Robotics and AI-Enabled On-Orbit Operations With Future Generation of Small Satellites

The low-cost and short-lead time of small satellites has led to their use in science-based missions, earth observation, and interplanetary missions. Today, they are also key instruments in orchestrating technological demonstrations for On-Orbit Operations (O 3 ) such as inspection and spacecraft servicing with planned roles in active debris removal and on-orbit assembly. This paper provides an overview of the robotics and autonomous systems (RASs) technologies that enable robotic O 3 on smallsat platforms. Major RAS topics such as sensing & perception, guidance, navigation & control (GN&C) microgravity mobility and mobile manipulation, and autonomy are discussed from the perspective of relevant past and planned missions

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President: Fiscal Year 2007 Activities

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 directed the annual Aeronautics and Space Report to include a "comprehensive description of the programmed activities and the accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the field of aeronautics and space activities during the preceding calendar year." In recent years, the reports have been prepared on a fiscal-year basis, consistent with the budgetary period now used in programs of the Federal Government. This year's report covers activities that took place from October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007

Experience and Viewpoints in the Social Domain of Space Technology

This thesis is about how space technology is experienced in the social domain and how its purpose is recast from different viewpoints. The author is an artist and the approach taken foregrounds qualities of experience and viewpoint in which artists have a particular investment. This approach opens up the ways that affect, agency and authorship cross social domains that are directly and indirectly associated with the production of space technologies. A key focus is a group project led by the author that was initiated in response to the launch in October 2008 of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The project took place in Bengaluru, India where the spacecraft was built. Taking the ambivalence that surrounds the uses and purposes of space technologies as a starting point, a description of the spacecraft is developed from a number of viewpoints, including the mission scientists, public media and the participants of the artist-led project. The interventionist strategies of the project shed light on the ways that technologies can be accessed through their imaginaries and this has significance for large-scale technologies, such as spacecraft, for which physical access is delimited and much of the infrastructure is invisible or hidden from public view. The thesis proposes ways of reinstating missed qualities of viewpoint and experience within the affective spaces of space technology through the imperative to articulate first-person engagements with the world that is bound into artistic interpretation. What is further proposed is that by picturing the interrelations and flows of space technology in social domains through the lenses of experience and viewpoint, a 'technographic picture' is created that then becomes available as a tool with which to re-imagine spacefaring. This is a crucial addition to discussions about the interplay between science, technology and society that recognises the intimate spaces at the core of such large-scale concepts. It offers a new transdisciplinary modality that incorporates an artistic approach with which to make sense of the structurally ambivalent pursuits of spacefaring

Compendium of Directors Colloquia 1999-2012

The Director s colloquium series was established primarily to provide a mechanism to bring high profile individuals to the Center to present new and innovative ideas to the entire Ames staff. More focused lecture series are arranged by specific divisions or departments. Before the year 1999, there is only a fragmentary record of who spoke in this series. Announcements to the staff were sent via land mail, and tickets were required to attend the colloquium. In 1999, the notification to attend colloquia became electronic and the entire resident staff was invited to attend. The centerwide announcement archive established in this timeframe created a lasting record of the Director s colloquia. The "Office of the Chief Scientist" at Ames had the responsibility for administering the colloquium series. When I became Chief Scientist on June 29, 1998, the program was not being used extensively and this continued to be the case through the years 1999-2002 of Harry McDonald s tenure as Director (see graph below). During Scott Hubbard s tenure as Director (September 19, 2002- February 15, 2006), the Director's colloquium series was used exclusively for high profile speakers from outside Ames whom he selected, such as lab directors from other research organizations around the Bay Area. During Pete Worden s tenure as Ames Director (May 4, 2006 -present) the colloquium series gained far greater use. First, I had greater discretion to select speakers for the colloquium series. Secondly, beginning in 2007, we established a 10-week Director's Colloquium Summer Series focused on enriching the experience of our many summer interns, and giving our top researchers within Ames Research Center an opportunity to present their work to the Center. The summer program has received rave reviews. This compendium contains a compilation of one-page descriptions (title, abstract and speaker biographies) for all of the 171 colloquia presented from the beginning of 1999 to October of 2012. The list of speakers includes four Nobel Laureates, six astronauts, three current or former Ames Center Directors, as well as many CEOs and other lab directors. Other featured speakers include famous mountain climbers, historians, movie stars, and former FBI agents and directors. Finally, the list includes world-class scientists and engineers representing a wide range of disciplines. It has been my privilege to host almost all of the colloquia presented in this compendium

