Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI (2005) 1523.pdf

NASA’s NEW MILLENNIUM ST6 PROJECT. A.B. Chmielewski1, R.M. Nelson1, C.M. Stevens1, S. A. Chien1, A. G. Davies1, R. L. Sherwood1 , W. Wyman2 1. Jet Propulsion Lab, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Ca. 91109, robert.m.nelson@jpl.nasa.gov. 2. Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, Ma. 02139

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Davies A. G. et al. (2005) submittted to Rem. Sens. Env. [5] Introduction: NASA’s New Millennium Program Doggett T. et al. (2005) sub. Rem. Sens. Env. [6] Ip F. et al. validates advanced technologies in space and thus low- (2005) sub. Rem. Sens. Env. [7] Davies A. G. et al. (2005) ers the risk for the first mission user. The New Mil- LPSC XXXVI Abstract 1445. lennium ST6 project has developed two advanced, experimental technologies for use on future missions. Acknowledgements: This work was carried out at the These technologies are 1) the Autonomous Science- Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California Institute of craft Experiment (ASE) [1-6], a demonstration of Technology, under contract to NASA autonomous, science-driven spacecraft command and control; and 2) the Inertial Stellar Compass (ISC). These technologies will improve a spacecraft's ability (with ASE) to make intelligent decisions on what in- formation to gather and send back to the ground; and (with ISC) determine its own attitude and adjust its pointing.

Significance: The significance of these technologies is in making the space missions less dependent on opera- tors on the ground and shift the decision making to the spacecraft itself. Future missions using these tech- nologies will be able to reduce the size of the ground crew lowering the mission cost or allowing re- deployment of resources to other aspects of the mis- sion. Autonomous pointing and science gathering will also allow the spacecraft to react to ephemeral events that otherwise could not be detected in time due to long communication times from deep space.

Implications for future missions: Autonomous sciencecraft technology involves feature and change detection, continuous planning technology, and robust execution. It is equipped with software that checks spacecraft performance and has resources to prevent errors. The Inertial Stellar Compass will enable a spacecraft to continuously determine its attitude and recover its orientation after a temporary malfunction or power loss. This is done by the "marriage" of a minia- turized star camera and gyro system. Compass tech- nology uses an active pixel sensor in a star-tracking camera and a three-axis system of microelectrome- chanical gyros.

These technologies will improve future NASA space- craft and allow mission resources to focus on science goals.

References: [1] Chien S. et al. (2004) Proc. AAMAS 2004. [2] Davies A. G. et al. (2004) LPSC XXXV Abstract [3] Chien S. et al. (2003) Proc. I-SAIRAS 2003, Montreal. [4]