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By NASA
4 Min Read Navigation Technology
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer sets up an Astrobee for the ReSWARM experiment. Credits: NASA Science in Space April 2025
Humans have always been explorers, venturing by land and sea into unknown and uncharted places on Earth and, more recently, in space. Early adventurers often navigated by the Sun and stars, creating maps that made it easier for others to follow. Today, travelers on Earth have sophisticated technology to guide them.
Navigation in space, including for missions to explore the Moon and Mars, remains more of a challenge. Research on the International Space Station is helping NASA scientists improve navigation tools and processes for crewed spacecraft and remotely controlled or autonomous robots to help people boldly venture farther into space, successfully explore there, and safely return home.
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers talks to students on the ground using ham radio equipment.NASA A current investigation, NAVCOM, uses the space station’s ISS Ham Radio program hardware to test software for a system that could shape future lunar navigation. The technology processes signals in the same way as global navigation satellite systems such as GPS, but while those rely on constellations of satellites, the NAVCOM radio equipment receives position and time information from ground stations and reference clocks.
The old made new
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst operates the Sextant Navigation device.NASA Sextant Navigation tested star-sighting from space using a hand-held sextant. These mechanical devices measure the angle between two objects, typically the Sun or other stars at night and the horizon. Sextants guided navigators on Earth for centuries and NASA’s Gemini and Apollo missions demonstrated that they were useful in space as well, meaning they could provide emergency backup navigation for lunar missions. Researchers report that with minimal training and practice, crew members of different skill levels produced quality sightings through a station window and measurements improved with more use. The investigation identified several techniques for improving sightings, including refocusing between readings and adjusting the sight to the center of the window.
Navigating by neutron stars
The station’s NICER instrument studies the nature and behavior of neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. Some neutron stars, known as pulsars, emit beams of light that appear to pulse, sweeping across the sky as the stars rotate. Some of them pulse at rates as accurate as atomic clocks. As part of the NICER investigation, the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology or SEXTANT tested technology for using pulsars in GPS-like systems to navigate anywhere in the solar system. SEXTANT successfully completed a first in-space demonstration of this technology in 2017. In 2018, researchers reported that real-time, autonomous X-ray pulsar navigation is clearly feasible and they plan further experiments to fine tune and modify the technology.
Robot navigation
Crews on future space exploration missions need efficient and safe ways to handle cargo and to move and assemble structures on the surface of the Moon or Mars. Robots are promising tools for these functions but must be able to navigate their surroundings, whether autonomously or via remote control, often in proximity with other robots and within the confines of a spacecraft. Several investigations have focused on improving navigation by robotic helpers.
NASA astronaut Michael Barratt (left) and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata perform a check of the SPHERES robots.NASA The SPHERES investigation tested autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers with three spherical free-flying robots on the station. Researchers reported development of an approach to control how the robots navigate around obstacles and along a designated path, which could support their use in the future for satellite servicing, vehicle assembly, and spacecraft formation flying.
NASA astronaut Megan McArthur with the three Astrobee robots.NASA The station later gained three cube-shaped robots known as Astrobees. The ReSWARM experiments used them to test coordination of multiple robots with each other, cargo, and their environment. Results provide a base set of planning and control tools for robotic navigation in close proximity and outline important considerations for the design of future autonomous free-flyers.
Researchers also used the Astrobees to show that models to predict the robots’ behavior could make it possible to maneuver one or two of them for carrying cargo. This finding suggests that robots can navigate around each other to perform tasks without a human present, which would increase their usefulness on future missions.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti working on the Surface Avatar experiment.ESA An investigation from ESA (European Space Agency), Surface Avatar evaluated orbit-to-ground remote control of multiple robots. Crew members successfully navigated a four-legged robot, Bert, through a simulated Mars environment. Robots with legs rather than wheels could explore uneven lunar and planetary surfaces that are inaccessible to wheeled rovers. The German Aerospace Center is developing Bert.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A digital rendering of the baseline configuration for Blue Origin’s free-flying commercial space station, Orbital Reef, which continues to be developed as part of a Space Act Agreement with NASA.Blue Origin A NASA-supported commercial space station, Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, recently completed a human-in-the-loop testing milestone as the agency works toward developing commercial space stations in low Earth orbit.
The human-in-the-loop test scenarios utilized individual participants or small groups to perform day-in-the-life walkthroughs in life-sized mockups of major station components. Participants provided feedback while simulating microgravity operations, including cargo transfer, trash transfer, stowage, and worksite assessments.
“Human-in-the-loop and iterative testing are essential to inform key decisions and mitigate risks to crew health and safety,” said Angela Hart, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA’s insight into our partner’s testing milestones enables the agency to gain insight into partner progress and share expertise, ultimately improving industry and NASA’s mission success.”
Test subjects in the mockup for Blue Origin’s free-flying commercial space station, Orbital Reef, during the human-in-the-loop test.Blue Origin The milestone is part of a NASA Space Act Agreement originally awarded to Blue Origin in 2021 and focused on the design progress for multiple worksites, floors, and translation paths within the station. This ensures a commercial station can support human life, which is critical to advancing scientific research in a microgravity environment and maintaining a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit.
The test evaluated various aspects of Orbital Reef’s environment to provide information needed for the space station’s design. Assessment areas included the private crew quarters, dining area, lavatory, research laboratory, and berthing and docking hatches.
