Wed, Jan 25, 2012
Draper’s GENIE Could Test Payloads On Earth Under
Realistic Flight Conditions
NASA could test its payloads on Earth under realistic flight
conditions before sending them into space by using a technology
flown by Draper Laboratory last month.
Draper YouTube Video
Using the GENIE (Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration
Environment) System, Draper recently fully controlled the Xombie
suborbital rocket built by Masten Space Systems during a closed
loop tethered flight at the Mojave Air and Space Port in
California. This successful first step brings the NASA Dryden
Flight Opportunities Program closer to a new testbed capability
that could be used to validate future planetary technology
payloads.
Aircraft available to test NASA instruments today are unable to
fly at the desired trajectories for planetary landings, and
computer simulations are used to generate that data. However, a
GENIE controlled flight vehicle could mimic a spacecraft’s
final approach to the Moon and Mars here on Earth. Emerging and
advancing future space technologies will then have the opportunity
to fly their payloads terrestrially to raise their overall
Technology Readiness Level and show that they are ready for use in
space.
Draper plans to conduct a free-flying demonstration with GENIE
and the Masten rocket later this winter. The GENIE precision
landing GN&C system was developed jointly between Draper and
the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) under the Autonomous Landing
Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) and Morpheus lander
programs.
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