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NASA NTRS2013

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Concept of Operations

After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demandcapacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center TMC to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that uses this technology to improve tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept helps reduce uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station (NTX) in DallasFort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents the Concept of Operations. Companion papers include the Final Report and a Technology Description. ? SUBJECT:

tactical departure scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2013

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Final Report

After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows that may be subject to constraints that create localized demand/capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) and Frontline Managers (FLMs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool, based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release time is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that improves tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions and departure runway assignments to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept reduces uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs and FLMs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station in Dallas/Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents research results from the PDRC research activity. Companion papers present the Concept of Operations and a Technology Description.

tactical departure scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2013

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Technology Description

After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demand-capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center TMC to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that uses this technology to improve tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept helps reduce uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station (NTX) in Dallas-Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents the Technology Description. Companion papers include the Final Report and a Concept of Operations.

tactical departure scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2013

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC): NASA to FAA Research Transition

After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demand-capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) and Frontline Managers (FLMs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release time is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that improves tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions and departure runway assignments to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept reduces uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs and FLMs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station in Dallas-Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations.

ATM↗

NASA NTRS1990

A preliminary study of the Soviet civil space program. Volume 1: Organization and Operations

The organization, planning, and personnel is focused of Soviet space, advantage is taken of glasnost and improved foreign relations to explore a hitherto obscure subject. The way in which the civil space program obtains approval and funding is altered. Missions must be approved before the Supreme Soviet, and public opinion is beginning to play a greater role in the legislature's budget decision. The Soviet civil space program remains a collection of disparate elements, not unified by any national, centralized space agency. An attempt was made to catalog and delineate the relationships between the components proves helpful. There is little or no coordination of independent associations' efforts, and the planning process relied on previously to set priorities and allocate resources appears to be currently inoperative or in a state of flux. The civil space program is moving in new directions: toward budget tautness, more international interactions, an emphasis on civilian over military applications, commercialization, and fiscal accountability. This study is a snapshot of a dynamic subject, but hopefully on which has highlighted the critical elements to track.

Newton, Elizabeth K.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Integrated Research Plan to Assess the Combined Effects of Space Radiation, Altered Gravity, and Isolation and Confinement on Crew Health and Performance: Problem Statement

Future crewed exploration missions to Mars could last up to three years and will expose astronauts to unprecedented environmental challenges. Challenges to the nervous system during these missions will include factors of: space radiation that can damage sensitive neurons in the central nervous system (CNS); isolation and confinement can affect cognition and behavior; and altered gravity that will change the astronauts’ perception of their environment and their spatial orientation, and will affect their coordination, balance, and locomotion. In the past, effects of spaceflight stressors have been characterized individually. However, long-term, simultaneous exposure to multiple stressors will produce a range of interrelated behavioral and biological effects that have the potential to adversely affect operationally relevant crew performance. These complex environmental challenges might interact synergistically and increase the overall risk to the health and performance of the astronaut. Therefore, NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) has directed an integrated approach to characterize and mitigate the risk to the CNS from simultaneous exposure to these multiple spaceflight factors. The proposed research strategy focuses on systematically evaluating the relationships among three existing research risks associated with spaceflight: Risk of Acute (In-flight) and Late Central Nervous System Effects from Radiation (CNS), Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Conditions and Psychiatric Disorders (BMed), and Risk of Impaired Control of Spacecraft/Associated Systems and Decreased Mobility Due to Vestibular/Sensorimotor Alterations Associated with Spaceflight (SM). NASA’s HRP approach is intended to identify the magnitude and types of interactions as they affect behavior, especially as it relates to operationally relevant performance (e.g., performance that depends on reaction time, procedural memory, etc.). In order to appropriately characterize this risk of multiple spaceflight environmental stressors, there is a recognition of the need to leverage research approaches using appropriate animal models and behavioral constructs. Very little has been documented on the combined effects of altered gravity, space radiation, and other psychological and cognitive stressors on the CNS. Preliminary evidence from rodents suggest that a combination of a minimum of exposures to even two of three stressors of: simulated space radiation, simulated microgravity, and simulated isolation and confinement, have produced different and more pronounced biological and performance effects than exposure to these same stressors individually. Structural and functional changes to the CNS of rodents exposed to transdisciplinary combined stressors indicate that important processes related to information processing are likely altered including impairment of exploratory and risk taking behaviors, as well as executive function including learning, memory, and cognitive flexibility — all of which may be linked to changes in related operational relevant performance. The fully integrated research plan outlines approaches to evaluate how combined, potentially synergistic, impacts of simultaneous exposures to spaceflight hazards will affect an astronaut’s CNS and their operationally relevant performance during future exploration missions, including missions to the Moon and Mars. The ultimate goals are to derive risk estimates for the combined, potentially synergistic, effects of the three major spaceflight hazards that will establish acceptable maximum decrement or change in a physiological or behavioral parameters during or after spaceflight, the acceptable limit of exposure to a spaceflight factor, and to evaluate strategies to mitigate any associated decrements in operationally relevant performance.

