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At least 595 records · Page 33
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NASA NTRS1993

A strip chart recorder pattern recognition tool kit for Shuttle operations

During Space Shuttle operations, Mission Control personnel monitor numerous mission-critical systems such as electrical power; guidance, navigation, and control; and propulsion by means of paper strip chart recorders. For example, electrical power controllers monitor strip chart recorder pen traces to identify onboard electrical equipment activations and deactivations. Recent developments in pattern recognition technologies coupled with new capabilities that distribute real-time Shuttle telemetry data to engineering workstations make it possible to develop computer applications that perform some of the low-level monitoring now performed by controllers. The number of opportunities for such applications suggests a need to build a pattern recognition tool kit to reduce software development effort through software reuse. We are building pattern recognition applications while keeping such a tool kit in mind. We demonstrated the initial prototype application, which identifies electrical equipment activations, during three recent Shuttle flights. This prototype was developed to test the viability of the basic system architecture, to evaluate the performance of several pattern recognition techniques including those based on cross-correlation, neural networks, and statistical methods, to understand the interplay between an advanced automation application and human controllers to enhance utility, and to identify capabilities needed in a more general-purpose tool kit.

Hammen, David G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The MITy micro-rover: Sensing, control, and operation

The sensory, control, and operation systems of the 'MITy' Mars micro-rover are discussed. It is shown that the customized sun tracker and laser rangefinder provide internal, autonomous dead reckoning and hazard detection in unstructured environments. The micro-rover consists of three articulated platforms with sensing, processing and payload subsystems connected by a dual spring suspension system. A reactive obstacle avoidance routine makes intelligent use of robot-centered laser information to maneuver through cluttered environments. The hazard sensors include a rangefinder, inclinometers, proximity sensors and collision sensors. A 486/66 laptop computer runs the graphical user interface and programming environment. A graphical window displays robot telemetry in real time and a small TV/VCR is used for real time supervisory control. Guidance, navigation, and control routines work in conjunction with the mapping and obstacle avoidance functions to provide heading and speed commands that maneuver the robot around obstacles and towards the target.

Malafeew, Eric↗
NASA NTRS1994

SCL: An off-the-shelf system for spacecraft control

In this age of shrinking military, civil, and commercial space budgets, an off-the-shelf solution is needed to provide a multimission approach to spacecraft control. A standard operational interface which can be applied to multiple spacecraft allows a common approach to ground and space operations. A trend for many space programs has been to reduce operational staff by applying autonomy to the spacecraft and to the ground stations. The Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) system developed by Interface and Control Systems, Inc. (ICS) provides an off-the-shelf solution for spacecraft operations. The SCL system is designed to provide a hyper-scripting interface which remains standard from program to program. The spacecraft and ground station hardware specifics are isolated to provide the maximum amount of portability from system to system. Uplink and downlink interfaces are also isolated to allow the system to perform independent of the communications protocols chosen. The SCL system can be used for both the ground stations and the spacecraft, or as a value added package for existing ground station environments. The SCL system provides an expanded stored commanding capability as well as a rule-based expert system on-board. The expert system allows reactive control on-board the spacecraft for functions such as electrical power systems (EPS), thermal control, etc. which have traditionally been performed on the ground. The SCL rule and scripting capability share a common syntax allowing control of scripts from rules and rules from scripts. Rather than telemeter over sampled data to the ground, the SCL system maintains a database on-board which is available for interrogation by the scripts and rules. The SCL knowledge base is constructed on the ground and uploaded to the spacecraft. The SCL system follows an open-systems approach allowing other tasks to communicate with SCL on the ground and in space. The SCL system was used on the Clementine program (launched January 25, 1994) and is required to have bidirectional communications with the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms which were written as another task. Sequencing of the spacecraft maneuvers are handled by SCL, but the low-level thruster pulse commands are handled by the GNC software. Attitude information is reported back as telemetry, allowing the SCL expert system to inference on the changing data. The Clementine SCL flight software was largely reused from another Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST) satellite program. This paper details the SCL architecture and how an off-the-shelf solution makes sense for multimission spacecraft programs. The Clementine mission will be used as a case study in the application of the SCL to a 'fast track' program. The benefits of such a system in a 'better, cheaper, faster' climate will be discussed.

