NASA To Launch DART On April 15 | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.28.24

Airborne-NextGen-10.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.30.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.24.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.25.24

Sun, Apr 03, 2005

NASA To Launch DART On April 15

Demonstrating Robotic Capabilities

NASA officials announced Friday that the DART spacecraft will launch on April 15th. The DART Spacecraft is an unmanned vehicle for the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology. It is designed to perform maneuvering tasks without human assistance.

"We're prepared for launch," launch director Omar Baez said Friday during a news conference from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The next two weeks are crucial. There's a lot of work that's got to be done, but we're getting there."

A November launch was scrubbed to work out some technical issues. The California launch will send the DART into orbit to maneuver around an orbiting DOD satellite, the Multiple Paths, Beyond-Line-of-Sight Communications (MUBLCOM) satellite that was launched in May 1999. The MUBLCOM satellite was built with optical retroreflectors designed for future use with a video guidance system such as the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) onboard DART.

The mission is planned for the DART to make multiple approaches to the MUBLCOM satellite, maneuver around it, and eventually, to fly away. All of this should be accomplished with no human intervention. This technology demonstration could lead to future robotic missions including unmanned resupply missions to the international space station, and docking and repair of spacecraft in orbit.

"The goal of DART is to basically have an autopilot," said Jim Snoddy, DART project manager at Marshall. "If you don't have astronauts, you have a way to totally turn it over to an autonomous system."

DART will be launched on a Pegausus XL rocket that will be dropped from an L-1011 at approximately 40,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean. The 51,300 pound launch vehicle will propel the 800 pound DART into a polar orbit.

Key to the success of the mission are the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) and the Autonomous Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (ARPO) software. The system can handle faults, or challenges by skipping events, changing the order of operations, or even replanning the mission literally "on the fly."

FMI: http://www11.msfc.nasa.gov/news/dart/

Advertisement

More News

Senator Pushes FAA to Accelerate Rocket Launch Licensing

States That Current Process is Damaging National Aerospace Development US Senator Jerry Morgan is pushing the FAA to speed up the process for rocket launch licensing. He argues tha>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: RJ Gritter - Part of Aviation’s Bright New Future

From 2015 (YouTube Edition): Model Aviator Aims For Full-Scale Career While at the 2015 Indoor Electric RC Festival, referred to as eFest, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell>[...]

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.27.24)

Aero Linx: Cardinal Flyers Online The Cardinal Flyers Online Web site was created and is maintained by me, Keith Peterson. My wife Debbie and I have owned a 1976 RG since 1985. Wit>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.27.24): Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time)

Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time) Used by ATC to advise an aircraft that the departure release is automatically canceled if takeoff is not made prior to a specified time. The exp>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC