Smart SPHERES: ISS Software upgrade

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 38 flight engineer, conducting a session with a pair of bowling-ball-sized free-flying satellites known as Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) aboard the International Space Station. 

Credit: NASA

Smart devices, such as tablets and phones, increasingly are an essential part of everyday life on Earth. The same can be said for life off-planet aboard the International Space Station.

From astronaut tweets to Google+ Hangouts, our reliance on these mobile and social technologies means equipment and software upgrades are an everyday occurrence, like buying a new pair of shoes to replace a pair of well-worn ones.

That's why the Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., with funding from the Technology Demonstration Missions Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, is working to upgrade the smartphones currently equipped on a trio of volleyball-sized free-flying satellites on the space station called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES).

In 2011 on the final flight of space shuttle Atlantis, NASA sent the first smartphone to the station and mounted it to SPHERES.

Each SPHERES satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and navigation equipment as well as expansion ports for additional sensors and appendages, such as cameras and wireless power transfer systems. This is where the SPHERES' smartphone upgrades are attached.

By connecting a smartphone, the SPHERES become Smart SPHERES. They now are more intelligent because they have built-in cameras to take pictures and video, sensors to help conduct inspections, powerful computing units to make calculations and Wi-Fi connections to transfer data in real time to the computers aboard the space station and at mission control.

"With this latest upgrade, we believe the Smart SPHERES will be a step closer to becoming a 'mobile assistant' for the astronauts," said DW Wheeler, lead engineer with SGT Inc. in the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames.

"This ability for Smart SPHERES to independently perform inventory and environmental surveys on the space station can free up time for astronauts and mission control to perform science experiments and other work."

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum puts one of the Smart SPHERES through its paces during Expedition 29 aboard the International Space Station. 

The addition of the smartphone helped turn the SPHERES into mobile data acquisition assistants. 

Credit: NASA

Later this year, NASA will launch a Project Tango prototype Android smartphone developed by Google's Advanced Technology and Projects division of Mountain View, Calif.

The prototype phone includes an integrated custom 3-D sensor, which means the device is capable of tracking its own position and orientation in real time as well as generating a full 3-D model of the environment.

"The Project Tango prototype incorporates a particularly important feature for the Smart SPHERES, a 3-D sensor," said Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames.

"This allows the satellites to do a better job of flying around on the space station and understanding where exactly they are."

"This is no ordinary upgrade – we've customized cutting-edge commercial technologies to help us answer questions like: How can robots help humans live and work in space? What will happen when humans explore other worlds with robots by their side?

Can we make this happen sooner, rather than later?" said Fong.

"Building on our experience in controlling robots on the space station, one day we'll be able to apply what we've learned and have humans and robots working together everywhere from Earth's orbit, to the moon, asteroids and Mars."

NASA LADEE: Moon Dust Probe Gets Longer Lunar Life

Artist’s concept of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft in orbit above the moon as dust scatters light during the lunar sunset.

Credit: NASA Ames / Dana Berry

NASA's newest lunar probe now has a longer lease on life, giving it more time to investigate the mysteries of moon dust as it orbits Earth's natural satellite.

Space agency official have granted the LADEE spacecraft (short for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) a 28-day mission extension.

Scientists will use the additional time to make different measurements of lunar dust in the moon's thin atmosphere from a lower orbit than LADEE has used before, NASA representatives said.

Rick Elphic

"The science team has already established a baseline of data for the tenuous lunar atmosphere, or exosphere, and dust impacts," Rick Elphic, LADEE project scientist, said in a statement.

"One cool thing about this extension is that we plan to fly LADEE at only a few kilometers above the lunar surface. This will be much lower than we’ve been before."



LADEE launched to the moon on Sept. 6, 2013 on a mission to investigate the nature of moon dust and solve a long-standing mystery dating back to before the Apollo program.

Scientists are trying to uncover what caused a glow Apollo astronauts saw on the lunar horizon before sunrise.

Researchers expect that magnetically charged dust in the moon's exosphere is to blame for the unexpected glimmering. However, LADEE is designed to collect more data on the subject.

NASA LADEE lunar probe unveiled

The LADEE spacecraft awaits spin balance testing, conducted to ensure stability during flight, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. 

LADEE is slated to liftoff from Wallops on Sept. 5, 2013. 

Credit: NASA/Patrick Black

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Observatory has arrived at the launch site on the Eastern Shore of Virginia at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island and is now in the midst of weeks of performance testing to ensure it is ready for liftoff in early September.

The LADEE lunar orbiting probe will be the first planetary science mission ever launched from NASA Wallops and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).

It will soar to space atop a solid fueled Minotaur V rocket on its maiden flight.

LADEE will blaze a brilliant trail to the Moon during a spectacular nighttime blastoff slated for Sept. 5, 2013 at 11:27 PM from Launch Pad 0B.

LADEE is equipped with three science instruments to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

"LADEE will investigate the moons tenuous exosphere, trace outgases like the sodium halo and lofted dust at the terminator," said Jim Green, Planetary Science Division Director at NASA HQ.