To facilitate the test, Blue Origin built stand-alone mockups of each floor in the internally developed habitable module. These mockups will be iteratively updated as the fidelity of components and subsystems matures, enabling future human-in-the-loop testing.
The research team’s observations will be used to provide design recommendations for worksite volumes, layouts, restraint and mobility aid layouts, usability and workload, and positioning of interfaces and equipment.
NASA supports the design and development of multiple commercial space stations, including Orbital Reef, through funded and unfunded agreements. The current design and development phase will soon be followed by the procurement of services from one or more companies, where NASA aims to be one of many customers for low Earth orbit stations.
NASA is committed to maintaining a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit as the agency transitions from the International Space Station to commercial space stations. For nearly 25 years, NASA has supported a continuous presence in low Earth orbit aboard the space station and will continue to build on the agency’s extensive human spaceflight experience to advance future scientific and exploration goals.
For more information about commercial space stations, visit:
www.nasa.gov/commercialspacestations
A test subject in the mockup for Blue Origin’s free-flying commercial space station, Orbital Reef, during the human-in-the-loop test.Blue Origin Keep Exploring Discover More Topics
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Drones were a key part of testing new technology in support of a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies. From left are Tim Wallace and Michael Filicchia of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada; Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Alexander Jaffe of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards California; and Alana Dachtler of International Met Systems of Kentwood, Michigan.NASA/Jackie Shuman Advancements in NASA’s airborne technology have made it possible to gather localized wind data and assess its impacts on smoke and fire behavior. This information could improve wildland fire decision making and enable operational agencies to better allocate firefighters and resources. A small team from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is demonstrating how some of these technologies work.
Two instruments from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia – a sensor gathering 3D wind data and a radiosonde that measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity data – were installed on NASA Armstrong’s Alta X drone for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies.
“The objectives for the Alta X portion of the multi-agency prescribed burn include a technical demonstration for wildland fire practitioners, and data collection at various altitudes for the Alabama Forestry Commission operations,” said Jennifer Fowler, FireSense project manager. “Information gathered at the different altitudes is essential to monitor the variables for a prescribed burn.”
Those variables include the mixing height, which is the extent or depth to which smoke will be dispersed, a metric Fowler said is difficult to predict. Humidity must also be above 30% for a prescribed burn. The technology to collect these measurements locally is not readily available in wildland fire operations, making the Alta X and its instruments key in the demonstration of prescribed burn technology.
A drone from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, flies with a sensor to gather 3D wind data and a radiosonde that measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity data from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The drone and instruments supported a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies.International Met Systems/Alana Dachtler In addition to the Alta X flights beginning March 25, NASA Armstrong’s B200 King Air will fly over actively burning fires at an altitude of about 6,500 feet. Sensors onboard other aircraft supporting the mission will fly at lower altitudes during the fire, and at higher altitudes before and after the fire for required data collection. The multi-agency mission will provide data to confirm and adjust the prescribed burn forecast model.
Small, uncrewed aircraft system pilots from NASA Armstrong completed final preparations to travel to Alabama and set up for the research flights. The team – including Derek Abramson, chief engineer for the subscale flight research laboratory; Justin Hall, NASA Armstrong chief pilot of small, uncrewed aircraft systems; and Alexander Jaffe, a drone pilot – will set up, fly, observe airborne operations, all while keeping additional aircraft batteries charged. The launch and recovery of the Alta X is manual, the mission profile is flown autonomously to guarantee the same conditions for data collection.
“The flight profile is vertical – straight up and straight back down from the surface to about 3,000 feet altitude,” Abramson said. “We will characterize the mixing height and changes in moisture, mapping out how they both change throughout the day in connection with the burn.”
In August 2024, a team of NASA researchers used the NASA Langley Alta X and weather instruments in Missoula, Montana, for a FireSense project drone technology demonstration. These instruments were used to generate localized forecasting that provides precise and sustainable meteorological data to predict fire behavior and smoke impacts.
Justin Link, left, pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, and Justin Hall, chief pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, install weather instruments on an Alta X drone at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Members of the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory used the Alta X to support the agency’s FireSense project in March 2025 for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama.NASA/Steve Freeman Share
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactJay Levinejay.levine-1@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
Armstrong Flight Research Center Airborne Science B200 Drones & You Langley Research Center Science Mission Directorate Explore More
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the Moon’s surface the afternoon of March 2, not quite 10 hours after the spacecraft landed.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander, which appears in this image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as a bright pixel casting a shadow in the middle of the white box, reached the surface of the Moon on March 2 at 3:34 a.m. EST.NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University The delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
Media Contact:
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Mar 25, 2025 Related Terms
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) View the full article
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By NASA
This compressed, resolution-limited gif shows the view of lunar sunset from one of the six Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 cameras on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, which operated on the Moon’s surface for a little more than 14 days and stopped, as anticipated, a few hours into lunar night. The bright, swirly light moving across the surface on the top right of the image is sunlight reflecting off the lander. Images taken by SCALPSS 1.1 during Blue Ghost’s descent and landing, as well as images from the surface during the long lunar day, will help researchers better understand the effects of a lander’s engine plumes on the lunar soil, or regolith. The instrument collected almost 9000 images and returned 10 GB of data. This data is important as trips to the Moon increase and the number of payloads touching down in proximity to one another grows. The SCALPSS 1.1 project is funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Changing Development program. SCALPSS was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, with support from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.NASA/Olivia TyrrellView the full article
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