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Deep Space Control Challenges of the New MillenniumThe exploration of deep space presents a variety of significant control challenges. Long communication delays coupled with challenging new science objectives require high levels of system autonomy and increasingly demanding pointing and control capabilities. Historically, missions based on the use of a large single spacecraft have been successful and popular since the early days of NASA. However, these large spacecraft missions are currently being displaced by more frequent and more focused missions based on the use of smaller and less expensive spacecraft designs. This trend drives the need to design smart software and good algorithms which together with the miniaturization of control components will improve performance while replacing the heavier and more expensive hardware used in the past. NASA's future space exploration will also include mission types that have never been attempted before, posing significant challenges to the underlying control system. This includes controlled landing on small bodies (e.g., asteroids and comets), sample return missions (where samples are brought back from other planets), robotic exploration of planetary surfaces (e.g., intelligent rovers), high precision formation flying, and deep space optical interferometry, While the control of planetary spacecraft for traditional flyby and orbiter missions are based on well-understood methodologies, control approaches for many future missions will be fundamentally different. This paradigm shift will require completely new control system development approaches, system architectures, and much greater levels of system autonomy to meet expected performance in the presence of significant environmental disturbances, and plant uncertainties. This paper will trace the motivation for these changes and will layout the approach taken to meet the new challenges. Emerging missions will be used to explain and illustrate the need for these changes.
Document ID
20000068537
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Bayard, David S. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Burdick, Garry M. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Astronautics (General)
Meeting Information
Meeting: 7th MED99 Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation
Location: Haifa
Country: Israel
Start Date: June 28, 1999
End Date: June 30, 1999
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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