominally through the rest of mission. The prime reaction wheels at the end of the mission had reached more than 130% of the consumable limit for number of revolutions. No thruster on either thruster branch accumulated more than 45% of the consumable limits. The inertial reference unit slightly exceeded the pre-launch requirements on bias error, but as the software continuously estimated this value in ight, the attitude estimation was not adversely a ected. The star trackers performed nominally, and though there was a spacecraft anomaly in 1998 related to the star trackers, the origin was not in hardware itself. The Sun sensors and accelerometer both performed as expected and met all requirements throughout the mission. Ultimately, the lifetime of the Cassini spacecraft was not limited by hardware performance. Planetary protection requirements necessitated the end of the mission as the spacecraft's propellant reserves depleted, and Cassini plunged into Saturn's atmosphere with a healthy attitude control system.

Stupik, Joan↗

NASA NTRS2022

Tri-Agency Reliability Engineering Post: Mission Disposal and Extension Assessment Guidance Addendum

The intent of this addendum is to support the guidance document, Tri-Agency Reliability Engineering Guidance: Post Mission Disposal and Extension Assessment (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210024973). It is intended to further assist spacefaring entities in assessing their designs and operational plans for extending missions and Post Mission Disposal (PMD) by providing an hypothetical mission example.

Digital transformation↗

NASA NTRS1980

A prelude to interstellar flight

A 20 to 50 year interstellar precursor mission extending 400 to 1000 AU from the solar system is outlined as a means of bringing out and solving engineering problems inherent in a star mission, and of studying the heliopause, the interstellar medium, and cosmic rays outside the heliosphere. Solar or laser sailing combined with a 500 kWe nuclear-electric propulsion system using fission would achieve a heliocentric excess velocity of 100km/s for the 32,000 kg spacecraft having a Shuttle derivative as a launch vehicle, and containing a Pluto flyby or separate orbiter powered by radioiosotope thermoelectric generators. X-band transmission using 40 w of power, a 15 m diameter spacecraft antenna and a 100 m receiving antenna on earth and providing 100 b/s is proposed, but a rate of 2 to 4 kb/s via 500 to 1000 w of power using the K-band and a 300 m diameter receiving antenna located on an Orbiting Deep Space Relay Station is also considered.

Jaffe, L. D.↗

NASA NTRS1975

LST power system long life design techniques

The LST mission of up to 15 years plus about two years allotment for ground return maintenance could stretch the LST operation to the end of the century. This extended mission life, combined with the large power requirements of the telescope and the scientific instruments, imposes stringent requirements on the electrical power subsystem. The use of an onboard microprocessor for individual battery cell control and monitoring offers a technique that could improve the battery cycle life dramatically. The battery configuration includes spare battery cells which can be switched by the microprocessor to replace failed cells. The microprocessor can also be used for inflight reconditioning of the batteries to increase performance and verify ampere-hour capacity. The Flexible Roll-Up Solar Array (FRUSA) system offers a solar array at an acceptable cost that can stay within weight and volume constraints.

Smith, O. B.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Independent Reliability Assessment of the NASA GSFC Laser Transmitter for the LISA Program

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to build a Gravitational Wave (GW) observatory. The observatory, which consists of a three-spacecraft constellation with a nominal separation of 2.5 million km between each spacecraft, provides a tool for scientists to directly detect gravitational waves generated from various astronomical phenomena in a waveband that is not accessible from Earth. NASA is developing laser transmitters as one of the potential US contributions to LISA. The NASA laser design leverages lessons learned from previous flight missions and included the latest technologies in photonics packaging and reliability engineering to ensure a laser lifetime of >16 years covering integration and test through a possible extended mission phase. As part of the laser development process, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) requested support from the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) to independently assess the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the LISA Laser System (LS). The independent assessment included the following tasks: (a) assess the design for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks, (b) assess the laser reliability plan for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks and improve effectiveness, and (c) assess the current redundancy plan on laser subsystems for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks and improve effectiveness. The NESC team comprised of a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) and performed a 12-month review of every aspect of the laser design. We present the assessment findings and the current development progress of the LISA laser to meet the mission requirements with a delivery of a form, fit, and functional TRL6 laser to the LSIA mission by late 2023.

LISA↗

NASA NTRS1993

Mars Relays Satellite Orbit Design Considerations for Global Support of Robotic Surface Missions

This paper discusses orbit design considerations for Mars relay satellite (MRS)support of globally distributed robotic surface missions. The orbit results reported in this paper are derived from studies of MRS support for two types of Mars robotic surface missions: 1) the mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) mission, which in its current definition would deploy a global network of up to 16 small landers, and 2)a Small Mars Sample Return (SMSR) mission, which included four globally distributed landers, each with a return stage and one or two rovers, and up to four additional sets of lander/rover elements in an extended mission phase.

