VML 3.0 Reactive Rendezvous and Docking Sequencer for Mars Sample Return

Grasso, Christopher A.

doi:10.2514/6.2014-1840

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…These applications include autonomous comet / asteroid touch-and-go technical demonstrations 12 , lunar landing simulation, halo orbit emulation with hardware in the loop, and autonomous rendezvous and docking for a Mars sample return mission 16 . Additional applications using state machines include coordinating complex instrument inter-activities on the Resource Prospector Mission, surveying for water on the moon and demonstrating oxygen production from regolith 15 .…”

Section: B Reactive Sequencing and State Machine Expert Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight-Ground Integration - The Future of Operability

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Grasso

2014

SpaceOps 2014 Conference

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Flight and ground integration is an ongoing challenge in the development of deep space mission operations systems. Separate development teams and schedules exacerbate the problem. Enhancing the operability of the flight and ground interactions has proven to be a strategy that reduces both cost and risk. One of the first areas to be addressed was the commanding and sequencing system. VML (Virtual Machine Language) sequencing was developed to improve operability and has now been used as the sequencing flight software on fifteen NASA deep-space missions, most recently on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. In conjunction with the NASA SBIR "Reactive Rendezvous and Docking Sequencer", VML 3.0 has been enhanced to include synchronizable state machines, object-oriented element organization, and sophisticated matrix/vector operations. These improvements allow VML scripts to perform much of the work that formerly would have required expensive flight software development. Sophisticated high-level VML state machines provide autonomous management of critical spacecraft operations, and perform replanning activities to take advantage of targets of opportunity. VML state machines replace sequences with reactive logic constructs capable of autonomous decision making within their prescribed domain. These new capabilities in VML 3.0 continue a long tradition of enhancing the flight-ground interface in simple and powerful ways. I. Mission Operations DomainThe mission operations domain of a deep space mission encompasses both the development of the system used to carry out operations, and the conduct of the operations phase of the mission itself. A Mission Operations System (MOS) is comprised of a Ground Data System (GDS), which includes the software, hardware, networks, facilities of the domain, plus the MOS teams, policies, processes, procedures, and training. Figure 1 shows the basic operations functions carried out for a deep space mission.It is essential to view deep space mission operations as a function of the mission objectives. Seen in this way, operations can be thought of as consisting of three items, in priority order:1. Collect science data (to achieve the mission objectives) 2. Operate the flight system (to collect science) 3. Build, test, and deliver the flight system to orbit (in order to have a platform to operate) In order for operations personnel achieve the second priority, they must successfully operate the flight system to collect science data. The more operable the flight system, the simpler and more reliable the operations team's job becomes. During development, however, it is easy to lose sight of mission objectives in the drive to build and launch the flight system. What may be lost is a focus on the achievement of the mission objectives that can only be accomplished via operation of that system. Operable flight systems are more likely to reach the objectives, and keep cost and risk down as well.

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Section: B Reactive Sequencing and State Machine Expert Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight-Ground Integration - The Future of Operability

Lock

Grasso

2014

SpaceOps 2014 Conference

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

FlightGround Integration: The Future of Operability

Grasso

Lock

2015

Space Operations: Innovations, Inventions, and Discoveries

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Spitzer Resurrector Mission: Advantages for Space Weather Research and Operations

Usman,

Fazio,

Grasso

et al. 2024

Aerospace

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In 1979, NASA established the Great Observatory program, which included four telescopes (Hubble, Compton, Chandra, and Spitzer) to explore the Universe. The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 into solar orbit, gradually drifting away from the Earth. Spitzer was operated very successfully until 2020 when NASA terminated observations and placed the telescope in safe mode. In 2028, the U.S. Space Force has the opportunity to demonstrate satellite servicing by telerobotically reactivating Spitzer for astronomical observations, and in a separate experiment, carry out novel Space Weather research and operations capabilities by observing solar Coronal Mass Ejections. This will be accomplished by launching a small satellite, the Spitzer-Resurrector Mission (SRM), to rendezvous with Spitzer in 2030, positioning itself around it, and serving as a relay for recommissioning and science operations. A sample of science goals for Spitzer is briefly described, but the focus of this paper is on the unique opportunity offered by SRM to demonstrate novel Space Weather research and operations capabilities.

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VML 3.0 Reactive Rendezvous and Docking Sequencer for Mars Sample Return

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Flight-Ground Integration - The Future of Operability

Flight-Ground Integration - The Future of Operability

FlightGround Integration: The Future of Operability

Spitzer Resurrector Mission: Advantages for Space Weather Research and Operations

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