NASA Small Satellites to Demonstrate Swarm Communications and Autonomy
December 9, 2015 | NASAEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
NASA’s two Nodes small satellites hitched a ride to the International Space Station on the fourth Orbital ATK cargo mission, which launched on Dec. 6. Once aboard the station, the satellites will settle in for a two-to-three month stay until deployed into low-Earth orbit in early 2016.
The Nodes mission, which consists of two CubeSats weighing just 4.5 pounds each and measuring 4 inches by 4 inches by 6.5 inches, will test new network capabilities for operating swarms of spacecraft in the future.
“The purpose of the Nodes demonstration is to test out the potential for using multiple, small, low-cost satellites to perform complex science missions,” said Andrew Petro, program executive for the Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) in the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
A first for small satellites, Nodes will demonstrate the ability to receive and distribute commands in space from the ground in addition to periodically exchanging scientific data from their onboard radiation instruments. The satellites will be able to configure their data network autonomously by determining which spacecraft is best suited to communicate with the ground each day of the mission.
“The technologies demonstrated during this mission are important, as they will show that a network of satellites can be controlled without communicating to each satellite directly,” said Roger Hunter, program manager for SSTP at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. “Nodes will demonstrate inter-satellite communications and autonomous command and control; this will help enable future constellation command and control capabilities.”
Upon deployment from the station, the Energetic Particle Integrating Space Environment Monitor (EPISEM) radiation sensor aboard each Nodes satellite will collect data on the charged particle environment at an altitude of about 250 miles above Earth. The EPISEM instruments were provided under contract by Montana State University. The Nodes satellites will demonstrate their networking capabilities through communication of this data with each other and the ground. In another SSTP-university partnership, Santa Clara University will conduct ground operations.
The mission is scheduled to last for two weeks, though the CubeSats will remain in orbit for several more months before their orbit decays, they re-enter and burn up in the atmosphere.
Page 1 of 2
Suggested Items
Shane Whiteside of Summit Reflects on Today's PCB Landscape
05/08/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamSummit Interconnect began as a printed circuit board manufacturing company just eight years ago and has seen impressive growth organically and through acquisition. Summit President and CEO Shane Whiteside takes a few moments to share his thoughts on the growing PCB industry in the United States.
BAE Systems and Eaton Expand Collaboration to Deliver Electric Drive Solutions for Heavy-Duty Trucks
05/08/2024 | PRNewswireBAE Systems, a leader in electric propulsion, and Eaton, a global power management company, are expanding their collaboration to include electric vehicle (EV) solutions for heavy-duty trucks.
Coherix Partners with EMU on 'Factory of the Future' Technology Program
05/08/2024 | PRNewswireMichigan-based Coherix is working with Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti to develop "factory-of-the-future" manufacturing and assembly technology.
2024 Apple iPad Pro Estimated to Ship Between 4.5 to 5 Million Units
05/08/2024 | TrendForceApple’s recent product launch in May introduced a lineup of new tablets featuring advanced AMOLED screens. Notably, the Pro version boasts a dual-layer tandem structure designed to address the longstanding challenges of screen burn-in and lifespan that are common with AMOLED displays.
Simbe Partners with Plexus to Scale Manufacturing and Meet Global Retail Demand
05/08/2024 | Globe NewswireSimbe, the leading provider of Store Intelligence™ solutions that increase retailer performance through unprecedented visibility and insights, today announced a partnership with Plexus Corp. to bring its best-in-class retail robotics-as-a-service to market quickly and at global scale.