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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2004

Mars Exploration Rovers navigation results

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched on June 10, 2003, and July 8, 2003, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Spirit and Opportunity were targeted for landings at Gusev Crater (arrival on January 4, 2004) and Meridiani Planum (arrival on January 25, 2004). The primary navigation challenge was to deliver each spacecraft to the desired atmospheric entry interface point with sufficient accuracy such that each lander would touch down within a specified landing ellipse (about 70 km x 5 km) determined to be safe for landing and also judged to be scientifically interesting. In order to achieve landing within the target ellipse, precise control of the inertial entry flight path angle (FPA) at atmospheric entry was required. The maximum allowable errors in FPA following TCM-5 (trajectory correction maneuver #5) at Entry (E) -2 days were +/-0.12 deg(3 sigma) for Spirit and +/-0.14 deg(3 sigma) for Opportunity. Achieving these entry delivery accuracies necessitated significant improvements to the interplanetary navigation system used for MER. These improvements included new processes and software for orbit determination, propulsive maneuver design, and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) trajectory simulation. The actual achieved atmospheric entry accuracies for Spirit and Opportunity significantly exceeded the requirements. At the navigation data cutoff for the TCM-5 final design, the orbit determination FPA knowledge error was 0.028 deg(3 sigma) for Spirit and 0.035 deg(3 sigma) for Opportunity. Because of exceptionally accurate navigation performance, TCM-5 (E - 2 days) and TCM-6 (E - 4 hours) were canceled for both Spirit and Opportunity. The actual landing locations (determined from in-situ Doppler tracking between the MER rovers and the Mars Odyssey orbiter) differed from the target landing points by 10.1 km (downtrack) for Spirit and 24.6 km (downtrack) for Opportunity. The majority of the landing position offsets for both landers was primarily caused by variations in atmosphere and spacecraft aerodynamic modeling from what was predicted. The amount of the landing position offset caused by navigation-only errors was only 3.3 km (uptrack) for Spirit and 9.7 km (downtrack) for Opportunity.

Mars Exploration Rover (MER)↗
NASA NTRS1978

Flight tests of a radio-controlled airplane mode with a free-wing, free-canard configuration

Flight characteristics, controllability, and potential operating problems were investigated in a radio-controlled airplane model in which the wing is so attached to the fuselage that it is free to pivot about a spanwise axis forward of its aerodynamic center and is subject only to aerodynamic pitching moments imposed by lift and drag forces and a control surface. A simple technique of flying the test vehicle in formation with a pickup truck was used to obtain trim data. The test vehicle was flown through a series of maneuvers designed to permit evaluation of certain characteristics by observation. The free-wing free-canard concept was determined to be workable. Stall/spin characteristics were considered to be excellent, and no effect on longitudinal stability was observed when center of gravity changes were made. Several problems were encountered during the early stages of flight testing, such as aerodynamic lockup of the free canard and excessive control sensitivity. Lack of onboard instrumentation precluded any conclusions about gust alleviation or ride qualities.

Gee, S. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Maximum likelihood estimation of translational acceleration derivatives from flight data

This paper shows that translational acceleration derivatives, such as pitching moment due to rate of change of angle of attack, can be estimated from flight data with the use of appropriately designed maneuvers. No new development of estimation methodology is necessary to analyze these maneuvers. Flight data from a T-37B airplane were used to verify that rate of change of angle of attack could be estimated from rolling maneuvers.

Maine, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Attitude ground support system for the solar maximum mission spacecraft

The SMM attitude ground support system (AGSS) supports the acquisition of spacecraft roll attitude reference, performs the in-flight calibration of the attitude sensor complement, supports onboard control autonomy via onboard computer data base updates, and monitors onboard computer (OBC) performance. Initial roll attitude acquisition is accomplished by obtaining a coarse 3 axis attitude estimate from magnetometer and Sun sensor data and subsequently refining it by processing data from the fixed head star trackers. In-flight calibration of the attitude sensor complement is achieved by processing data from a series of slew maneuvers designed to maximize the observability and accuracy of the appropriate alignments and biases. To ensure autonomy of spacecraft operation, the AGSS selects guide stars and computes sensor occultation information for uplink to the OBC. The onboard attitude control performance is monitored on the ground through periodic attitude determination and processing of OBC data in downlink telemetry. In general, the control performance has met mission requirements. However, software and hardware problems have resulted in sporadic attitude reference losses.