Steinberg, Susan L.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Regional inertia dynamics of U.S. interconnections: An event-based measurement approach

Power grid inertia plays a vital role in frequency stability following large disturbances, yet its distribution across the U.S. grid is highly uneven. While interconnection-wide inertia benchmarks are useful, they can mask regional variability driven by resource mix, network coupling, and geographic separation. This paper extends event-driven inertia estimation to the regional scale using field measurements from the Frequency Monitoring Network (FNET/GridEye). Starting from balancing authority and independent system operator footprints, candidate regions are refined using a composite coherency score that combines frequency-trajectory shape similarity, timing spread, and lead/lag behavior to ensure dynamic consistency. A filtered sliding difference method (FSDM) is then used to construct regional frequency trajectories, detect disturbance onset, and compute robust regional rate-of-change of frequency (RoCoF). Regional, local, and interconnection inertia are estimated by combining RoCoF with event power imbalance, and additional indicators (regional-to-system inertia ratio and inertial-support arrival time) quantify regional-to-interconnection coupling and relative regional contributions. The method is demonstrated on eleven regions across the Eastern Interconnection (EI) and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) used for validation. In ERCOT, estimates compared against energy management system (EMS) values achieve a mean absolute percentage error of 17.94%. WECC exhibits consistently shorter inertial-support arrival times (0.15–0.3 s) than EI (0.7–1.1 s), highlighting contrasting coupling and disturbance-propagation behavior. Overall, the results reveal pronounced spatial heterogeneity in inertia and coupling, underscoring the value of regional monitoring for both operational decision-making and long-term system planning.

Disturbance events↗

NASA NTRS1993

Performance analysis of a robotic system for space-based assembly

A dual arm system for space-based assembly has been under development and experimentation at the Center of Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration. This paper will describe the components of this system and will then focus on the specific problem of predicting response time of the integrated system. This hierarchical system consists of a task representation and planning level, a coordination level, and an execution level to carry out the desired assembly task. A common modeling methodology based on Petri nets was used to model the various subtasks throughout the levels of the hierarchy. The Petri net model can then be analyzed for liveness and boundedness that, in turn, are used to detect the existence of deadlock or conflict in the system. The model can also be used to calculate the time it will take to complete an assembly task once an operator issues a command. These modeling results are compared with the actual experimental results obtained from carrying out the assembly task.

Desrochers, Alan↗

NASA NTRS2010

Refractory Metal Heat Pipe Life Test - Test Plan and Standard Operating Procedures

Refractory metal heat pipes developed during this project shall be subjected to various operating conditions to evaluate life-limiting corrosion factors. To accomplish this objective, various parameters shall be investigated, including the effect of temperature and mass fluence on long-term corrosion rate. The test series will begin with a performance test of one module to evaluate its performance and to establish the temperature and power settings for the remaining modules. The performance test will be followed by round-the-clock testing of 16 heat pipes. All heat pipes shall be nondestructively inspected at 6-month intervals. At longer intervals, specific modules will be destructively evaluated. Both the nondestructive and destructive evaluations shall be coordinated with Los Alamos National Laboratory. During the processing, setup, and testing of the heat pipes, standard operating procedures shall be developed. Initial procedures are listed here and, as hardware is developed, will be updated, incorporating findings and lessons learned.

Martin, J. J.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Grand challenges of wind energy science – meeting the needs and services of the power system

The share of wind power in power systems is increasing dramatically, and this is happening in parallel with increased penetration of solar photovoltaics, storage, other inverter-based technologies, and electrification of other sectors. Recognising the fundamental objective of power systems, maintaining supply–demand balance reliably at the lowest cost, and integrating all these technologies are significant research challenges that are driving radical changes to planning and operations of power systems globally. In this changing environment, wind power can maximise its long-term value to the power system by balancing the needs it imposes on the power system with its contribution to addressing these needs with services. A needs and services paradigm is adopted here to highlight these research challenges, which should also be guided by a balanced approach, concentrating on its advantages over competitors. The research challenges within the wind technology itself are many and varied, with control and coordination internally being a focal point in parallel with a strong recommendation for a holistic approach targeted at where wind has an advantage over its competitors and in coordination with research into other technologies such as storage, power electronics, and power systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1987

