Posted on by Ken Kremer

Robotics Refueling Research Scores Huge Leap at Space Station

Canada’s Dextre robot (highlight) and NASA’s Robotic Refueling Experiment jointly performed groundbreaking robotics research aboard the ISS in March 2012. Dextre used its hands to grasp specialized work tools on the RRM for experiments to repair and refuel orbiting satellites. Credit: NASA

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A combined team of American and Canadian engineers has taken a major first step forward by successfully applying new, first-of-its-kind robotics research conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to the eventual repair and refueling of high value orbiting space satellites, and which has the potential to one day bring about billions of dollars in cost savings for the government and commercial space sectors.

Gleeful researchers from both nations shouted “Yeah !!!” – after successfully using the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment – bolted outside the ISS- as a technology test bed to demonstrate that a remotely controlled robot in the vacuum of space could accomplish delicate work tasks requiring extremely precise motion control. The revolutionary robotics experiment could extend the usable operating life of satellites already in Earth orbit that were never even intended to be worked upon.

“After dedicating many months of professional and personal time to RRM, it was a great emotional rush and a reassurance for me to see the first video stream from an RRM tool,” said Justin Cassidy in an exclusive in-depth interview with Universe Today. Cassidy is RRM Hardware Manager at the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Astronuats Install Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment during Shuttle Era's Final Spacewalk
In March 2012, RRM and Canada’s Dextre Robot jointly acccomplised fundamental leap forward in robotics research aboard the ISS. Spacewalker Mike Fossum rides on the International Space Station's robotic arm as he carries the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment. This was the final scheduled spacewalk during a shuttle mission. Credit: NASA

And the RRM team already has plans to carry out even more ambitious follow on experiments starting as soon as this summer, including the highly anticipated transfer of fluids to simulate an actual satellite refueling that could transfigure robotics applications in space – see details below !

All of the robotic operations at the station were remotely controlled by flight controllers from the ground. The purpose of remote control and robotics is to free up the ISS human crew so they can work on other important activities and conduct science experiments requiring on-site human thought and intervention.

Dextre "hangs out" in space with two Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) tools in its "hands." The RRM module is in the foreground. Credit: NASA

Over a three day period from March 7 to 9, engineers performed joint operations between NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment and the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) robotic “handyman” – the Dextre robot. Dextre is officially dubbed the SPDM or Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.

On the first day, robotic operators on Earth remotely maneuvered the 12-foot (3.7 meter) long Dextre “handyman” to the RRM experiment using the space station’s Canadian built robotic arm (SSRMS).

Dextre’s “hand” – technically known as the “OTCM” – then grasped and inspected three different specialized satellite work tools housed inside the RRM unit . Comprehensive mechanical and electrical evaluations of the Safety Cap Tool, the Wire Cutter and Blanket Manipulation Tool, and the Multifunction Tool found that all three tools were functioning perfectly.

RRM Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) experiment is equipped with integral camera and LED lights -
on display at Kennedy Space Center Press Site. Dextre robot grasped the WCT with its hands and successfully snipped 2 ultra thin wires during the March 2012 RRM experiments. Credit: Ken Kremer

“Our teams mechanically latched the Canadian “Dextre” robot’s “hand” onto the RRM Safety Cap Tool (SCT). The RRM SCT is the first on orbit unit to use the video capability of the Dextre OTCM hand,” Cassidy explained.

“At the beginning of tool operations, mission controllers mechanically drove the OTCM’s electrical umbilical forward to mate it with the SCT’s integral electronics box. When the power was applied to that interface, our team was able to see that on Goddard’s large screen TVs – the SCT’s “first light” video showed a shot of the tool within the RRM stowage bay (see photo).

Shot of the Safety Cap Tool (SCT) tool within the RRM stowage bay. Credit NASA RRM

“Our team burst into a shout out of “Yeah!” to commend this successful electrical functional system checkout.”

Dextre then carried out assorted tasks aimed at testing how well a variety of representative gas fittings, valves, wires and seals located on the outside of the RRM module could be manipulated. It released safety launch locks and meticulously cut two extremely thin satellite lock wires – made of steel – and measuring just 20 thousandths of an inch (0.5 millimeter) in diameter.

“The wire cutting event was just minutes in duration. But both wire cutting tasks took approximately 6 hours of coordinated, safe robotic operations. The lock wire had been routed, twisted and tied on the ground at the interface of the Ambient Cap and T-Valve before flight,” said Cassidy.

This RRM exercise represents the first time that the Dextre robot was utilized for a technology research and development project on the ISS, a major expansion of its capabilities beyond those of robotic maintenance of the massive orbiting outpost.