Fortieth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

Special sessions on Lunar Missions, Messenger at Mercury, and Icy Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn were held. This CD-ROM contains the contents, program, abstracts, and author indexes for the 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Johnson Space Centerconference co-chairs, Stephen J. Mackwell, Eileen StansberyPARTIAL CONTENTS: Equilibrated Aggregates in Cometary IDPs: Insights into the Crystallization Process in Protoplanetary Disks / L.P. Keller and S. Messenger--The Impact Crater Jebel Waqf as Suwwan in Jordan: Effects of Target Heterogeneity and Impact Obliquity on Central Uplift Formation / T. Kenkmann, W.U. Reimold, M. Khirfan, E. Salameh, K. Konsul, T. Lehmann, and H. Khoury--The Dispersal of Pyroclasts from Apollinaris Patera, Mars / L. Kerber, J.W. Head, J.B. Madeleine, F. Forget, and L. Wilson--The Age of the Medusae Fossae Formation: Reassessment Using Lava Flow Cast and Mold Contacts / L. Kerber and J.W. Head III--Possible Liquid-like Water Produced Seepage Features on Mars / A. Kereszturi, A. Horváth, A. Sik, A. Kuti, Sz. Bérczi, T. Gánti, T. Pócs, and E. Szathmáry

Leadership in Space: Selected Speeches of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, May 2005 - October 2008

Speech topics include: Leadership in Space; Space Exploration: Real and Acceptable Reasons; Why Explore Space?; Space Exploration: Filling up the Canvas; Continuing the Voyage: The Spirit of Endeavour; Incorporating Space into Our Economic Sphere of Influence; The Role of Space Exploration in the Global Economy; Partnership in Space Activities; International Space Cooperation; National Strategy and the Civil Space Program; What the Hubble Space Telescope Teaches Us about Ourselves; The Rocket Team; NASA's Direction; Science and NASA; Science Priorities and Program Management; NASA and the Commercial Space Industry; NASA and the Business of Space; American Competitiveness: NASA's Role & Everyone's Responsibility; Space Exploration: A Frontier for American Collaboration; The Next Generation of Engineers; System Engineering and the "Two Cultures" of Engineering; Generalship of Engineering; NASA and Engineering Integrity; The Constellation Architecture; Then and Now: Fifty Years in Space; The Reality of Tomorrow; and Human Space Exploration: The Next 50 Years

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 371)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in Supplements 359 through 370 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. It includes seven indexes: subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

Aeronautics and space report of the President

This report describes the activities and accomplishments of all agencies of the United States in the fields of aeronautics and space science during FY 1994. Activity summaries are presented for the following areas: space launch activities, space science, space flight and space technology, space communications, aeronuatics, and studies of the planet Earth. Several appendices providing data on U.S. launch activities, the Federal budget for space and aeronautics, remote sensing capabilities, and space policy are included

Aeronautics and Space Report of the President

Nineteen eighty-eight marked the United States' return to space flight with two successful space shuttle launches in September and December, as well as six successful expendable rocket launches. Meanwhile, many other less spectacular but important contributions were made in aeronautics and space by the 14 participating government organizations. Each organization's aeronautics and/or space activities for the year are presented. The organizations involved include: (1) NASA; (2) Department of Defense; (3) Department of Commerce; (4) Department of Energy; (5) Department of the Interior; (6) Department of Agriculture; (7) Federal Communications Commission; (8) Department of Transportation; (9) Environmental Protection Agency; (10) National Science Foundation; (11) Smithsonian Institution; (12) Department of State; (13) Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; and (14) United States Information Agency

Washington University Magazine, Winter 2006

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