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ItemSpacecraft Relative Navigation Using Appearance Matching and Sensor Fusion(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-02) McBryde, Christopher R. ; Lightsey, E. GlennIn this research, the task of object recognition and relative navigation is accomplished by fusing visible spectrum and infrared images. The appearance matching technique is briefly explained and it is shown how it can be extended to infrared images. A series of tests are performed to demonstrate the object recognition and pose estimation capabilities of the system in the visible and infrared spectra. It is also shown how the fusion of both types of images can provide greater accuracy and robustness in relative navigation than either visual or infrared images alone. Additionally, a simulation environment software tool has been developed to facilitate the creation of training images and to perform software-in-the-loop verification.
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ItemPerformance Characterization of a Cold Gas Propulsion System for a Deep Space Cubesat(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-02) Sorgenfrei, Matt ; Stevenson, Terry ; Lightsey, E. GlennOne challenge facing the developers of CubeSats that operate in deep space is that magnetic torque rods cannot be used for unloading the momentum stored in reaction wheels. Rather, this task is performed by a system of thrusters. While a wide variety of attitude control thrusters have been deployed on larger spacecraft, there remain very few examples of such systems being used on CubeSats. The upcoming BioSentinel mission, under development at NASA Ames Research Center, is an example of a CubeSat-class spacecraft that requires thrusters for momentum management. A new 3D-printed cold gas thruster was developed for this application. This paper will describe the test campaign that was completed for the engineering development unit (EDU), and will present a variety of preliminary results describing the performance characteristics of the thruster. The test campaign for the propulsion system EDU was carried out in partnership with members of the In-Space Propulsion Branch at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.
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ItemReference Ground Station Design for University Satellite Missions with Varying Communication Requirements(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-01) Choi, Thomas ; Stevenson, Terry H. ; Lightsey, E. GlennThe Georgia Institute of Technology will support five small satellite missions within a two year frame (2017 to 2019). Each satellite has different communication requirements because the mission requirements and hardware components are different for every mission. This paper discusses a common ground station architecture which will support every small satellite mission from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech will use a network of three different ground stations, utilizing commercial off the shelf (COTS) operations software, software defined radios (SDR), and open source tracking software. This paper describes the Georgia Tech ground station and how challenges were addressed to meet the multi-mission communication requirements.
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ItemDesign and Characterization of a 3D-Printed Attitude Control Thruster for an Interplanetary 6U CubeSat(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-08) Stevenson, Terry ; Lightsey, E. GlennThis paper describes the design and testing of a miniature, 3D-printed cold gas attitude control thruster for the NASA Ames Research Center BioSentinel mission, an interplanetary small spacecraft that will be launched on the Em-1 flight of SLS. Earth-orbiting small satellites typically use magnetic torque rods for momentum unloading, but these cannot be employed in interplanetary space due to the lack of a strong external magnetic field. ACS thrusters can be used to unload reaction wheels or used directly for attitude control, regardless of the external environment. By 3D printing the propellant tanks, pipes, and nozzles into a single component, the complexity and cost of the thruster are reduced. The use of 3D printing also allows the thruster to better utilize its allocated volume to store more propellant. This is especially important for strictly volume-constrained spacecraft, such as CubeSats. The thruster has seven nozzles that are printed directly into the surface of the structure. The BioSentinel thruster has been tested at the Georgia Institute of Technology by the Space Systems Design Lab. The thrust of each nozzle has been measured to be approximately 50 milliNewtons, with a specific impulse of approximately 31 seconds.