Video Caption: Dextre’s Robotic Refueling Mission: Day 2. The second day of Dextre’s most demanding mission wrapped up successfully on March 8, 2012 as the robotic handyman completed his three assigned tasks. Credit: NASA/CSA

Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) Camera View of Ambient Cap Wire Cutting. Courtesy: Justin Cassidy to Universe Today. Credit NASA RRM

Altogether the three days of operations took about 43 hours, and proceeded somewhat faster than expected because they were as close to nominal as could be expected.

“Days 1 and 2 ran about 18 hours,” said Charles Bacon, the RRM Operations Lead/Systems Engineer at NASA Goddard, to Universe Today. “Day 3 ran approximately 7 hours since we finished all tasks early. All three days baselined 18 hours, with the team working in two shifts. So the time was as expected, and actually a little better since we finished early on the last day.”

Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) Camera View of T-Valve Wire Cutting. Courtesy: Justin Cassidy to Universe Today. Credit NASA RRM

“For the last several months, our team has been setting the stage for RRM on-orbit demonstrations,” Cassidy told me. “Just like a theater production, we have many engineers behind the scenes who have provided development support and continue to be a part of the on-orbit RRM operations.”

“At each stage of RRM—from preparation, delivery, installation and now the operations—I am taken aback by the immense efforts that many diverse teams have contributed to make RRM happen. The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center teamed with Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Marshall Space Flight Center and the Canadian Space Agency control center in St. Hubert, Quebec to make RRM a reality.”

“The success of RRM operations to date on the International Space Station (ISS) using Dextre is a testament to the excellence of NASA’s many organizations and partners,” Cassidy explained.

The three day “Gas Fittings Removal task” was an initial simulation to practice techniques essential for robotically fixing malfunctioning satellites and refueling otherwise nominally operating satellites to extend to hopefully extend their performance lifetimes for several years.

Ground-based technicians use the fittings and valves to load all the essential fluids, gases and fuels into a satellites storage tanks prior to launch and which are then sealed, covered and normally never accessed again.

“The impact of the space station as a useful technology test bed cannot be overstated,” says Frank Cepollina, associate director of the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

“Fresh satellite-servicing technologies will be demonstrated in a real space environment within months instead of years. This is huge. It represents real progress in space technology advancement.”

Four more upcoming RRM experiments tentatively set for this year will demonstrate the ability of a remote-controlled robot to remove barriers and refuel empty satellite gas tanks in space thereby saving expensive hardware from prematurely joining the orbital junkyard.

The timing of future RRM operations can be challenging and depends on the availability of Dextre and the SSRMS arm which are also heavily booked for many other ongoing ISS operations such as spacewalks, maintenance activities and science experiments as well as berthing and/or unloading a steady stream of critical cargo resupply ships such as the Progress, ATV, HTV, Dragon and Cygnus.

Flexibility is key to all ISS operations. And although the station crew is not involved with RRM, their activities might be.

“While the crew itself does not rely on Dextre for their operations, Dextre ops can indirectly affect what the crew can or can’t do,” Bacon told me. “For example, during our RRM operations the crew cannot perform certain physical exercise activities because of how that motion could affect Dextre’s movement.”

Here is a list of forthcoming RRM operations – pending ISS schedule constraints:

  • Refueling (summer 2012) – After Dextre opens up a fuel valve that is similar to those commonly used on satellites today, it will transfer liquid ethanol into it through a sophisticated robotic fueling hose.

  • Thermal Blanket Manipulation (TBD 2012)- Dextre will practice slicing off thermal blanket tape and folding back a thermal blanket to reveal the contents underneath.

  • Screw (Fastener) Removal (TBD 2012)- Dextre will robotically unscrew satellite bolts (fasteners).

  • Electrical Cap Removal (TBD 2012)- Dextre will remove the caps that would typically cover a satellite’s electrical receptacle.

http://youtu.be/LboVN38ZdgU

RRM was carried to orbit inside the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis during July 2011 on the final shuttle mission (STS-135) of NASA’s three decade long shuttle program and then mounted on an external work platform on the ISS backbone truss by spacewalking astronauts. The project is a joint effort between NASA and CSA.

“This is what success is all about. With RRM, we are truly paving the way for future robotic exploration and satellite servicing,” Cassidy concluded.