Nair, G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Predicting Spacecraft Trajectories

Calculations include drag, nonsphericity, and other perturbations. Artificial Satellite Analysis Program (ASAP) is general orbit-prediction program that incorporates sufficient orbit-modeling accuracy for mission design, maneuver analysis, and mission planning. Suitable for studying planetary orbit missions with spacecraft trajectories of exploratory (mapping) nature. Sample data included for study of drift cycle of geosynchronous station, strategy for mapping Venus by radar, frozen orbit about Mars, and repeat-ground-trace orbit. ASAP written in FORTRAN 77.

Kwok, J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Bibliography for aircraft parameter estimation

An extensive bibliography in the field of aircraft parameter estimation has been compiled. This list contains definitive works related to most aircraft parameter estimation approaches. Theoretical studies as well as practical applications are included. Many of these publications are pertinent to subjects peripherally related to parameter estimation, such as aircraft maneuver design or instrumentation considerations.

Iliff, Kenneth W.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Application of parameter estimation to aircraft stability and control: The output-error approach

The practical application of parameter estimation methodology to the problem of estimating aircraft stability and control derivatives from flight test data is examined. The primary purpose of the document is to present a comprehensive and unified picture of the entire parameter estimation process and its integration into a flight test program. The document concentrates on the output-error method to provide a focus for detailed examination and to allow us to give specific examples of situations that have arisen. The document first derives the aircraft equations of motion in a form suitable for application to estimation of stability and control derivatives. It then discusses the issues that arise in adapting the equations to the limitations of analysis programs, using a specific program for an example. The roles and issues relating to mass distribution data, preflight predictions, maneuver design, flight scheduling, instrumentation sensors, data acquisition systems, and data processing are then addressed. Finally, the document discusses evaluation and the use of the analysis results.

Maine, Richard E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Flight control systems development and flight test experience with the HiMAT research vehicles

Two highly maneuverable aircraft technology (HiMAT) remotely piloted vehicles were flown a total of 26 flights. These subscale vehicles were of advanced aerodynamic configuration with advanced technology concepts such as composite and metallic structures, digital integrated propulsion control, and ground (primary) and airborne (backup) relaxed static stability, digital fly-by-wire control systems. Extensive systems development, checkout, and flight qualification were required to conduct the flight test program. The design maneuver goal was to achieve a sustained 8-g turn at Mach 0.9 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. This goal was achieved, along with the acquisition of high-quality flight data at subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers. Control systems were modified in a variety of ways using the flight-determined aerodynamic characteristics. The HiMAT program was successfully completed with approximately 11 hours of total flight time.

Kempel, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Simulation and analyses of the aeroassist flight experiment attitude update method

A method which will be used to update the alignment of the Aeroassist Flight Experiment's Inertial Measuring Unit is simulated and analyzed. This method, the Star Line Maneuver, uses measurements from the Space Shuttle Orbiter star trackers along with an extended Kalman filter to estimate a correction to the attitude quaternion maintained by an Inertial Measuring Unit in the Orbiter's payload bay. This quaternion is corrupted by on-orbit bending of the Orbiter payload bay with respect to the Orbiter navigation base, which is incorporated into the payload quaternion when it is initialized via a direct transfer of the Orbiter attitude state. The method of updating this quaternion is examined through verification of baseline cases and Monte Carlo analysis using a simplified simulation, The simulation uses nominal state dynamics and measurement models from the Kalman filter as its real world models, and is programmed on Microvax minicomputer using Matlab, and interactive matrix analysis tool. Results are presented which confirm and augment previous performance studies, thereby enhancing confidence in the Star Line Maneuver design methodology.

