X-ray pulsar navigation algorithms and testbed for SEXTANT

Author

Winternitz, Luke M. B. ; Hassouneh, Munther A. ; Mitchell, Jason W. ; Valdez, Jennifer E. ; Price, Samuel R. ; Semper, Sean R. ; Yu, Wayne H. ; Ray, Paul S. ; Wood, Kent S. ; Arzoumanian, Zaven ; Gendreau, Keith C.

Author_Institution

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

fYear

2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

14

Abstract

The Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) is a NASA funded technology-demonstration. SEXTANT will, for the first time, demonstrate real-time, on-board X-ray Pulsar-based Navigation (XNAV), a significant milestone in the quest to establish a GPS-like navigation capability available throughout our Solar System and beyond. This paper describes the basic design of the SEXTANT system with a focus on core models and algorithms, and the design and continued development of the GSFC X-ray Navigation Laboratory Testbed (GXLT) with its dynamic pulsar emulation capability. We also present early results from GXLT modeling of the combined NICER X-ray timing instrument hardware and SEXTANT flight software algorithms.

Keywords

aerospace testing; solar system; space vehicle navigation; GPS-like navigation capability; GSFC X-ray navigation laboratory testbed; GXLT; NASA funded technology-demonstration; SEXTANT flight software algorithms; SEXTANT system; XNAV; combined NICER X-ray timing instrument hardware; dynamic pulsar emulation capability; real-time on-board X-ray pulsar-based navigation algorithm; solar system; station explorer for X-ray timing and navigation technology; Biographies; Biological system modeling; Instruments; NASA; Navigation; Pollution measurement; Software;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2015 IEEE

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-5379-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2015.7118936

Filename

7118936