Robitics Mars↗

NASA NTRS2019

Bionutrients-1, On-Demand Production of Nutrients in Space

Future long-duration missions face significant challenges maintaining crew health. A critical area is supplying adequate nutrition, as certain vitamins and nutrients in supplied foods and supplements demonstrate substantial degradation during extended storage. To address this issue, we are developing and flight-testing a platform technology that demonstrates in situ microbial production of targeted nutrients over extended mission durations. This 5-year experiment, known as BioNutrients-1, was started on the International Space Station in May 2019. It involves two components: an on-orbit hydration and production experiment; and the development of space-compatible, key bio-manufacturing microorganisms. On-orbit testing utilizes a small “production pack” system that encloses sterile edible growth substrate and desiccated Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains genetically engineered to produce the nutrients beta-carotene or zeaxanthin. On hydration and mixing of the production pack, the organisms revive and grow until limited by the depletion of growth media, hypothetically leading to consistent amounts of biomass and nutrients. In eventual mission applications, the packet contents would be heat treated to inactivate the microorganisms prior to consumption. For these flight experiments, the packet will not be heat treated, but will instead be frozen for return to Earth for analyses. In addition to the production pack trials, 14 different microorganisms/treatments were also delivered to ISS for long-duration storage. These samples will be intermittently returned to Earth and analyzed to determine survival rates and genomics. For this presentation, initial data from returned samples and ground controls will be discussed.

Hindupur, Aditya↗

NASA NTRS2019

BioNutrients-1: On-Demand Production of Nutrients in Space

Future long-duration missions face significant challenges maintaining crew health. A critical area is supplying adequate nutrition, as certain vitamins and nutrients in supplied foods and supplements demonstrate substantial degradation during extended storage. To address this issue, we are developing and flight-testing a platform technology that demonstrates in situ microbial production of targeted nutrients over extended mission durations. This 5-year experiment, known as BioNutrients-1, was started on the International Space Station in May 2019. It involves two components: an on-orbit hydration and production experiment; and the development of space-compatible, key bio-manufacturing microorganisms. On-orbit testing utilizes a small "production pack" system that encloses sterile edible growth substrate and desiccated Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains genetically engineered to produce the nutrients beta-carotene or zeaxanthin. On hydration and mixing of the production pack, the organisms revive and grow until limited by the depletion of growth media, hypothetically leading to consistent amounts of biomass and nutrients. In eventual mission applications, the packet contents would be heat treated to inactivate the microorganisms prior to consumption. For these flight experiments, the packet will not be heat treated, but will instead be frozen for return to Earth for analyses. In addition to the production pack trials, 14 different microorganisms/treatments were also delivered to ISS for long-duration storage. These samples will be intermittently returned to Earth and analyzed to determine survival rates and genomics. For this presentation, initial data from returned samples and ground controls will be discussed.

Hindupur, Aditya↗

NASA NTRS1994

Preliminary assessment of the accuracy and precision of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data with respect to the large-scale ocean circulation

TOPEX/POSEIDON sea surface height measurements are examined for quantitative consistency with known elements of the oceanic general circulation and its variability. Project-provided corrections were accepted but are at tested as part of the overall results. The ocean was treated as static over each 10-day repeat cycle and maps constructed of the absolute sea surface topography from simple averages in 2 deg x 2 deg bins. A hybrid geoid model formed from a combination of the recent Joint Gravity Model-2 and the project-provided Ohio State University geoid was used to estimate the absolute topography in each 10-day period. Results are examined in terms of the annual average, seasonal average, seasonal variations, and variations near the repeat period. Conclusion are as follows: the orbit error is now difficult to observe, having been reduced to a level at or below the level of other error sources; the geoid dominates the error budget of the estimates of the absolute topography; the estimated seasonal cycle is consistent with prior estimates; shorter-period variability is dominated on the largest scales by an oscillation near 50 days in spherical harmonics Y(sup m)(sub 1)(theta, lambda) with an amplitude near 10 cm, close to the simplest alias of the M(sub 2) tide. This spectral peak and others visible in the periodograms support the hypothesis that the largest remaining time-dependent errors lie in the tidal models. Though discrepancies attribute to the geoid are within the formal uncertainties of the good estimates, removal of them is urgent for circulation studies. Current gross accuracy of the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission is in the range of 5-10 cm, distributed overbroad band of frequencies and wavenumbers. In finite bands, accuracies approach the 1-cm level, and expected improvements arising from extended mission duration should reduce these numbers by nearly an order of magnitude.