Buckley, Brian↗
NASA NTRS1995

A vehicle health monitoring system for the Space Shuttle Reaction Control System during reentry

A general two tier framework for vehicle health monitoring of Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C) system actuators, effectors, and propulsion devices is presented. In this context, a top level monitor that estimates jet thrust is designed for the Space Shuttle Reaction Control System (RCS) during the reentry phase of flight. Issues of importance for the use of estimation technologies in vehicle health monitoring are investigated and quantified for the Shuttle RCS demonstration application. These issues include rate of convergence, robustness to unmodeled dynamics, sensor quality, sensor data rates, and information recording objectives. Closed loop simulations indicate that a Kalman filter design is sensitive to modeling error and robust estimators may reduce this sensitivity. Jet plume interaction with the aerodynamic flowfield is shown to be a significant effect adversely impacting the ability to accurately estimate thrust.

Rosello, Anthony David↗
NASA NTRS1993

Galileo: Challenges enroute to Jupiter

The Galileo spacecraft is now on its three-year direct Earth-to-Jupiter transfer trajectory. Jupiter arrived (Probe entry) is scheduled for 2:05 pm PST, December 7, 1995. The Galileo Probe will be the first human-made object to enter the atmosphere of an outer planet, while the Orbiter will be the first artificial satellite of an outer planet. A two-year Jupiter orbital mission is planned. Following launch on October 18, 1989, Galileo spent just over three years executing its Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (VEEGA) mission phase to achieve the heliocentric energy necessary to reach Jupiter. Midway through its Earth-to-Earth leg, on October 29, 1991, Galileo became the first spacecraft to encounter an asteroid. Six months earlier in April 1991, the spacecraft's high-gain antenna (HGA) failed to deploy properly. The special guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) problems associated with a 20-month campaign of maneuvers to free the stuck antenna and successfully perform the asteroid encounter without it are described. The overall mission and spacecraft status are also reported.

O'Neil, William J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Avionics architecture for the U.S. segment of the international space station alpha

The International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) is a joint project between the United States, European Space Agency, Japan, Canada and Russia to develop and fly a space station in the later part of the 1990s. The United States will be the largest hardware contributor to this project, and this paper will describe the avionics architecture for the U.S. provided pressurized modules and truss segments. The avionics contained within these U.S. modules and segments will perform many of the core engineering and payload support functions for the ISSA. These functions include: the command and data handling, communications and tracking, guidance navigation and control (in partnership with the Russian elements), and electrical power generation and distribution. This paper will describe the architecture of the avionics systems that will perform these core engineering avionics functions, as well as provide a discussion on the avionics necessary for the proper functioning of the core engineering avionics supported functions such as thermal control, life support, and mechanisms.

Smith, Joseph F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

FAA/NASA Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research: 1993-1994

This report summarizes the research conducted during the academic year 1993-1994 under the NASA/FAA sponsored Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research. The year end review was held at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, July 14-15, 1994. The Joint University Program is a coordinated set of three grants sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center and the Federal Aviation Administration, one each with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (NGL-22-009-640), Ohio University (NGR-36-009-017), and Princeton University (NGL-31-001-252). Completed works, status reports, and annotated bibliographies are presented for research topics which include navigation, guidance and control theory and practice, aircraft performance, human factors, and expert systems concepts applied to aircraft and airport operations. An overview of the year's activities for each university is also presented.

Hueschen, Richard M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

AIAA spacecraft GN&C interface standards initiative: Overview

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has undertaken an important standards initiative in the area of spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) subsystem interfaces. The objective of this effort is to establish standards that will promote interchangeability of major GN&C components, thus enabling substantially lower spacecraft development costs. Although initiated by developers of conventional spacecraft GN&C, it is anticipated that interface standards will also be of value in reducing the development costs of micro-engineered spacecraft. The standardization targets are specifically limited to interfaces only, including information (i.e. data and signal), power, mechanical, thermal, and environmental interfaces between various GN&C components and between GN&C subsystems and other subsystems. The current emphasis is on information interfaces between various hardware elements (e.g., between star trackers and flight computers). The poster presentation will briefly describe the program, including the mechanics and schedule, and will publicize the technical products as they exist at the time of the conference. In particular, the rationale for the adoption of the AS1773 fiber-optic serial data bus and the status of data interface standards at the application layer will be presented.