Full size Mock up of RRM box and experiment tool at KSC Press Site
Equipment Tool movements and manipulations by Dextre robot are simulated by NASA Goddard RRM manager Justin Cassidy. Credit: Ken Kremer

…….
March 24 (Sat): Free Lecture by Ken Kremer at the New Jersey Astronomical Association, Voorhees State Park, NJ at 830 PM. Topic: Atlantis, the End of Americas Shuttle Program, RRM, Orion, SpaceX, CST-100 and the Future of NASA Human & Robotic Spaceflight

Posted on by Jason Major

Space Travel Is Bad For Your Eyes

From "Mars Attacks" © 1996 Warner Brothers. All rights reserved.

Microgravity — or “zero-g” as it’s sometimes called — is not a natural state for the human body to live in for prolonged periods of time. But that is what today’s astronauts are often expected to do, whether while on expedition aboard Space Station or during a future voyage to the Moon or Mars. A host of physical issues can result from the space environment, from bone loss and muscle atrophy to the risks associated from increased exposure to radiation.

Now, there’s another downside to long-term life in orbit: eye and brain damage.

A team of radiologists led by Dr. Larry A. Kramer from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston performed MRIs on 27 astronauts, measuring in each the shape and thickness of the rear of the eyes, optic nerve, optic nerve sheath and pituitary gland.

In 7 of the 27 astronauts flattening of the backs of the eyes was noted, and enlargement of the optic nerve was detected in nearly all of them — 26 out of 27.

In addition, four exhibited deformation of the pituitary gland.

The optic nerve. (NIH)

The changes to the eyes and optic nerves are similar to what are typically seen in those suffering from idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), a disorder characterized by increased pressure within the skull. Symptoms typically include headache, dizziness and nausea, and if left untreated it can produce permanent vision loss through optic nerve damage.

“The MRI findings revealed various combinations of abnormalities following both short- and long-term cumulative exposure to microgravity also seen with idiopathic intracranial hypertension,” said Dr. Kramer. “Microgravity-induced intracranial hypertension represents a hypothetical risk factor and a potential limitation to long-duration space travel.”

Chief of flight medicine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Dr. William J. Tarver, noted that although no astronaut has been kept from flight duties as a result of such risks, NASA will continue to “closely monitor the situation” and has placed the potential danger “high on its list of human risks.”

The team’s paper was accepted into the journal Radiology on Feb. 1.

“Orbital and Intracranial Effects of Microgravity: Findings at 3-T MR Imaging.” Collaborating with Dr. Kramer were Ashot Sargsyan, M.D., Khader M. Hasan, Ph.D., James D. Polk, D.O., and Douglas R. Hamilton, M.D., Ph.D.

Update Oct. 24, 2013: Further investigation by researchers at Houston Methodist and Johnson Space Center have shown more evidence of long-term eye damage after just two weeks in orbit. Read more.

Posted on by Jason Major

Playing With Water… in Space!

Expedition 30 astronaut and chemical engineer Don Pettit continues his ongoing “Science off the Sphere” series with this latest installment, in which he demonstrates some of the peculiar behaviors of thin sheets of water in microgravity. Check it out — you might be surprised how water behaves when freed from the bounds of gravity (and put under the command of a cosmic chemist!)

See more Science off the Sphere episodes here.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Photo: The Space Station Turns on its Afterburners…Or Not?

A stunning image taken by Don Pettit on board the International Space Station. Credit: Don Pettit/NASA

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Astronaut Don Pettit posted this beautiful image on his Google+ page showing a view from the space station reminiscent of science-fiction. Of course, that’s the constellation Orion off in the distance, but there’s a bit of a debate going on at Pettit’s post whether the diffusion of light seen emanating from the ISS is just light from inside the space station windows (it appears to be the Cupola) spreading out into total darkness, or if the effect is actually from a reboost of the ISS for a Debris Avoidance Maneuver that was performed around the time this image was taken.

The only clue Pettit provided is the title he gave the image, “Orion in the headlights,” which would point to the effect coming from the light shining from the Cupola windows. But the The DAM took place at 10.12 GMT (5:12 a.m. EST) on February 29, 2012 and as commenter Peter Caltner points out, “the scenic lighting effect ends exactly in [the series of images that Pettit took] at the end of the 76 seconds of the burn duration.”

The original can be found here on the NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography website, and here’s another image in the sequence.

OK, all you imaging experts out there: until Pettit gives us the real scoop, what are your thoughts?

Thanks to Elyse David for the heads up!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Amateur Astronomers Flash the Space Station

A light seen from the International Space Station, intentionally 'flashing' at astronaut Don Pettit. Picture credit: Don Pettit, courtesy of the San Antonio Astronomical Association

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We’ve seen lots of images and videos of city lights on Earth as seen from the International Space Station. But if you were down on Earth, flashing a light at the astronauts on the ISS – would they see you? The answer is now definitively, yes. Flashing the space station with beams of light as it passes overhead had never been successfully done—until this past weekend. Astronomers with the San Antonio Astronomy Association (SAAA) and the Austin Astronomy Society combined forces to flash enough light at the ISS from a dark location, as to appear greater than 0 magnitude to astronaut Don Pettit, on board the station. It turns out, they probably didn’t need the two 800 million lumen searchlights they used, but they sure put on a great show.