Motion coordination and programmable teleoperation between two industrial robots

Tasks for two coordinated industrial robots always bring the robots in contact with a same object. The motion coordination among the robots and the object must be maintained all the time. To plan the coordinated tasks, only one robot's motion is planned according to the required motion of the object. The motion of the second robot is to follow the first one as specified by a set of holonomic equality constraints at every time instant. If any modification of the object's motion is needed in real-time, only the first robot's motion has to be modified accordingly in real-time. The modification for the second robot is done implicitly through the constraint conditions. Thus the operation is simplified. If the object is physically removed, the second robot still continually follows the first one through the constraint conditions. If the first robot is maneuvered through either the teach pendant or the keyboard, the second one moves accordingly to form the teleoperation which is linked through the software programming. Obviously, the second robot does not need to duplicate the first robot's motion. The programming of the constraints specifies their relative motions.

Luh, J. Y. S.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Design and Evaluation of the Terminal Area Precision Scheduling and Spacing System

This paper describes the design, development and results from a high fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation of an integrated set of trajectory-based automation tools providing precision scheduling, sequencing and controller merging and spacing functions. These integrated functions are combined into a system called the Terminal Area Precision Scheduling and Spacing (TAPSS) system. It is a strategic and tactical planning tool that provides Traffic Management Coordinators, En Route and Terminal Radar Approach Control air traffic controllers the ability to efficiently optimize the arrival capacity of a demand-impacted airport while simultaneously enabling fuel-efficient descent procedures. The TAPSS system consists of four-dimensional trajectory prediction, arrival runway balancing, aircraft separation constraint-based scheduling, traffic flow visualization and trajectory-based advisories to assist controllers in efficient metering, sequencing and spacing. The TAPSS system was evaluated and compared to today's ATC operation through extensive series of human-in-the-loop simulations for arrival flows into the Los Angeles International Airport. The test conditions included the variation of aircraft demand from a baseline of today's capacity constrained periods through 5%, 10% and 20% increases. Performance data were collected for engineering and human factor analysis and compared with similar operations both with and without the TAPSS system. The engineering data indicate operations with the TAPSS show up to a 10% increase in airport throughput during capacity constrained periods while maintaining fuel-efficient aircraft descent profiles from cruise to landing.

Swenson, Harry N.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Plans for the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope and Potential Coordinated Measurements with Kwajalein Radars

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Orbital Debris Program Office is teaming with the US Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Maui Optical Site to deploy a moderate field-of-view, 1.3 m aperture, optical telescope for orbital debris applications. The telescope will be located on the island of Legan in the Kwajalein Atoll and is scheduled for completion in the Spring of 2011. The telescope is intended to sample both low inclination/high eccentricity orbits and near geosynchronous orbits. The telescope will have a 1 deg diagonal field-of-view on a 4K x 4K CCD. The telescope is expected to be able to detect 10-cm diameter debris at geosynchronous altitudes (5 sec exposure assuming a spherical specular phase function w/ albedo =0.13). Once operational, the telescope has the potential of conducting simultaneous observations with radars operated by the US Army at Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) and located on the island of Roi-Namur, approximately 55 km to the north of Legan. Four radars, representing 6 frequency bands, are available for use: ALTAIR (ARPA-Long Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar) operating at VHF & UHF, TRADEX (Target Resolution and Discrimination Experiment) operating at L-band and S-band, ALCOR (ARPA-Lincoln C-band Observables Radar) operating at S-band, and MMW (Millimeter Wave) Radar operating at Ka-band. Also potentially available is the X-band GBRP (Ground Based Radar-Prototype located 25 km to the southeast of Legan on the main island of Kwajalein.

Stansberry, Gene↗

DOE OSTI2026

Integrated System Planning: Emerging Software Requirements in the Power Industry

Power system planning software remains fragmented across organizational boundaries, with specialized tools for capacity expansion, production cost modeling, power flow, and dynamic analysis operating on incompatible data models and assumptions. This article argues that the fragmentation is not merely a technical problem but a predictable consequence of Conway's law: software architectures mirror the departmental structures within which they are developed. Regulatory milestones like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 888 formalized these divisions, but the roots trace back to the distinct engineering disciplines-mechanical, chemical, and electrical-that staffed generation and transmission planning departments in vertically integrated utilities. As the industry moves toward integrated system planning (ISP) that coordinates generation, transmission, and distribution investment decisions, the software ecosystem must evolve accordingly. We identify five categories of software requirements to enable this transition: coherent data inputs decoupled from individual applications, unified and extensible data schemas, modular component representations that support multiple abstraction levels, lifecycle management of planning datasets, and well-defined application programming interface (API) contracts that separate data exchange from algorithmic control. We examine how these requirements interact with three common workflow patterns-serial gate clearing, sequential multiapplication, and convergence oriented-and discuss the interface design principles each demands. We then outline a vision for platform-based planning architectures where specialized analytical services compose through standardized interfaces and where artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) tools augment decision support within a disciplined software infrastructure. The practices proposed here offer a path from today's siloed tool collections toward collaborative planning ecosystems capable of handling the complexity of modern power system transformation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS2006