Carpenter, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Interleaving Magellan altimetry data acquisition between mapping cycles 1 and 2

The Magellan spacecraft has been systematically mapping the surface of Venus since September 15, 1990, using side-looking synthetic aperture radar imaging and nadir-pointed altimetry. Venus rotates slowly under the nearly polar mapping orbit, completing a full revolution in 243 days, one 'mapping cycle'. The altimeter collects a 10 km swath of altitude measurements each orbit. The groundtrack advances 21 km each orbit due to the rotation of Venus, leaving an 11 km gap of unmeasured terrain. To obtain global surface coverage by the altimeter, these gaps are eliminated by interleaving the swaths collected during the second mapping cycle with those from the first mapping cycle. Interleaving was put into effect by a propulsive maneuver, executed at the end of the first mapping cycle, on May 17, 1991. The orbit node was changed by +0.106 degrees, so that the cycle 2 groundtracks would bisect adjacent cycle 1 groundtracks. This paper describes the maneuver design and execution results, including the problem and solution of the groundtrack prediction to the end of the first mapping cycle.

Engelhardt, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Periodic gravitational perturbations for conversion between osculating and mean orbit elements

Algorithms for converting between osculating and mean orbit elements are currently limited to computing the contribution due to the second zonal harmonic (J2). This paper presents an improved conversion algorithm that includes the effects of all zonal, sectorial and tesseral harmonics, second order J2, and third-body gravitational perturbations. Mean elements are useful for preliminary orbit and maneuver design; however, for more precise work, such as groundtrack targeting, osculating elements are required. This improved conversion algorithm was developed to meet accuracy requirements for the TOPEX/Poseidon mission; but, additional use can be considered for satellites orbiting planets like Venus that do not have a dominant J2. Results are presented from tests performed using the new algorithm with the planned TOPEX/Poseidon earth orbit as well as the Mars Observer and proposed circular Magellan (Venus) orbits.

Guinn, Joseph R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Determination of the stability and control derivatives of the F/A-18 HARV from flight data using the maximum likelihood method

The research being conducted pertains to the determination of the stability and control derivatives of the F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) from flight data using the Maximum Likelihood Method. The document outlines the approach used in the parameter estimation (PID) process and briefly describes the mathematical modeling of the F/A-18 HARV and the maneuvers designed to generate a sufficient data base for the PID research.

Napolitano, Marcello R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Navigation Flight Operations for Mars Pathfinder

On July 4, 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the first spacecraft to land on the surface of Mars in 21 years. Pathfinder was launched on December 4, 1996 and spent seven months en route to the red planet. This report discusses the navigation flight experience for the Mars Pathfinder interplanetary cruise. In particular, orbit determination and maneuver design and execution results are presented. Special emphasis is given to the navigation role in the days and hours leading up to and including the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) phase.

Vaughan, Robin M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Mars Exploration Rovers navigation results