“It was amazing,” said Keith Little, from the SAAA. “It was almost like the space station lit up when we shined the lights on it. We had no idea it was going to be that bright.”

Image taken by Don Pettit on the ISS of lights flashing from Texas by the San Antonio Astronomy Association and the Austin Astronomy Society. Credit: Don Pettit, image couresty the SAAA

In a highly coordinated and engineered event, the astronomers flashed the two huge searchlights along with shining a one-watt blue laser at the ISS. Pettit explained some of the preparations in his blog on Fragile Oasis: “This took a number of engineering calculations, Pettit wrote. “Projected beam diameters (assuming the propagation of a Gaussian wave for the laser) and intensity at the target had to be calculated. Tracking space station’s path as it streaked across the sky was another challenge.”

Due to lags in communications to and from the ISS (“on space station we receive email drops two to three times a day,” Pettit said), the whole event took weeks to plan.

The SAAA had an “in” with Pettit, as he is friends with one of their members, astrophotographer and author Robert Reeves, and the idea for doing this was actually hatched before Pettit left for space back in November, 2011.

On March 4, about 65 amateur astronomers were in position at the Lazano Observatory in Springbranch Texas. They turned on the searchlights and waited as the ISS was set to make an appearance in the sky. At the precise time, they began flashing the two searchlights at a rate of two seconds on, then two seconds off, in a very non-technical, but effective manner.

“We had two people manually aiming the lights and two people holding plywood up over the lights, and they were manually tracking the space station,” Little told Universe Today.

Pettit, meanwhile, had no trouble seeing the flashes.

“Don sent us an email the next day,” Little said, “and he told us how bright it was, and how he could see the lights even before we started the flash system. He saw it from 10 degrees above from the west to 10 degrees from the Northeast.”

To everyone’s surprise, Pettit could also see the blue laser. “When the spotlights were off, he said he could still see the blue laser, which was shone steadily,” Little said. “I was pretty surprised that the laser light was that visible from space.”

Little ran the laser and he had three people aiding him by watching for aircraft, “It is an FAA offense to shoot an airplane with a laser, so we took all the safety precautions so that we wouldn’t take that chance,” he said.

But if you see the ISS passing overhead, don’t expect that you can flash a light and they will see it. For one thing, they probably won’t be looking for your light. But additionally, Pettit explained in a previous blog post how when we see the ISS best here on Earth, they can’t see much below.

Ironically, when earthlings can see us, we cannot see them. The glare from the full sun effectively turns our windows into mirrors that return our own ghostly reflection. This often plays out when friends want to flash space station from the ground as it travels overhead. They shine green lasers, xenon strobes, and halogen spotlights at us as we sprint across the sky. These well-wishers don’t know that we cannot see a thing during this time. The best time to try this is during a dark pass when orbital calculations show that we are passing overhead. This becomes complicated when highly collimated light from lasers are used, since the beam diameter at our orbital distance is about one kilometer, and this spot has to be tracking us while in the dark. And of course we have to be looking. As often happens, technical details complicate what seems like a simple observation. So far, all attempts at flashing the space station have failed.

But of course, now there has been a success.

Little said the two astronomy clubs put in 3 months of planning with several meetings, and thanks do the donation of the spotlights from SkyView Searchlights, the costs to do the experiment were minimal. “We had lots of volunteers who wanted to be a part of it,” he said.

Is there any science in this, beyond knowing that under the right conditions the ISS astronauts could see lights from people on Earth?

“Well, if the ISS were to somehow lose all communication, which I would find hard to believe, we just showed that we could spot the station and possibly send them messages through Morse code,” Little said.

But Little said the main thrust of the whole event was the novelty of trying to be the first to successfully shine a light at the ISS that the crew could see, as well as trying to bring astronomy to the attention of the general public.

Posted on by Jason Major

The Best ISS Video Ever? You Decide.


Is this the best video footage ever of photos taken from the International Space Station? ISS astronaut and Expedition 29 commander Mike Fossum seems to think so.

If anyone would know what a good ISS video is, he would! So watch, and decide for yourself.

Video uploaded by YouTube user bitmeizer. Made from sequences of still photographs taken by Expedition 29 crew members, the time-lapse videos have been digitally smoothed out and a soundtrack added, along with some transition effects.

