Method and associated apparatus for capturing, servicing, and de-orbiting earth satellites using ...

49 Pages·2009·3.24 MB·English

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20090043322 2019-01-05T07:50:30+00:00Z
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United States Patent
(12) (1o) Patent No.: US 7,513,460 B2
Cepollina et al. (45) Date of Patent: Apr. 7, 2009
(54) METHOD AND ASSOCIATED APPARATUS 5,421,540 A 6/1995 Ting
FOR CAPTURING, SERVICING, AND 6,484,973 131 11/2002 Scott
DE-ORBITING EARTH SATELLITES USING 6,491,256 131 12/2002 Wingo
ROBOTICS
(75) Inventors: Frank J. Cepollina, Annandale, MD
(Continued)
(US); Richard D. Burns, Annapolis,
MD (US); Jill M. Holz, Laurel, MD Primary Examiner Timothy D Collins
(US); James E. Corbo, Columbia, MD (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Matthew F. Johnston
(US); Nicholas M. Jedhrich, Annapolis,
MD (US) (57) ABSTRACT
(73) Assignee: The United States of America as
represented by the Administrator of This invention is a method and supporting apparatus for
the National Aeronautics and Space autonomously capturing, servicing and de-orbiting a free-
Administration, Washington, DC (US) flying spacecraft, such as a satellite, using robotics. The cap-
ture of the spacecraft includes the steps of optically seeking
(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this and ranging the satellite using LIDAR; and matching tumble
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 rates, rendezvousing and berthing with the satellite. Servicing
U.S.C. 154(b) by 74 days. of the spacecraft may be done using supervised autonomy,
which is allowing a robot to execute a sequence of instruc-
(21) Appl. No.: 11/671,062 tions without intervention from a remote human-occupied
location. These instructions may be packaged at the remote
(22) Filed: Feb. 5, 2007 station in a script and uplinked to the robot for execution upon
remote command giving authority to proceed. Alternately, the
(65) Prior Publication Data
instructions may be generated by Artificial Intelligence (Al)
US 2008/0011904 Al Jan. 17, 2008 logic onboard the robot. In either case, the remote operator
maintains the ability to abort an instruction or script at any
Related U.S. Application Data time, as well as the ability to intervene using manual override
to teleoperate the robot.
(62) Division of application No. 11/124,592, filed on May
6, 2005, now Pat. No. 7,240,879.
In one embodiment, a vehicle used for carrying out the
method of this invention comprises an ejection module,
(51) Int. Cl.
which includes the robot, and a de-orbit module. Once ser-
B64G 1164 (2006.01)
vicing is completed by the robot, the ejection module sepa-
(52) U.S. Cl . ................................................... 244/172.5
rates from the de-orbit module, leaving the de-orbit module
(58) Field of Classification Search .............. 244/158.6,
attached to the satellite for de-orbiting the same at a future
244/172.4, 172.5, 158.4
time. Upon separation, the ejection module can either de-
See application file for complete search history.
orbit itself or rendezvous with another satellite for servicing.
(56) References Cited The ability to de-orbit a spacecraft further allows the oppor-
tunity to direct the landing of the spent satellite in a safe
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS location away from population centers, such as the ocean.
4,298,178 A 11/1981 Hujsak
5,299,764 A * 4/1994 Scott ....................... 244/172.5 10 Claims, 27 Drawing Sheets
413n
32
US 7,513,460 B2
Page 2
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 2007/0125910 Al 6/2007 Cepollina et al.
2007/0138344 Al 6/2007 Cepollina et al.
6,523,784 B2 2/2003 Steinsiek et al. 2007/0164164 Al 7/2007 Cepollina et al.
7,240,879 B1 7/2007 Cepollina et al.
7,293,743 B2 11/2007 Cepollina et al. * cited by examiner
U.S. Patent Apr. 7, 2009 Sheet 1 of 27 US 7,513,460 B2
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Spacecraft High Gain
Antenna
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FIG. 1
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Instruments Units
U.S. Patent Apr. 7, 2009 Sheet 2 of 27 US 7,513,460 B2
Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) Components
Graphite Epoxy
Metering Truss Support
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Central Systems
Mirror Module
Baffle
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OTA
Electronic
Boxes
o
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Ring Fixed-Head
Science
Star Tracker
Instument
FIG. 2
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U.S. Patent Apr. 7, 2009 Sheet 7 of 27 US 7,513,460 B2
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U.S. Patent
Apr. 7, 2009 Sheet 8 of 27 US 7,513,460 B2
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