We report results of a recently-completed pre-Formulation Phase study of SPIRIT, a candidate NASA Origins Probe mission. SPIRIT is a spatial and spectral interferometer with an operating wavelength range 25 -400 µm. SPIRIT will provide sub-arcsecond resolution images and spectra with resolution R = 3000 in a 1 arcmin field of view to accomplish three primary scientific objectives: (1) Learn how planetary systems form from protostellar disks, and how they acquire their inhomogeneous composition; (2) characterize the family of extrasolar planetary systems by imaging the structure in debris disks to understand how and where planets of different types form; and (3) learn how high-redshift galaxies formed and merged to form the present-day population of galaxies. Observations with SPIRIT will be complementary to those of the James Webb Space Telescope and the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter Array. All three observatories could be operational contemporaneously.

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Recent advances in real-time 3-D graphics and graphical user interface (GUI) technologies enable development of advanced operator interfaces for telerobotic systems. In particular, we have employed preview/predictive displays with calibrated graphics overlay and X/Motif-based GUI's for efficient and reliable ground-controlled space telerobotic servicing under communication time delay. High fidelity preview/predictive displays have been achieved by an operator-interactive camera calibration and object localization technique that enables reliable matching of simulated 3-D graphics models with the remote site task environment. The developed graphical operator interface supporting telerobotic operations with high-fidelity preview/predictive displays have been successfully utilized in demonstrating a groundsimulated ORU (Orbital Replacement Unit) changeout remote servicing task by remotely operating a robot arm at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under a varying time delay of up to several seconds. The positioning alignment accuracy achieved by this technique with four camera views was about mm for a tool insertion in the servicing task.

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