Robotic refueling and servicing could extend a satellites lifespan, potentially offering. Robotic refueling mission rrm wick pressurization testing shuttle tile works well as a fluid wick for ground demo ln2 wicks up 2 cm into shuttle tile material in 1 g wick height. The office is also investigating a robotic servicing mission. Jill mcguire nasagoddard space flight center the second international workshop on onorbit satellite servicing may 30 th, 2012. Iss daily summary report 0930 15 synchronized position hold, engage, reorient, experimental satellites universal docking port spheresudp. Nasas robotic refueling mission 3 rrm3 builds on the first two phases of international space station technology demonstrations that tested tools, technologies and techniques to refuel and. From technical to ethicalfrom concept generation to. Use of nasa logos, insignia and emblems is restricted per u. Edward cheung, an engineer at nasas goddard space flight center in greenbelt, maryland, performs a fit check of. Dextre the canadian robotic handyman on board the international space station, has done several repair and maintenance jobs to date, as well as the robotic refueling mission technology demonstration, when he became the first robot to refuel a mock satellite in space. Conclusion 499 references 500 chapter27 efficacy ofthe dawnvesta science plan 501 carol a. As the space shuttle program came to an end the final mission of atlantis to the international space station iss delivered the robotic refueling mission rrm platform which in november will be used to demonstrate and test tools, technologies, and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. The event presented stakeholders with a potential material set of solutions, proof of concept, and demonstrated the technical feasibility of an autonomous robot refueling. Advance robotic servicing technology by demonstrating the use of innovative robotic tools and techniques to remotely manipulate standard satellite interfaces that were not designed to be manipulated robotically 5 rrm is a multiphased international space station iss investigation.
Every servicing mission that we have investigated and executed beginning with the solar max repair, continuing through the hubble space telescope servicing missions, and now developing a concept for a geo servicer has brought us to a recognition of specific aids that would have made the task cooperative, and therefore easier. Robotic technologies for inspace assembly operations core. Robotic refueling mission september2011 andongoing 495 viii. Expedition 43 commander terry virts worked with ground teams to prepare the airlock in the japanese experiment module and extend the slide table carrying the new robotic refueling mission 2 rrm2 hardware.
These uavs are typically small, commercially available quadrotors or helicopters, which have the ability to perform fully autonomous missions for a variety of applications such as aerial surveillance. Pdf at present, the space station onorbit service is still rapidly developing, and onorbit refueling operation has not been fully realized. Paving the way for in space robotic refueling and repair presented by. A navy sea fox vessel was used as the target vehicle for a series of tests in the wave tank at the us army aberdeen test center while the robotic refueling system was mounted to the side of this large tank. Thermal design considerations of the robotic refueling mission rrm teri h. Rrm robotic refueling mission rrm module launch phase 1 tasks phase 2 tasks testing in 2016 mission end references. Gregory1 nasa goddard space flight center, greenbelt, md, 20771 miles newman2 atk space, beltsville, md, 20705 the robotic refueling mission rrm is a flight demonstration of the tasks required to perform robotic refueling of orbiting spacecraft. Satellite servicing capabilities office, goddard space flight center.
Refueling spacecraft throughout long duration missions, just like refilling your gas tank on a road trip, would leave additional room for other missioncritical. Pdf development of a novel endeffector for an onorbit. Index terms onorbit servicing, robotic refueling mission, endeffector, imitating human hand, collision dynamics. Assembly instructions for robotic refueling mission rrm sgant antenna enhanced oru temporary platform eotp small fine arm sfa robotic refueling mission rrm the rrm was brought to the iss by space shuttle mission sts5 and it was placed on the elc4 pallet, which is located on the bottom part of the s3s4 truss segment of. Nasas groundbreaking robotic refueling mission rrm. Within the next 5 to 10 years, routine spacecraft refueling could become a reality, and spacecraft low on propellant could avoid decommissioning and enjoy extended lifetimes. Jill mcguire, robotic refueling mission project manager. These are not necessarily in the public domain materials based on hubble space telescope data may be ed if they are not explicitly produced by the stsci. In 2009 nasa initiated the robotic refueling mission rrm, aiming to use dextre for performing robotic servicing tasks in orbit, including refueling and maintenance 16. If youre built to be modular and upgradable, as nasas robotic refueling mission is, then the answer is yes. Rrm satellite missions eoportal directory esa earth online. Nasas robotic refueling mission rrm began on the international space station with the canadian dextre robot and rrm tools last march 7. It demonstrates technology needed to refuel a satellite in space. Integrating the sensors and actuators built into the mechanical body, the motions are realized with the computer software to execute the desired task.
The event presented stakeholders with a potential material set of solutions, proof of concept, and demonstrated the technical feasibility of an autonomous robot refueling operation. It shall perform cryogenic liquid methane transfer as well as xenon gas transfer and will be launched in 2018. Robotics controllers on the ground then used the canadarm2 robotic arm to install the new task boards that will be used for the experiment. Robotic refueling mission begins with space station robotics 7 march 2012 during the rrm gas fittings removal task, mission operators direct dextre to use the wire cutter tool to cut. This will be transported to space station on sts5 in june 2011.