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ItemConsiderations for Operation of a Deep Space Nanosatellite Propulsion System(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-02) Sorgenfrei, Matt ; Stevenson, Terry ; Lightsey, E. GlennA distinguishing feature of deep space CubeSats is that they require some form of propulsion system, either for orbital maneuvering operations, spacecraft momentum management, or both. However, the comparatively short lifecycle for these missions, combined with the mass and volume restrictions that are attendant with the CubeSat form factor, make the integration of propulsion systems one of the highest-risk aspects of the entire mission. There are a limited number of facilities around the country that can support accurate testing of thruster systems that generate milli-Newtons of thrust, and the cost associated with handling and transportation of traditional propellants can be prohibitive for many CubeSat mission budgets. As a result, many deep space CubeSats are considering propulsion systems that are either at a fairly low technology readiness level or which will be integrated after a truncated test campaign. This paper will describe the propulsion system architecture selected for the BioSentinel mission, a six-unit CubeSat under development at NASA Ames Research Center. Bio-Sentinel requires a propulsion system to support detumble and momentum management operations, and this paper will discuss the integration of a third-party propulsion system with an Ames-built CubeSat, as well as the test campaign that is underway for both quality control and requirements verification purposes.
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ItemThe CuSPED Mission: CubeSat for GNSS Sounding of the Ionosphere-Plasmasphere Electron Density(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-01) Gross, Jason N. ; Kessee, Amy M. ; Christian, John A. ; Gu, Yu ; Scime, Earl ; Komjathy, Attila ; Lightsey, E. Glenn ; Pollock, Craig J.The CubeSat for GNSS Sounding of Ionosphere-Plasmasphere Electron Density (CuSPED) is a 3U CubeSat mission concept that has been developed in response to the NASA Heliophysics program's decadal science goal of the determining of the dynamics and coupling of the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere and their response to solar and terrestrial inputs. The mission was formulated through a collaboration between West Virginia University, Georgia Tech, NASA GSFC and NASA JPL, and features a 3U CubeSat that hosts both a miniaturized space capable Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver for topside atmospheric sounding, along with a Thermal Electron Capped Hemi- spherical Spectrometer (TECHS) for the purpose of in situ electron precipitation measurements. These two complimentary measurement techniques will provide data for the purpose of constraining ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling models and will also enable studies of the local plasma environment and spacecraft charging; a phenomenon which is known to lead to significant errors in the measurement of low-energy, charged species from instruments aboard spacecraft traversing the ionosphere. The CUSPED mission has been proposed, and this paper provides an overview of the concept including its science motivation and implementation.
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ItemCubeSat Autonomous Rendevous Simulation(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-01) Fear, Andrew J. ; Lightsey, E. GlennAn autonomous mission manager is being developed for use on small satellites, including CubeSats, in proximity operations applications where one satellite is near another cooperating spacecraft. The mission manager performs mission event sequencing/resequencing and coordination between the autonomous rendezvous and docking algorithm and the maneuvering satellite while also providing guidance, navigation, and control automation, contingency diagnosis and response, and abort condition determination and execution. In the case of small satellites, limited sensing, actuation, and computing resources require special consideration when creating a mission manager for these vehicles. A detailed simulation tool was created that allows existing guidance, navigation, and control laws to be incorporated into an overall mission manager structure. A representative approach trajectory for a spacecraft from 1 km to 1 m to a cooperating vehicle is used to demonstrate performance. Spacecraft sensor and actuator hardware is simulated so that imperfect knowledge and control may exercise the mission manager algorithms. The system is designed to run in real-time on a standard low power microprocessor that could be used on a CubeSat or similar small satellite.
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ItemDecision Analysis Applied to Small Satellite Risk Management(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-01) Gamble, Katharine B. ; Lightsey, E. GlennRisk management plans improve the likelihood of mission success by identifying potential failures early and planning mitigation methods to circumvent any issues. However, in the aerospace industry to date, risk management plans have typically only been used for larger and more expensive satellites, and have rarely been applied to lower cost satellites such as CubeSats. Furthermore, existing risk management plans typically require experienced personnel and significant time to run the analysis. The CubeSat Decision Advisor tool uses components of decision theory such as decision trees, multi-attribute utility theory, and utility elicitation methods to determine the expected utility of a mitigation technique alternative. Based on the user’s value preference system, assessment of success probabilities, and resources required for a given mitigation technique, the tool suggests the course of action which will normatively yield the most value for the cost, people, and time resources required. This research creates a risk management software tool never before available, and yet easily accessible and usable, for low cost small satellite missions. The target audience is primarily university labs, who could not otherwise afford expensive software packages. However, the interested parties now also include government, corporate, and international missions.