Technology Demonstration Missions Newsletter March/April 2013

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Technology Demonstration Mission Program Volume 1, Issue 2 The Bridge March–April 2013 ‘Sunjammer’ Project Sails Through Latest Boom Tests The Solar Sail Demonstration project, The team recently conducted a suc- a Technology Demonstration Mission cessful series of boom deployment Members of the L’Garde team begin the first led for NASA by industry manufac- tests, assessing the smooth perfor- boom deployment test, watching the pres- turer L’Garde Inc. of Tustin, Calif., is mance of the system that will provide surized boom slowly extend. (Photo: L’Garde) in the process of completing a series structural support to the solar sail. For Team members of deployment tests of the 89-foot transport to space, the sail is stowed record the prototype boom that will serve as the in a folded state no more than a foot deployment structural support for the solar sail in length. The tests are intended to and monitor for once it is deployed. maximize stowage and deployment pressure leaks. repeatability, thereby minimizing overall Tests typically take 15 minutes A solar sail uses the minute pressure of system risk. for full deploy- photons emitted from the sun to propel ment; the actual in-space procedure can a spacecraft – providing “sail power” To unfurl the boom during testing, the take 30-45 minutes. (Photo: L’Garde) for a journey through space. NASA cylinder is pressurized and observed is working with L’Garde, the National for potential leaks. During the first test, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- the team was able to troubleshoot and tion and other commercial partners correct pressure leaks related to the to prove the viability and value of this stowage technique. The team imple- propellant-free transport system. mented the new stowage techniques and observed no leaks during the The solar sail — dubbed “Sunjammer” second deployment tests. by its designers in honor of the 1964 Arthur C. Clarke story of the same These series of tests also permitted name, in which Clarke coined the term the team to demonstrate the innova- “solar sailing” — will deploy and operate tive boom spreader system — a crucial The innovative boom spreader system under- a sail approximately 124 feet on a side. piece of solar sail technology used to goes its first deployment test. (Photo: L’Garde) That’s almost 13,000 square feet, or a increase the strength of the booms, third of an acre — seven times larger making them extensible to sup- L’Garde techni- than any solar sail ever tested in space. port much larger solar sail missions. cian Long Without the spreader system, the solar Nyugen, right, adjusts the When stowed in its launch con- pressure on an extremely large sail boom spreader figuration, Sunjammer is the size of a would cause the boom system’s struc- during deploy- dishwasher and weighs just 70 pounds. tural members to bend, which would ment as Yuki Attached to a 175-pound disposable degrade performance. Michii, L’Garde support module, it will be easily packed programs man- into a secondary payload on a rocket The Sunjammer demonstration mis- ager and senior bound for low-Earth orbit. sion is set to launch on a SpaceX analyst, looks on. (Photo: L’Garde) Falcon 9 rocket as early as 2014. 1 Hail to the Chief The Sunjammer solar sail was among the Technology Demonstration Mis- sions highlighted in NASA exhibits in Washington during the Presidential Inauguration. During an open house Jan. 18-20 at NASA Headquarters, more than 1,000 visitors enjoyed learning about NASA’s plans for future human space exploration; the value and impact of new space technologies; science on the International Space Station; and new plans for Mars exploration. NASA also took part in the National Day of Service on the National Mall Jan. 19. In addition, NASA participated in the inaugural parade Jan. 21, with employees walk- ing alongside full-scale models of the Curiosity Mars rover and the Orion spacecraft, set for flight testing in 2014. (Photo: Keyke Reed) Green Propellant Project Passes Major Milestone, Readies for Design Review After NASA selected Ball Aerospace & ordering parts for the spacecraft and Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., developing thrusters. The next major in August 2012 as the prime contractor milestone is the Preliminary Design to develop the Green Propellant Infu- Review, set for this coming July. sion Mission, Ball and their partners quickly began executing the project in The team will develop and fly five order to prepare for launch, scheduled thrusters specifically designed to use for 2015. a high-performing green propellant aboard a Ball Configurable Plat- Joining Ball are a team of co-inves- form — the BCP-100 spacecraft — to tigators from Aerojet Corporation validate the performance characteris- of Redmond, Wash.; U.S. Air Force tics of the green fuel and thrusters in Research Laboratory at Edwards Air space. Though some characteristics Force Base, Calif.; Air Force Space may be ascertained by ground tests, and