Using simple commands, including stop, fetch, and heel, the lead soldier controls the robot without being distracted from the mission at hand. The existing mining refueling process faces many challenges and risks to workers on a daily basis. Thermal design considerations of the robotic refueling. The robotic refueling mission is a nasa technology demonstration mission with equipment launches in both 2011 and 20 to increase the technological maturity of inspace rocket propellant transfer technology by testing a wide variety of potential propellant transfer hardware, of both new and existing satellite designs. The robotic vehicle follows the lead soldier from a given distance, utilizing technology developed and patented by iai. Rrm3 is an external iss experiment designed to demonstrate the tools and techniques needed to. The robotic refueling mission was an essential bridge between the manned servicing carried out in the hubble servicing missions and robotic servicing that will be demonstrated in. This mission demonstrates robotic technologies to refuel, repair, and otherwise service satellites using various tools. Forward arming and refueling point operations the farp mission is to provide fuel and ordnance necessary for highly mobile and flexible helicopter and fixedwing operations.
The most immediate activity of the nasa satellite servicing capabilities office is the robotic refueling mission on the international space station. Rrm is a multiphased iss investigation, a joint effort of nasa and csa canadian space agency utilizing. This is a tedious, timely task that must be overseen onsite and ultimately causes lost production abilities as fuel farms. Rrm latest status in 2015, rrm is embarking on a new set of operations that might not be connected with robotic refueling but have everything to do with extending and enhancing the operational lives of existent and future satellites. Rrm3 will demonstrate several key technologies for satellite servicing including cryogenic fluid transfer and refueling technologies. Assembly instructions for robotic refueling mission rrm.
And while the project is a joint effort between nasa and the canadian space agency. Motiv is developing and delivering state of the art motion control electronics for use on this mission. The projects goal is to enable army aviation manned rotarywing aircraft to address current and emerging range and endurance requirements, as well as refueling. Toward a similar goal, nasa launched an experiment called the robotic refueling mission to the international space station on the shuttle atlantis in july. Robotic satellite refueling presents an ambitious but achievable list of tasksespecially since the satellites in geosynchronous earth orbit were never designed to be serviced in space. Through ratierfigeac, the unit also produces cockpit controls and provides door dampers, propeller and rotor brake systems. Polanskey, jet propulsion laboratory, california institute oftechnology, pasadena, california. Technological progress in space operations autonomy and robotics will disrupt the traditional paradigm of spacecraft design, acquisition, launch, operations, and maintenance. Robotic refueling mission scientific visualization. Nasa completes 1st robot servicing demo at space station. Robotic refueling is an automated refueling system that uses topoftheline vision sensing and detection systems to help guide the nozzle to the trucks fuel tank. Rrm paves the way for a future robotic servicing mission by demonstrating that a remotecontrolled robot can overcome these obstacles to service and refuel a satellite on.
For this project, the refueling system was designed for the small, batterypowered ascending technologies pelican uav. When in place, this system significantly increases onthejob project flexibility while also solving cost, productivity, and safety challenges. Cryogenic autogenous pressurization for robotic refueling. Using the hightech test bed of the international space station, rrm is demonstrating the tools, technologies, and techniques that would get the job done. The robotic refueling mission is an effort by nasa and the canadian space agency to demonstrate robotic satellite servicing capabilities in a space environment. Srb ignition can occur only when a manual lock pin.
A space robotic system also referred to as space manipulator or space robot for an oos mission typically consists of three major components. Iss daily summary report 093015 iss onorbit status. The trucks spend a lot of time driving to manual, supervised refueling stations. Concept demonstration explores robotic aviation refueling. A spacecraftmanipulator servicing vehicle illustrated in fig. Introduction goddard space flight center designed payload designed to store 50 liters of liquid methane on orbit with zero boil off intended to perform cryogenic transfer in orbit.
Iss robotic refueling mission problematic for mda spaceq. From the international space station, rrm3 will demonstrate cuttingedge technologies to store and transfer liquid methane in space. The dextre robot will help affix nasas robotic refueling mission experiment to the international space stations express logistics carrier4. Robotic refueling mission 3 rrm3 edward cheung, an engin. The space bot is now poised to claim a first for robotkind. Robotic refueling mission 3 testing timelapse youtube. Nasas robotic refueling mission rrm is an international space station iss investigation that demonstrates and tests the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel and repair satellites in space, especially satellites that were not designed to be serviced. Rrm module launch phase 1 tasks phase 2 tasks testing in 2016 mission end. Robotic refueling mission philosophy rrm demonstrations create the foundation for future inspace robotic servicing missions as well as advancing space robotic capabilities leading to gateway and the moon. Rrm is a small module that is attached to the international space station and holds equipment necessary for several tasks that are needed to practice servicing operations in space using.
Goddard robotic refueling mission3 motiv space systems. Robotic refueling mission 3 rrm3 by nasa goddard space flight center 9 1 robotic refueling mission 3 rrm3 by nasa goddard space flight center. Development of a novel endeffector for an onorbit robotic. Robotworx robofuel for automated robotic refueling. Ssrms space station remote manipulator system or canadarm2 and spdm special purpose dexterous manipulator or dextre. Robotic technologies for inspace assembly operations. The first phase of the mission was successfully completed in 20. Robotic refueling mission spaceflight101 international. Robotic refueling mission 3 completes crucial series of.
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