Intelligent Rover Execution for Detecting Life in the Atacama Desert

On-board supervisory execution is crucial for the deployment of more capable and autonomous remote explorers. Planetary science is considering robotic explorers operating for long periods of time without ground supervision while interacting with a changing and often hostile environment. Effective and robust operations require on-board supervisory control with a high level of awareness of the principles of functioning of the environment and of the numerous internal subsystems that need to be coordinated. We describe an on-board rover executive that was deployed on a rover as past of the "Limits of Life in the Atacama Desert (LITA)" field campaign sponsored by the NASA ASTEP program. The executive was built using the Intelligent Distributed Execution Architecture (IDEA), an execution framework that uses model-based and plan-based supervisory control of its fundamental computational paradigm. We present the results of the third field experiment conducted in the Atacama desert (Chile) in August - October 2005.

Baskaran, Vijayakumar↗

NASA NTRS2011

Warp Field Mechanics 101

This paper will begin with a short review of the Alcubierre warp drive metric and describes how the phenomenon might work based on the original paper. The canonical form of the metric was developed and published in [6] which provided key insight into the field potential and boost for the field which remedied a critical paradox in the original Alcubierre concept of operations. A modified concept of operations based on the canonical form of the metric that remedies the paradox is presented and discussed. The idea of a warp drive in higher dimensional space-time (manifold) will then be briefly considered by comparing the null-like geodesics of the Alcubierre metric to the Chung-Freese metric to illustrate the mathematical role of hyperspace coordinates. The net effect of using a warp drive technology coupled with conventional propulsion systems on an exploration mission will be discussed using the nomenclature of early mission planning. Finally, an overview of the warp field interferometer test bed being implemented in the Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory: Eagleworks (APPL:E) at the Johnson Space Center will be detailed. While warp field mechanics has not had a Chicago Pile moment, the tools necessary to detect a modest instance of the phenomenon are near at hand.

White, Harold↗

NASA NTRS2021

Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE)

NASA has partnered with Advanced Space to develop and build the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission which will serve as a pathfinder for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NHRO) operations around the Moon. The NHRO, (Perilune = 3,200 km; Apolune = 70,000 km) will be the intended orbit for the NASA’s Artemis Gateway lunar orbital platform. The CAPSTONE mission will validate simulations and confirm operational planning for Gateway while also validating performance of navigation and station-keeping requirements for the Power and Propulsion Element. Thus, this mission will provide operational experience to NASA, commercial, and international missions for operations in a demanding orbital regime. The baseline for CAPSTONE is to fly a 12U cubesat developed, integrated, and tested by Tyvak Nanosatellite Systems carrying a payload communications system capable of cross-link ranging with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a dedicated payload flight computer for software demonstration, and a camera. The launch, coordinated by NASA Launch Services Program, will be provided by a Rocket Lab launch vehicle utilizing their new Proton upper stage to deploy the CAPSTONE spacecraft into the lunar orbit. The CAPSTONE mission is targeting a launch no earlier than September 23, 2021. Upon launch, the spacecraft will traverse a highly efficient transfer taking approximately three months to enter a primary demonstration phase in an NRHO for six months followed by a twelve month technology enhancement operations phase. The CAPSTONE Project is lead by Advanced Space, LLC of Boulder Colorado. Spacecraft development and mission operations will be conducted by Tyvak Nanosatellite Systems of Irvine, California. Noted objectives for the CAPSTONE mission will be to demonstrate the accessibility of NHROs, validate key operational concepts in the NHRO environment, lay a foundation for commercial support of future lunar operations and accelerate the availability of peer-to-peer navigation capabilities provided by the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS). The CAPSTONE mission is funded through NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP), which is one of several programs in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. SSTP is chartered to develop and demonstrate technologies to enhance and expand the capabilities of small spacecraft with a particular focus on enabling new mission architectures through the use of small spacecraft, expanding the reach of small spacecraft to new destinations, and augmenting future missions with supporting small spacecraft. The launch for the CAPSTONE Mission is provided by Human Exploration & Operations Missions Directorate Advanced Exploration Systems Division. Coordination and Acquisition of the Launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program. The CAPSTONE Mission and project status will be presented.

CAPSTONE↗

NASA NTRS2021

Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) Mission

CAPSTONE↗