Title :
EO-1 formation flying using AutoConTM
Author :
Conkey, David E. ; Dell, Gregory T. ; Good, Susan M. ; Bristow, John
Author_Institution :
AI Solutions Inc., Lanham, MD, USA
Abstract :
In the era of faster, better, and cheaper, satellite on-orbit operations is a continued area of opportunity for reducing mission costs and enabling new science collection through automation. When a ground operation is supporting multiple spacecraft in a formation, the need for automation to perform mission design and maneuver planning operations is magnified; without it, some missions are cost prohibitive. A partnership of AI Solutions, Inc. and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration´s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a maneuver planning automation tool called AutoConTM NASA is using AutoConTM to validate and demonstrate the automation of maneuver planning for the formation flying of the Earth Observing -1 (EO-1) satellite with the Landsat-7 satellite. Originally developed as a ground system tool, AutoConTM has been scaled to fit on-board the EO-1 flight computer. The flight version of AutoConTM plans maneuvers based on formation flying algorithms developed by GSFC, JPL, and other industry partners. In its fully autonomous mode, an AutoConTM planned maneuver will be executed on-board the satellite without intervention from the ground. This paper describes how AutoConTM automates maneuver planning for the formation flying constraints of the EO-1 mission. AutoConTM was modified in a number of ways to automate the maneuver planning on-board the satellite. This paper describes how the interface and functionality of AutoConTM were implemented to support the on-board system, including the implementation of a GPS data smoother to produce accurate spacecraft states for maneuver planning. The use of AutoConTM as a completely autonomous onboard system will be implemented in phases. This paper presents the modes built into the system that will allow incrementally phasing in the autonomous functions. A number of safeguards have been designed in both AutoConTM and the interfacing systems to alleviate the potential of mission-impacting anomalies from the on-board autonomous system
Keywords :
aerospace control; economics; fault tolerance; graphical user interfaces; planning; space vehicle electronics; AutoCon; EO-1 flight computer; EO-1 formation flying; GPS data; GUI; NASA; autonomous onboard system; interfacing systems; maneuver planning; mission costs; multiple spacecraft; safety; satellite on-orbit operations; Artificial intelligence; Costs; Design automation; Earth; Global Positioning System; NASA; Remote sensing; Satellites; Space missions; Space vehicles;
Conference_Titel :
Aerospace Conference Proceedings, 2000 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Big Sky, MT
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5846-5
DOI :
10.1109/AERO.2000.879275