Challoner, A. Dorian↗
NASA NTRS1984

Aeronautics Technology Possibilities for 2000: Report of a Workshop

Topics discussed include: Aerodynamics; Propulsion; Structural Analysis and Design Technology; Materials for Structural Members, Propulsion Systems, and Subsystems; Guidance, Navigation, and Control; Computer and Information Technology; Human Factors Engineering; Systems Integration.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Investigation of Alert Zone and Display Concepts for Free Flight

To better understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of utilizing a probability-based method, a number of alternative approaches to the collision avoidance problem were examined and summarized in the paper "Survey of Conflict Detection and Resolution Modeling Methods" which was presented in August 1997 at the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference. The paper provides a summary and comparative evaluation of the many different approaches that have been used in the past to perform conflict analysis. Each method is categorized in its dynamic modeling approach and method of handling conflict detection and conflict resolution. For example, one category included the extrapolation method used to predict future trajectories of which 3 were defined: nominal, probabilistic, and worst-case. Another category listed the metrics and parameters used by each method to make conflict decisions (i.e. estimated time to closest point of approach, miss distance, current separation, expected maneuvering cost, probability of conflict). Other useful information such as the ability to handle multi-aircraft conflicts and cooperative and non-cooperative maneuvering is also included.

Yang, Lee C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

AAS/GSFC 13th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics

This conference proceedings preprint includes papers and abstracts presented at the 13th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics, May 11-15, 1998. Co-sponsored by American Astronautical Society and the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center of the Goddard Space Flight Center, this symposium featured technical papers on a wide range of issues related to orbit-attitude prediction, determination, and control; attitude sensor calibration; attitude dynamics; and mission design.

Stengle, Tom↗
NASA NTRS1998

AAS/GSFC 13th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics

This conference proceedings preprint includes papers and abstracts presented at the 13th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics. Cosponsored by American Astronautical Society and the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center of the Goddard Space Flight Center, this symposium featured technical papers on a wide range of issues related to orbit-attitude prediction, determination, and control; attitude sensor calibration; attitude dynamics; and mission design.

Stengle, Tom↗
NASA NTRS1998

Design and implementation of satellite formations and constellations

The direction to develop small low cost spacecraft has led many scientists to recognize the advantage of flying spacecraft in constellations and formations to achieve the correlated instrument measurements formerly possible only by flying many instruments on a single large platform. Yet, constellations and formation flying impose additional complications on orbit selection and orbit maintenance, especially when each spacecraft has its own orbit or science requirements. The purpose of this paper is to develop an operational control method for maintenance of these missions. Examples will be taken from the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft that is part of the New Millennium Program (NMP) and from proposed Earth System Science Program Office (ESSPO) constellations. Results can be used to determine the appropriateness of constellations and formation flying for a particular case as well as the operational impacts. Applications to the ESSPO and NMP are highly considered in analysis and applications. After constellation and formation analysis is completed, implementation of a maneuver maintenance strategy becomes the driver. Advances in technology and automation by GSFC's Guidance, Navigation, and Control Center allow more of the burden of the orbit selection and maneuver maintenance to be automated and ultimately placed onboard the spacecraft, mitigating most of the associated operational concerns. This paper presents the GSFC closed-loop control method to fly in either constellations or formations through the use of an autonomous closed loop three-axis navigation control and innovative orbit maintenance support. Simulation results using AutoCon(TM) and FreeFlyer(TM) with various fidelity levels of modeling and algorithms are presented.

Folta, David↗
NASA NTRS1998

Design and Implementation of Satellite Formations and Constellations

The direction to develop small low cost spacecraft has led many scientists to recognize the advantage of flying spacecraft in constellations and formations to achieve the correlated instrument measurements formerly possible only by flying many instruments on a single large platform. Yet, constellations and formation flying impose additional complications on orbit selection and orbit maintenance, especially when each spacecraft has its own orbit or science requirements. The purpose of this paper is to develop an operational control method for maintenance of these missions. Examples will be taken from the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft that is part of the New Millennium Program (NMP) and from proposed Earth System Science Program Office (ESSPO) constellations. Results can be used to determine the appropriateness of constellations and formation flying for a particular case as well as the operational impacts. Applications to the ESSPO and NMP are highly considered in analysis and applications. After constellation and formation analysis is completed, implementation of a maneuver maintenance strategy becomes the driver. Advances in technology and automation by GSFC's Guidance, Navigation, and Control Center allow more of the burden of the orbit selection and maneuver maintenance to be automated and ultimately placed onboard the spacecraft, mitigating most of the associated operational concerns. This paper presents the GSFC closed-loop control method to fly in either constellations or formations through the use of an autonomous closed loop three-axis navigation control and innovative orbit maintenance support. Simulation results using AutoCon(Trademark) and FreeFlyer(Trademark) with various fidelity levels of modeling and algorithms are presented.