Original video segments courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. See more at the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Posted on by Jason Major

A Slice of Daybreak

An orbital dawn view from the ISS on Feb. 4, 2012

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Here’s a gorgeous view from the International Space Station, taken by the Expedition 30 crew on Feb. 4, 2012 as the station passed into orbital dawn. The greens and reds of the aurora borealis shimmer above Earth’s limb beyond the Station’s solar panels as city lights shine beneath a layer of clouds.

As the ISS travels around the planet at 17,500 mph (28,163 km/h) it moves in and out of daylight, in effect experiencing dawn 16 times every day.

From that vantage point, 240 miles (386 km) above the Earth, the lights of the aurora — both northern and southern — appear below, rather than above.

See this and more images from the Space Station’s nightly flights here.

Also, here’s a time-lapse video made from photos taken by the Expedition 30 crew a few days earlier. Enjoy!

(Video courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center.)

Posted on by VirtualAstro

A Beginner’s Guide to Photographing The International Space Station (ISS)

Long Exposure Photograph of the ISS Credit: Mark Humpage

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If you have seen the International Space Station (ISS) pass over a few times with your own eyes, (here’s our guide on seeing it) you may want to have a go at photographing it.

Photographing the ISS is very worthwhile and gratifying. There are two basic methods; one being easy and the other being a little more difficult. Both methods are incredibly rewarding and good results can be obtained fairly quickly, once you have mastered the basics.

Method 1:

Discovery and ISS pass over the UK on March 7, 2011, captured by Will Gater.

You will need a DSLR camera or another type of camera which is capable taking long exposures. Incredibly important is having a tripod or somewhere you can place your camera without it getting vibrations or movement.

Find out when and where the ISS will be passing over your location and choose a part of the sky the ISS is passing through at which you can point your camera.

Experiment with your camera settings, to get colours and exposures correct beforehand and do a couple of long exposure test shots of anything from 15 to 60 seconds. You can do shorter or longer exposures but this is up to you, depending your equipment and how artistic you want to be.

This method will produce a long white streak or line, which will show the path taken of the International Space Station as it passes over. This is the most common method for amateurs.

Method 2:

The ISS and shuttle Discovery during the STS-131 mission. Credit: Ted Judah

You will need a telescope, a webcam, and a strong mount or tripod. Set up your telescope and mount, along with webcam with a laptop and make sure of the time and where the ISS will be passing over your location.

In this method we will use the telescope to magnify and see the ISS up close while recording a movie (AVI). We will then stack the frames of the recorded movie in a specialist image enhancing program such as Registax.

Insert your WebCam into the telescope focusing tube using an adapter (available from astronomy stores) and connect the cables to your laptop. When the ISS is due, start recording and track the space station using a finder scope or computerized mount.

The difficult part of this method is tracking the ISS and keeping it in the field of view of the telescope while recording the video file. It is recommended that you set your mount in “Alt/ Az” mode or use a Dobsonian telescope so that you have free movement of telescopes optical tube assembly. You will basically be using the telescope as a giant video camera and you need to keep the ISS in shot for as long as possible.

This method is very difficult as the ISS has been magnified highly while moving very quickly and can be easily lost out of the field of view, or there can be too much movement (shaking) in the video. This method requires much practice.

Once you have been able to get a video of the ISS passing over, you can feed your video file into software such as RegiStax and the program will sort each individual frame, removing bad frames and stacking good frames to create a very clear image.

This method is fantastic for creating close up images with detail on the International Space Station; you can also see docked spacecraft. You can also use this method for trying to image other Earth-orbiting satellites, too.

The ISS and shuttle Discovery as captured -- and annotated -- by Thierry Legault

It would be great to see your ISS photographs, so please send them into us via our Flickr site. Good luck!

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

First Humanoid to Human Handshake in Space

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata plays around wiith humanoid robot Robonaut 2 during Expedition 39 in March 2014. Credit: NASA

It may have been a giant leap for robot-kind yesterday as NASA’s Robonaut shook hands in space with Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank on the International Space Station. “For the record, it was a firm handshake,” Burbank said. “Very nice. Nice job on the programming and all the engineering. Quite an impressive robot.”

Not only did the robot complete the historic first humanoid to human handshake in space, but Robonaut also sent its greetings to everyone on Earth by using sign language to say, “Hello World.”

Robonaut is designed to perform routine maintenance tasks aboard the space station to free up the astronauts for more important research tasks. You can see more capabilities of Robonaut in a video below where engineers put one of the Robonauts through its paces on a task board that mimics controls aboard the ISS.
Continue reading “First Humanoid to Human Handshake in Space”