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched on June 10, 2003(dagger), and July 8, 2003, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Spirit and Opportunity were targeted for landings at Gusev Crater (arrival on January 4, 2004) and Meridiani Planum (arrival on January 25, 2004). The primary navigation challenge was to deliver each spacecraft to the desired atmospheric entry interface point with sufficient accuracy such that each lander would touch down within a specified landing ellipse (about 70 km x 5 km) determined to be safe for landing and also judged to be scientifically interesting. In order to achieve landing within the target ellipse, precise control of the inertial entry flight path angle (FPA) at atmospheric entry was required. The maximum allowable errors in FPA following TCM-5 (trajectory correction maneuver #5) at Entry (E) - 2 days were +/-0.12(deg) (3(sigma)) for Spirit and +/-0.14(deg) (3(sigma)) for Opportunity. Achieving these entry delivery accuracies necessitated significant improvements to the interplanetary avigation system used for MER. These improvements included new processes and software for orbit determination, propulsive maneuver design, and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) trajectory simulation. The actual achieved atmospheric entry accuracies for Spirit and Opportunity significantly exceeded the requirements. At the navigation data cutoff for the TCM-5 final design, the orbit determination FPA knowledge error was +/-0.028(deg) (3(sigma) ) for Spirit and +/-0.035(deg) (3(sigma)) for Opportunity. Because of exceptionally accurate navigation performance, TCM-5 (E - 2 days) and TCM-6 (E - 4 hours) were canceled for both Spirit and Opportunity. The actual landing locations (determined from in-situ Doppler tracking between the MER rovers and the Mars Odyssey orbiter) differed from the target landing points by 10.1 km (downtrack) for Spirit and 24.6 km (downtrack) for Opportunity. The majority of the landing position offsets for both landers was primarily caused by variations in atmosphere and spacecraft aerodynamic modeling from what was predicted. The amount of the landing position offset caused by navigation-only errors was only 3.3 km (uptrack) for Spirit and 9.7 km (downtrack) for Opportunity.

Mars Exploration Rover (MER)↗
NASA NTRS2004

Mars Exploration Rover - a new standard for interplanetary navigation

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, arrived at Mars for landings respectively at Gusev Crater (on January 4, 2004) and Meridiani Planum (on January 25, 2004). During the development of the mission, the capability of the navigation system to deliver the landers within a particular accuracy played a major role in landing site selection. This process ultimately resulted in commitments to deliver each lander within a specified landing ellipse (about 70 km x 5 km) determined to be safe for landing and also judged to be scientifically interesting. Achieving atmospheric entry delivery accuracies consistent with this landing requirement necessitated significant improvements to the interplanetary navigation system used for MER. These improvements included new processes and software for orbit determination, aggressive, mission-critical use of interferometric ADOR tracking data, propulsive maneuver design, and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) trajectory simulation. Because these advances pressed the state -of -the art, innovative methods to verify the assumptions in the pre-launch covariance analyses were also developed. The actual achieved atmospheric entry accuracies for Spirit and Opportunity significantly bettered the requirements.

navigation↗
NASA NTRS2012

Understanding Spacecraft Agility for Orbit Transfers on the Dawn Low-thrust Mission

Conventional maneuver design processes were inadequate. Long thrusting durations with the small force of SEP. Increased coupling between ACS and NAV teams. Definition of quantifiable constraints proved impractical. Specifically for the Dawn mission, because of the attitude steering algorithm. A time-efficient simulation tool, qSTAT, was developed and allowed fast verification of candidate thrust profile designs. This approach allowed Dawn to overcome the complications of low-thrust orbit transfers.

low-thrust↗
NASA NTRS2011

Ground Optical Navigation for the Stardust-Next Mission to Comet 9P/TEMPEL1

Ground-based optical navigation (OpNav) using pictures taken by the Naviga-tion camera on the Stardust spacecraft provided the target-relative information needed to design maneuvers during its approach to comet Tempel 1. Hardware problems, limited downlink bandwidth, and changes in the flight profile affected the OpNav picture schedule, sometimes in near-real time. The Stardust naviga-tion camera and attitude control presented challenges. Picture-processing techniques were developed during approach that included background estimation, co-addition, and co-registration. These techniques, along with adaptive picture scheduling, successfully addressed the challenges.

9P/Temple 1↗
NASA NTRS2011

Hayabusa: Navigation Challenges for Earth Return

Hayabusa was a JAXA sample-return mission to Itokawa navigated, in part, by JPL personnel. Hayabusa survived several near mission-ending failures at Itokawa yet returned to Earth with an asteroid regolith sample on June 13, 2010. This paper describes NASA/JPL's participation in the Hayabusa mission during the last 100 days of its mission, wherein JPL provided tracking data and orbit determination, plus verification of maneuver design and entry, descent and landing.

Itokawa↗