Folta, David↗
NASA NTRS1999

1999 Flight Mechanics Symposium

This conference publication includes papers and abstracts presented at the Flight Mechanics Symposium held on May 18-20, 1999. Sponsored by the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center of Goddard Space Flight Center, this symposium featured technical papers on a wide range of issues related to orbit-attitude prediction, determination, and control; attitude sensor calibration; attitude determination error analysis; attitude dynamics; and orbit decay and maneuver strategy. Government, industry, and the academic community participated in the preparation and presentation of these papers.

John P. Lynch↗
NASA NTRS1999

Pre-Flight Testing of Spaceborne GPS Receivers using a GPS Constellation Simulator

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Global Positioning System (GPS) applications test facility has been established within the GSFC Guidance Navigation and Control Center. The GPS test facility is currently housing the Global Simulation Systems Inc. (GSSI) STR2760 GPS satellite 40-channel attitude simulator and a STR4760 12-channel navigation simulator. The facility also contains a few other resources such as an atomic time standard test bed, a rooftop antenna platform and a radome. It provides a new capability for high dynamics GPS simulations of space flight that is unique within the aerospace community. The GPS facility provides a critical element for the development and testing of GPS based technologies i.e. position, attitude and precise time determination used on-board a spacecraft, suborbital rocket balloon. The GPS simulation system is configured in a transportable rack and is available for GPS component development as well as for component, spacecraft subsystem and system level testing at spacecraft integration and tests sites. The GPS facility has been operational since early 1996 and has utilized by space flight projects carrying GPS experiments, such as the OrbView-2 and the Argentine SAC-A spacecrafts. The SAC-A pre-flight test data obtained by using the STR2760 simulator and the comparison with preliminary analysis of the GPS data from SAC-A telemetry are summarized. This paper describes pre-flight tests and simulations used to support a unique spaceborne GPS experiment. The GPS experiment mission objectives and the test program are described, as well as the GPS test facility configuration needed to verify experiment feasibility. Some operational and critical issues inherent in GPS receiver pre-flight tests and simulations using this GPS simulation, and test methodology are described. Simulation and flight data are presented. A complete program of pre-flight testing of spaceborne GPS receivers using a GPS constellation simulator is detailed.

Kizhner, Semion↗
NASA NTRS1999

1999 Digital Avionics Highlights

This article summarizes the highlights of recent events and developments in guidance, navigation, and control in space, aircraft, and weapons. This article is about 1,200 words long. Information for the article was collected from other NASA Centers, DoD, and industry. All information was previously cleared by the originating organizations. Information for the article was also gathered from Aviation Week and Space Technology, and similar sources.

Polites, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Pre-Flight Testing of Spaceborne GPS Receivers Using a GPS Constellation Simulator

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Global Positioning System (GPS) applications test facility has been established within the GSFC Guidance Navigation and Control Center. The GPS test facility is currently housing the Global Simulation Systems Inc. (GSSI) STR2760 GPS satellite 40-channel attitude simulator and a STR4760 12-channel navigation simulator. The facility also contains a few other resources such as an atomic time standard test bed, a rooftop antenna platform and a radome. It provides a new capability for high dynamics GPS simulations of space flight that is unique within the aerospace community. The GPS facility provides a critical element for the development and testing of GPS based technologies i.e. position, attitude and precise time determination used on-board a spacecraft, suborbital rocket or balloon. The GPS simulator system is configured in a transportable rack and is available for GPS component development as well as for component, spacecraft subsystem and system level testing at spacecraft integration and test sites. The GPS facility has been operational since early 1996 and has been utilized by space flight projects carrying GPS experiments, such as the OrbView-2 and the Argentine SAC-A spacecrafts. The SAC-A pre-flight test data obtained by using the STR2760 simulator and the comparison with preliminary analysis of the GPS data from SAC-A telemetry are summarized. This paper describes pre-flight tests and simulations used to support a unique spaceborne GPS experiment. The GPS experiment mission objectives and the test program are described, as well as the GPS test facility configuration needed to verify experiment feasibility. Some operational and critical issues inherent in GPS receiver pre-flight tests and simulations using this GPS simulator, and test methodology are described. Simulation and flight data are presented. A complete program of pre-flight testing of spaceborne GPS receivers using a GPS constellation simulator is detailed.

Kizhner, Semion↗