"The spacecraft has a mass spectrometer to identify the gases, a physical dust detector and an imager to look at scattered light from the dust. These processes also occur at asteroids."

"And it will also test a laser communications system that is a technology demonstrator for future planetary science missions. It communicates at 650 megabits per second," Green explained to me.

Credit: NASA

The couch sized 844 pound (383 kg) robotic explorer was assembled at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field Calif., and is a cooperative project with NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland.

The spacecraft was then shipped cross country by a dedicated truck inside a specially-designed shipping container – blanketed with protective nitrogen – which insulated the spacecraft from temperature, moisture, bumps in the road and more than a few crazy drivers.

The first leg of LADEE's trip to the Moon took 5 days. The trans lunar leg will take 30 days.

It's standard practice that whenever space probes are moved by ground transportation that they are accompanied by a caravan that includes a lead scout vehicle to ensure safe road conditions and followed by engineers monitoring the health and environmental storage conditions.

Technicians are now engaged in a lengthy series of performance tests to confirm that LADEE was not damaged during the road trip and that all spacecraft systems are functioning properly.

"One important preparation about to begin is spin-balancing LADEE," says Butler Hine, LADEE Project Manager.

"During this procedure, the spacecraft is mounted to a spin table and rotated at a high-speed to make sure it is perfectly balanced for launch."

After all spacecraft systems pass the performance tests, LADEE will be fueled, encapsulated and moved to the Wallops Island launch pad later this summer for mating with the five stage Minotaur V booster stack.

"I'm excited about the night launch because people up and down the Atlantic seacoast will be able to see it," Green told me.

NASA AMES: ISS Astronaut Drives K10 Robotic Rovers on Earth

Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

NASA's K10 rover at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field,Calif., performs a surface survey with its cameras and laser system, and then deployed a simulated polymide antenna while being controlled by an astronaut in space during a June 2013 test.

NASA Unveils FETTSS Website with Spectacular Solar System Images

NASA has made available for the public a new online collection of images of our solar system and locations on Earth where astrobiology researchers travel to conduct field research.

Called "From Earth to the Solar System," or FETTSS, the images showcase the excitement of planetary exploration and the journey to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system, and the search for life elsewhere. Images may be downloaded and displayed with the proper photo credit.

The site is a collaboration between NASA Ames Research Center's Astrobiology Institute in Moffett Field, Calif., and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass. The collection is being released to celebrate NASA's Year of the Solar System - a time of unprecedented planetary science mission activity. The celebration runs from October 2010 through August 2012.

The online collection will allow interested individuals, groups and organizations to plan their own solar system exhibits. A NASA-sponsored traveling version of the collection is planned for display at several U.S. locations.

This summer, the exhibit will be featured at various locations around the world. These exhibitions are made possible through a partnership with the National Center for Earth and Space Science's "Voyage National Program," Capitol Heights, Md.

For more information and to become involved with the new site go here

NASA AMES Ice Bridge Programme

Monitoring the state of the ice caps is particularly important.

That’s why NASA is keeping a close eye on the ice caps. But this time, the agency is doing so right here from earth. SmartPlanet interviewed Steve Hipskind, division chief of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, about NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge mission.

NASA Cassini: Images of Saturn's Rings

From our vantage point on Earth, Saturn may look like a peaceful orb with rings worthy of a carefully raked Zen garden, but NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been shadowing the gas giant long enough to see that the rings are a rough and tumble roller derby.

It has also revealed that the planet itself roils with strange weather and shifting patterns of charged particles.

Two review papers to be published in the March 19 issue of the journal Science synthesize Cassini's findings since arriving at Saturn in 2004.

"This rambunctious system gives us a new feel for how an early solar system might have behaved," said Linda Spilker, a planetary scientist and the new Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"This kind of deep, rich data can only be collected by an orbiting spacecraft, and we look forward to the next seven years around Saturn bringing even more surprises."

In the paper describing the elegant mess of activity in the rings, lead author Jeff Cuzzi, Cassini's interdisciplinary scientist for rings and dust who is based at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., describes how Cassini has shown us that collisions are routine and chunks of ice leave trails of debris in their wakes.

Spacecraft data have also revealed how small moons play tug-of-war with ring material and how bits of rubble that would otherwise join together to become moons are ultimately ripped apart by the gravitational pull that Saturn exerts.

During equinox, the period when sunlight hits the rings exactly edge-on, Cassini witnessed rings that are normally flat - about tens of meters (yards) thick - being flipped up as high as the Rocky Mountains.

The spacecraft has also shown that the rings are composed mostly of water ice, with a mysterious reddish contaminant that could be rust or small organic molecules similar to those found in red vegetables on Earth.

"It has been amazing to see the rings come to life before our very eyes, changing even as we watch, being colorful and taking on a tangible, 3-D nature," Cuzzi said. "The rings were still a nearly unstructured object in even the best telescopes when I was a grad student, but Cassini has brought us an intimate familiarity with them."

To read the full article click here

More Cassini information available, at http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/.