Missile Systems Center at Kirk- in-space testing is the only way to land Air Force Base, N.M.; NASA’s provide true system-level validation of Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; this exciting new technology. Learn more about the project here. and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The fuel and its accompanying technology offer many advantages for In January, Ball hosted the program’s future satellites, including fewer successful Systems Requirements operational hazards on the ground, Review, defining the demonstration decreased complexity and cost of requirements to ensure the project launch processing extending mission is properly positioned to begin the durations, additional maneuverability, design process. The team is now and increased payload space . http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/main 2 Tailoring Sets Standards NASA Edge Talks TDM Around the Nation for Project Efficiency Episode to debut in March From the TDM Project Manager In recent months, reporters and video crews for “NASA By John McDougal EDGE” — the agency’s engaging, informative news magazine series — have traveled around the country to profileTechnology Dem- onstration Mission team McDougal manages members and find out more the TDM Program Office about our exciting technolo- at the Marshall Center. gies. Cohost Blair Allen, right, chats with John McDougal, McDougal at table with Blair Allen (Photo: NASA/MSFC) manager of the Technology Our goal within the Technology Demonstration Mission Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Demonstration Mission is to improve in Huntsville, Ala., for an overview of the program and its nine promising projects. execution of low-cost, risk-tolerant Watch www.nasa.gov/nasaedge in March for the TDM-focused episode. flight projects to demonstrate new space technologies. By tailoring and standardizing our project processes, At NASA’s Goddard Space innovations in technology applica- Flight Center in Greenbelt, tions and project development can be Md., Mike Weiss, left, proj- exploited to the fullest possible extent. ect manager for the Laser Communications Relay TDM projects provide a low-cost, Demonstration, outlines for risk-tolerant opportunity to demon- “NASA EDGE” cohost Chris strate high-value technologies that Giersch how the project will can enhance or enable future science revolutionize the way we send and exploration missions. They also and receive video and other provide an environment to experiment data from space, using lasers with novel approaches to develop to encode and transmit data Chris Giersch chats with Mike Weiss at Goddard missions in a cost-effective, less time- at rates 10 to 100 times faster (Photo: NASA/GSFC) consuming way. than radio. Such a leap in technology could deliver video and high-resolution measurements from spacecraft over planets across the solar system — permitting To make the most effective use of our researchers to make detailed studies of conditions on other worlds the way we TDM projects, we needed to deter- now track hurricanes and other climate and environmental changes here on Earth. mine a minimum compliance for all related requirements. This “tailoring” was started when TDM was in formu- “NASA EDGE” cohost Chris Giersch lation, and it continues today. We have explores “remote” possibilities as the worked with NASA’s Office of the Chief series delves into the Human Explora- Engineer and other requirement offices tion Telerobotics projects led for TDM to develop a tailoring standard for by NASA’s Ames Research Center TDM projects. in Moffett Field, Calif. The HET team showed “NASA EDGE” a variety of Why is this important? Because the ways in which telerobotics — remote future development of TDM proj- control of robotic arms, rovers and ects greatly depends on the way we other devices, including Smart- manage them. If our processes are SPHERES like this one now being efficient, standard and streamlined, tested and used on the International then our projects should be executed Space Station — can take routine, in the same fashion. dangerous or long-duration tasks out of human hands and improve space (Photo: NASA/ARC) exploration. 3 Bridge Builders: Mike Meacham Editor’s Note: Each issue, we’ll interview a key player in TDM — team members at various NASA centers and partner organizations who are helping bridge the gap to bring one of our cutting-edge technologies to flight readiness. Got a suggestion for a team member worthy of a place in the limelight? Email [email protected]. NASA engineer Mike Meacham. (Image courtesy of Mike Meacham) Mike Meacham is a NASA engi- What’s next? How did you get your start at NASA? neer supporting the Low Density I am building up the next test now, set I joined JPL in August 2005. I first pro- Supersonic Decelerator project at for this summer. We’ll deploy a para- vided mechanical engineering support NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in chute from a helicopter 1,200 meters for the fiber optics team on the Mars Pasadena, Calif.

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