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Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2010 Symposium (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Challenges and Opportunities for Autonomous Systems in Space--Chad R. Frost
Pages 89-102

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From page 89...
... We anticipated that the advanced autonomy demonstrated on Deep Space 1 would soon be pervasive, enabling science missions, making spacecraft more resilient, and reducing operational costs. However, the pace of adoption has been relatively slow.
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From page 90...
... AUTONOMY FOR SPACE MISSIONS So much has been written on this topic that we can barely scratch the surface of a deep and rewarding discussion in this short article. However, we can examine a few recurring themes.
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From page 91...
... knowledge for discriminating and determining what information is important would begin to migrate to the space platform." Marvin Minsky (1980) , a pioneer of artificial intelligence, made the following observation about the first lunar landing mission in 1969: With a lunar telepresence vehicle making short traverses of one kilometer per day, we could have surveyed a substantial area of the lunar surface in the ten years that have slipped by since we landed there."
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From page 92...
... There have been several notable successes. Four milestone examples illustrate the progress made: Deep Space 1, which flew the first operational autonomy in space; Earth Observing 1, which demonstrated autonomous collection of science data; Orbital Express, which autonomously carried out spacecraft servicing tasks; and the Mars Exploration Rovers, which
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From page 93...
... An Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment Earth Observing 1 (EO1) , launched in 2000, demonstrated on-board diagnostics and autonomous acquisition and processing of science data, specifically, imagery of dynamic natural phenomena that evolve over relatively short time spans (e.g., volcanic eruptions, flooding, ice breakup, and changes in cloud cover)
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From page 94...
...  FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING FIGURE 2 Deep Space 1 flew the Remote Agent Experiment, which demonstrated full spacecraft autonomy for the first time. Figure courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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From page 95...
... NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO1 Team. Orbital Express In 2007, the Orbital Express mission launched two complimentary spacecraft, ASTRO and NextSat, with the goal of demonstrating a complete suite of the technologies required to autonomously service satellites on-orbit.
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From page 96...
... . REMAINING CHALLENGES Despite the compelling need for spacecraft autonomy and the feasibility demonstrated by the successful missions described above, obstacles remain to the use of autonomous systems as regular elements of spacecraft flight software.
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From page 97...
... " "Fourth, spacecraft operation involves concurrent activity by tightly coupled subsystems." Thus, requirements and interfaces must be thoroughly established relatively early in the design process, which pushes software development forward in the program and changes the cost profile of the mission. Perceived Requirements Opinions and perceptions, whether objectively based or not, are significant challenges to flying autonomous systems on spacecraft.
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From page 98...
... Demonstrations The next most effective way to reduce risk is to increase the flight experience and heritage of autonomous software components. This requires a methodical approach to including autonomous systems on numerous missions, initially as "ride-along" secondary or tertiary mission objectives, but eventually on missions dedicated to experiments of autonomy.
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From page 99...
... Although so far, human spaceflight has been remarkably devoid of autonomy, as technologies are validated in unmanned spacecraft and reach levels of maturity commensurate with other human-rated systems, there is great potential for autono mous systems to assist crews in maintaining and operating even the most complex spacecraft over long periods of time. Life support, power, communications, and other systems require automation, but would also benefit from autonomy (Frank, 2008a)
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From page 100...
... EO1 and the Mars Exploration Rovers were (and are) fine examples of autonomous science systems that have improved our ability to respond immediately to transient phenomena.
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From page 101...
... 2008. Autonomous Satellite Servicing Using the Orbital Express Demonstration Manipulator System.
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Key Terms

  • deep space
  • orbital express
  • artificial intelligence
  • spacecraft autonomy
  • mars exploration

  • earth observing
  • available online
  • exploration rovers
  • autonomous operations
  • aiaa space

  • operational autonomy
  • agent experiment
  • space conference
  • science instruments
  • autonomous sciencecraft

  • flying autonomous
  • intelligent autonomous
  • spacecraft operations
  • flight software
  • space missions

  • complex spacecraft
  • boeing integrated
  • integrated defense
  • agent architecture
  • express demonstration

  • sciencecraft experiment
  • ames research
  • frequently asked
  • international symposium
  • science data


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