Session
Technical Session VI: Small but Mighty
Abstract
Most all objects in Earth orbit, when imaged using all but the largest ground-based telescopes, appear as unresolved point sources of light. Although these unresolved images are featureless it may be possible to determine parameters related to an object‟s attitude and/or rotation rate by analyzing the spectral and temporal content of reflected sunlight. For instance a faceted rotating object may produce a periodic cycle of bright glints or a spectrally distinct surface coating may be detectable using a spectrometer. The Oculus-ASR is a 50-kg-class nanosatellite specifically designed to exercise and validate techniques for determining an orbiting object‟s pose using unresolved ground imagery. The nanosatellite has been optically characterized in an AFRL ground facility to determine reflective signatures that can be expected on orbit. Once on orbit, the Oculus-ASR will be monitored by ground-based telescopes and these observations will be reconciled against „truth‟ attitude data recorded during various maneuvers. This paper reports on the basic design of the spacecraft, summarizes the concept of operations, and presents results of the pre-launch optical ground characterization.
Presentation Slides
Pre-launch Optical Characterization of the Oculus-ASR Nanosatellite for Attitude and Shape Recognition Experiments
Most all objects in Earth orbit, when imaged using all but the largest ground-based telescopes, appear as unresolved point sources of light. Although these unresolved images are featureless it may be possible to determine parameters related to an object‟s attitude and/or rotation rate by analyzing the spectral and temporal content of reflected sunlight. For instance a faceted rotating object may produce a periodic cycle of bright glints or a spectrally distinct surface coating may be detectable using a spectrometer. The Oculus-ASR is a 50-kg-class nanosatellite specifically designed to exercise and validate techniques for determining an orbiting object‟s pose using unresolved ground imagery. The nanosatellite has been optically characterized in an AFRL ground facility to determine reflective signatures that can be expected on orbit. Once on orbit, the Oculus-ASR will be monitored by ground-based telescopes and these observations will be reconciled against „truth‟ attitude data recorded during various maneuvers. This paper reports on the basic design of the spacecraft, summarizes the concept of operations, and presents results of the pre-launch optical ground characterization.
