Near Earth Asteroid Scout - Mission Update

After its deployment from NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission will travel to and image an asteroid during a close flyby using an 86m2 solar sail as its primary propulsion. Solar sails are large, mirror-like structures made of a lightweight material that reflects sunlight to propel the spacecraft. The continuous solar photon pressure provides thrust with no need for the heavy, expendable propellants used by conventional chemical and electric propulsion systems. Developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the NEA Scout is based on the industry-standard CubeSat form factor. The spacecraft measures 11 cm x 24 cm x 36 cm and weighs less than 14 kilograms. Following deployment from the Space Launch System (SLS), the solar sail will deploy, and the spacecraft will begin its 2.0 – 2.5-year journey. About one month before the asteroid flyby, NEA Scout will search for the target and start its Approach Phase using a combination of radio tracking and optical navigation and perform a relatively slow flyby (10-20 m/s) of the target. A summary of the mission, sailcraft, mission design, and its first several months of deep space operation will be described

Deep Impact Sequence Planning Using Multi-Mission Adaptable Planning Tools With Integrated Spacecraft Models

The Deep Impact mission was ambitious and challenging. JPL's well proven, easily adaptable multi-mission sequence planning tools combined with integrated spacecraft subsystem models enabled a small operations team to develop, validate, and execute extremely complex sequence-based activities within very short development times. This paper focuses on the core planning tool used in the mission, APGEN. It shows how the multi-mission design and adaptability of APGEN made it possible to model spacecraft subsystems as well as ground assets throughout the lifecycle of the Deep Impact project, starting with models of initial, high-level mission objectives, and culminating in detailed predictions of spacecraft behavior during mission-critical activities

Testing Lunar Return Thermal Protection Systems using Sub-Scale Flight Test Vehicles

A key objective of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration is to revisit the lunar surface. Such an ambitious goal requires the development of a new human-rated spacecraft, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), to ferry crews to low earth orbit and to the moon. The successful conclusion of both types of missions will require a thermal protection system (TPS) capable of protecting the vehicle and crew from the extreme heat of atmospheric reentry. As a part of the TPS development, various materials are being tested in arcjet tunnels; however, the combined lunar return aerothermal environment of high heat flux, shear stress, and surface pressure cannot be duplicated using only existing ground test facilities. To ensure full TPS qualification, a flight test program using sub-scale Orion capsules has been proposed to test TPS materials and heat shield construction techniques under the most stressing combination of lunar return aerothermal environments. Originally called Testing Of Reentry Capsule Heat Shield, or TORCH, but later renamed LEX, for Lunar Reentry Experiment, the proposed flight test program is presented along with the driving requirements and descriptions of the vehicle and the TPS instrumentation suite slated to conduct in-flight measurements