Session
Weekday Session 4: Automation
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
NASA, Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, Rocket Lab, Stellar Exploration, JPL, the Space Dynamics Lab, and Tethers Unlimited have partnered to successfully develop, launch, and operate the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission, which is continuing serving as a dedicated precursor for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NHRO) operations in cislunar space. Over the past 26 months, this low-cost, high-value mission has demonstrated an efficient, low-energy orbital transfer to the Moon, a successful insertion into the NRHO, and completion of ~21 months of successful operations in the NRHO while successfully demonstrating key technologies in support of the NASA Artemis program. These technologies include 1) The successful demonstration of the CAPS autonomous navigation technology using both two-way ranging with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and one-way uplink ranging with the Deep Space Network 2) Successful demonstration of our Neural Net for Electric Propulsion (NNEP) technology for autonomous maneuver planning and execution within a neural net framework and 3) Successful demonstration of our Sigma Zero technology for anomaly detection and classification via a neural network model. This paper will include an overview of the current mission status, lessons learned from the almost two `1 years of highly successful ongoing operations in the NRHO, a summary of the challenges encountered thus far, and overview of the successful results from the CAPS, NNEP, and Sigma Zero autonomous navigation technology demonstrations to date.
CAPSTONE: An Ongoing Demonstration of Navigation and Autonomy Technologies in the Cislunar Domain
Utah State University, Logan, UT
NASA, Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, Rocket Lab, Stellar Exploration, JPL, the Space Dynamics Lab, and Tethers Unlimited have partnered to successfully develop, launch, and operate the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission, which is continuing serving as a dedicated precursor for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NHRO) operations in cislunar space. Over the past 26 months, this low-cost, high-value mission has demonstrated an efficient, low-energy orbital transfer to the Moon, a successful insertion into the NRHO, and completion of ~21 months of successful operations in the NRHO while successfully demonstrating key technologies in support of the NASA Artemis program. These technologies include 1) The successful demonstration of the CAPS autonomous navigation technology using both two-way ranging with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and one-way uplink ranging with the Deep Space Network 2) Successful demonstration of our Neural Net for Electric Propulsion (NNEP) technology for autonomous maneuver planning and execution within a neural net framework and 3) Successful demonstration of our Sigma Zero technology for anomaly detection and classification via a neural network model. This paper will include an overview of the current mission status, lessons learned from the almost two `1 years of highly successful ongoing operations in the NRHO, a summary of the challenges encountered thus far, and overview of the successful results from the CAPS, NNEP, and Sigma Zero autonomous navigation technology demonstrations to date.
