Nasa ames research center phone number1/19/2024 ![]() ![]() It will give a swarm the ability to plan and schedule for itself which operations the satellites conduct under different conditions. DSA is maturing technologies critical for future swarms via simulation studies and by launching spacecraft. After all, good communication is key to the success of any team.īuilding on that foundation, researchers at Ames developed the Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy project. In May 2016, the project put two satellites into Earth orbit to test their ability to communicate and negotiate which would downlink their data to mission control on the ground. He looked at core technologies Ames was investigating and helped plot a course to further investments to make swarm science missions a reality.Īn early example of swarm coordination was the Nodes mission. Once CubeSats and SmallSats had matured, Hine became what he jokingly calls “the swarm czar.” His job was to create a roadmap of swarm technologies, identifying those already in existence as well as the missing technologies Ames would need to invest in to make swarm science missions a reality. “But the emergence of small satellite technologies gave us new possibilities and a chance to change the way we operate them.”Īmes became a pioneer in the use of CubeSats and small satellites (SmallSats) to run innovative, cost-effective missions, testing technologies and performing biology experiments in space. “In the past, that couldn’t be done affordably because we had to control each spacecraft individually,” said Butler Hine, a flight project manager at Ames. This greatly simplifies the job of ground controllers who would otherwise need to command each spacecraft to meet a mission’s science objectives. They’ll be able to collect data as a group, deciding which member of the team is best placed to take the optimal measurement and which should relay that data to Earth. These spacecraft know how to communicate with each other, monitor and maintain their relative spacing, and maneuver to get where each needs to be. While useful in certain scenarios, scaling up their numbers can make costs and mission complexity skyrocket.Ĭontrast that with a multi-talented, self-coordinating swarm. If you’re operating a lot of spacecraft individually, you’ve got a constellation. And the results of Starling’s experiments will be of great interest to researchers at Ames who, right now, are preparing a future swarm mission to study the Sun.Ī swarm is not to be confused with a constellation, although both refer to a group of spacecraft working toward a common goal. It will test technologies that let four spacecraft operate in a coordinated manner without resources from the ground. This summer, swarm science will reach a major milestone as NASA launches the Starling mission into space. A swarm’s ability to perform autonomously will make new types of science and exploration possible, particularly as they venture farther into deep space.Īmes’ work on swarm technologies has been underway for decades. Researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley are developing satellite swarms, which are groups of spacecraft working together as a unit, without being managed individually by mission controllers. Teamwork makes the dream work, and at NASA that doesn’t apply only to humans. ![]()
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