Wunsch, Carl↗

NASA NTRS1992

Mission options for rendezvous with the most accessible Near-Earth Asteroid - 1989 ML

The recent discovery of the Amor-class 1989 ML, the most accessible known asteroid for minimum-energy rendezvous missions, has expedited the search for frequent, low-cost Near-Earth Asteroid rendezvous and round-trip missions. This paper identifies trajectory characteristics and assesses mass performance for low Delta V ballistic rendezvous opportunities to 1989 ML during the period 1996-2010. This asteroid also offers occasional unique extended mission opportunities, such as the lowest known Delta V requirement for any asteroid sample return mission as well as pre-rendezvous asteroid flyby and post-rendezvous comet flyby opportunities requiring less than 5.25 km/sec total Delta V. This paper also briefly comments concerning mission opportunities for asteroid 1991 JW, which recently replaced other known asteroids as the most accessible Near-Earth Asteroid for fast rendezvous and round-trip missions.

Mcadams, Jim V.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The NASA Solar Probe mission - In situ determination of interplanetary out-of-the ecliptic and near-solar dust environments

The NASA Solar Probe mission will be one of the most exciting dust missions ever flown and will lead to a revolutionary advance in our understanding of dust within our solar system. Solar Probe will map the dust environment from the orbit of Jupiter (5 AU), to within 4 solar radii of the sun's center. The region between 0.3 AU and 4 Rs has never been visited before, so the ten days that the spacecraft spends during each (of the two) orbit is purely exploratory in nature. Solar Probe will also reach heliographic latitudes as high as about 15 to 28 deg above (below) the ecliptic on its trajectory inbound (outbound) to (from) the sun. This, in addition to the ESA/NASA Ulysses mission, will help determine the out-of-the-ecliptic dust environment. A post-perihelion burn will reduce the satellite orbital period to 2.5 years about the sun. A possible extended mission would allow data reception for two more revolutions, mapping out a complete solar cycle. Because the near-solar dust environment is not well understood (or is controversial at best), and it is very important to have better knowledge of the dust environment to protect Solar Probe from high velocity dust hits, we urgently request the scientific community to obtain further measurements of the nearsolar dust properties.

Tsurutani, Bruce T.↗

NASA NTRS2002

STS-112 Crew Interviews - Magnus

STS-112 Mission Specialist 2 Sandra H. Magnus is seen during a prelaunch interview. She answers questions about her inspiration to become an astronaut and her career path. She gives details on the mission's goals, the most significant of which will be the installation of the S-1 truss structure on the International Space Station (ISS). The installation, one in a series of truss extending missions, will be complicated and will require the use of the robotic arm as well as extravehicular activity (EVA) by astronauts. Magnus also describes her function in the performance of transfer operations. Brief descriptions are given of experiments on board the ISS as well as on board the Shuttle.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2021

Demonstrations of System-Level Autonomy for Spacecraft

System-level autonomy refers to autonomously meeting the crosscutting needs of a system through awareness and coordinated control spanning the system's breadth of capabilities. In contrast to function-level autonomy, which focuses on capabilities required to achieve a specific function such as surface navigation or image recognition, system-level autonomy addresses the needs to coordinate and manage activities and resources, and estimate the state, across subsystems. This paper describes demonstrations that were conducted on a spacecraft workstation testbed. The autonomy was provided by system-level planning and execution integrated with system-level estimators of orbit knowledge and spacecraft hardware health. These components are embedded in a system-level framework defining how goals are formed and executed, which elements exist, and how control authority is distributed among components. The planning and execution system at the heart of the framework has the capability to schedule, execute and monitor completion of tasks, as well as plan around unexpected events including new science opportunities and anomalies. The planning and scheduling system is the Multi-mission EXECutive (MEXEC), supported by the system-level health state estimator Model-Based Off-Nominal State Identification and Detection (MONSID), and Autonomous Navigation (AutoNav) algorithms, which determine the orbital system state based on optical observation of other targets. These components are applicable to many kinds of missions on different platforms. These demonstrations were elaborations of earlier experiments conducted on the ASTERIA (Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research In Astrophysics) CubeSat, described in a companion submission [1]. The spacecraft’s extended mission served as an in-flight test platform, during which some individual autonomous capabilities were flown successfully. The autonomy experiments described here were performed on the ASTERIA workstation testbed.

Prather, Maurice↗

NASA NTRS2002

The successful conclusion of the Deep Space 1 Mission: important results without a flashy title

In September 2001, Deep Space 1 (DS1) completed a high-risk and flawless encounter with comet 19P/Borrelly. Its data provide a detailed view of this comet and offere surprising and exciting insights. With this successful conclusion of its extended mission, DS1 undertook a hyperextended mission. Following this period of extremely agressive testing, with no further technology or science objectives, the mission was terminated on December 18, 2001, with the powering off of the spacecraft's trnasmitter, although the receiver was left on. By the end of its mission, DS1 had returned a wealth of important science data and engineering data for future missions.

Deep Space 1 DS1 comets SEP solar electric propuls↗