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NASA preparing to simulate Asteroid EVA protocols via NEEMO mission by Chris Bergin on 14 Aug, 2011 07:11
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http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/08/nasa-simulate-asteroid-eva-protocols-neemo-mission/
Per presentations written this week and acquired via L2 (there's a few more articles to come on other elements, but this was the NEEMO related content).
I also knew a lot of you would say "Yeah Chris, but when are we going to an asteroid, so wrote up the options we've reported previously and how things are in flux right now). -
#1 by Space Pete on 14 Aug, 2011 13:16
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Great article Chris.
This is exactly the sort of thing that NASA should be doing over the next 10 years - using Shuttle-derived knowledge to develop technologies and techniques for BEO exploration. NEEMO, DRATS (and ISS
) is a great test bed for it.
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#2 by Martin FL on 14 Aug, 2011 13:54
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Great read. And it was interesting to be reminded that all proposals so far involve a HLV.
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#3 by Jason1701 on 14 Aug, 2011 15:37
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Great article.Quote
There may be potential get-well to any issues with the HLV flight rate, such as . . . potentially the MMSEV – which is not directly referenced in either of the presentations for the NEO missions.
That gives me a bad feeling. Fund the MMSEV!
Also, how is it multi mission? Where does it go at the end of a mission? -
#4 by Ben the Space Brit on 14 Aug, 2011 16:16
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They're doing an underwater simulation called NEEMO? Seriously?
One of these days, I've got to find out who at NASA is responsible for these punderful acronyms!
Seriously, I agree that this is the sort of thing NASA should be doing now it has spare time. I also hope that they stick with the extremely simplified archetecture here. If those images represent the current thinking of NASA, the hab is a modified ATV and the whole mission vehicle can be launched using just two SLSs. Such a 'quick and dirty' method, as opposed to building the big Copernicus MTV I've seen on other plans (nost notably HEFT2), is the way to go; clearly someone has accepted that Apollo-level budgets are a never-to-be-repeated anomaly. Such clear thinking bodes well for the future.Also, how is it multi mission? Where does it go at the end of a mission?
Two possibilities:
1) It actually means that the basic MPCV/ATV-hab system can be adapted for multiple different missions;
2) The ATV-hab will have some type of LEO braking capability, possibly aerocapture. The combined ATV-hab/EDS can then stay in LEO a subsequent CRS/CCT mission to fly up parts and a refurbishment crew. The EDS will then be refuelled closer to the next mission's departure date.
I seriously hope (2) is correct as this is a capability NASA needs to have and to practice if Mars/Inner Solar System exploration is to be sustainable -
#5 by Space Pete on 14 Aug, 2011 19:08
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Also, how is it multi mission? Where does it go at the end of a mission?
I think the "multi" refers to the fact that the same pressure vessel can be used either in space (mounted to a thruster/propellant platform) or on a surface (mounted to a wheeled chassis). -
#6 by Chris Bergin on 15 Aug, 2011 14:08
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Thanks guys
They're doing an underwater simulation called NEEMO? Seriously?
One of these days, I've got to find out who at NASA is responsible for these punderful acronyms!
They have a special machine for that
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#7 by AnalogMan on 15 Aug, 2011 14:59
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Thanks guys
They're doing an underwater simulation called NEEMO? Seriously?
One of these days, I've got to find out who at NASA is responsible for these punderful acronyms!
They have a special machine for that
I believe it also incorporates a elements of time-machine as well
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#8 by baldusi on 15 Aug, 2011 16:11
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I love this approach. When doing dynamic optimization, that can be solved with calculus, you always end up doing backward induction (i.e. starting from your ending condition and optimizing backwards). I like this approach of first studying how the mission would be executed, then you can know the stays requirements, then have your delta-v budget, then the launching method and LV, and then you can have a very detailed plan of timing and schedules.
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#9 by Chris Bergin on 19 Sep, 2011 16:02
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RELEASE: 11-309
NASA ANNOUNCES 15TH UNDERSEA EXPLORATION MISSION DATE AND CREW
WASHINGTON -- An international crew of astronauts will venture into
the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 17 to test innovative solutions to
engineering challenges during a crewed mission to an asteroid.
NASA astronaut and former International Space Station crew member
Shannon Walker will lead the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme
Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), a13-day undersea mission
aboard the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla.
Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and operated by the University of North
Carolina, Wilmington.
The NEEMO crew also includes Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
astronaut Takuya Onishi and Canadian Space Agency astronaut David
Saint-Jacques. They are members of the 2009 NASA astronaut class.
Rounding out the crew is Steven Squyres of Cornell University, James
Talacek and Nate Bender of the University of North Carolina,
Wilmington. Squyres is the scientific principal investigator for the
Mars Exploration Rover Project. Talacek and Bender are professional
aquanauts.
In addition, NASA astronauts Stan Love, Richard Arnold and Mike
Gernhardt, all veteran spacewalkers, will participate in the NEEMO
mission from the DeepWorker submersible, which they will pilot. The
DeepWorker is a small submarine used as an underwater stand-in for
the Space Exploration Vehicle, which might someday be used to explore
the surface of an asteroid.
Jeremy Hansen and Jeanette Epps, members of the 2009 astronaut class,
are the capsule communicators for the mission. Hansen is from the
Canadian Space Agency, and Epps from NASA.
To request interviews with the NEEMO 15 crew during the mission,
contact Brandi Dean at [email protected]; Julie Simard of the
Canadian Space Agency at 450-926-4370; Takefumi Wakamatsu of the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at 281-792-7486; or Fred Gorell of
NOAA at 301-734-1010.
NEEMO 15 will be the first of the undersea missions to simulate a
visit to an asteroid. In May, a team of aquanauts set the stage for
the tests by working through some of the concepts in an effort to
improve efficiency.
"NEEMO 15 will require complex choreography between the submarines and
aquanauts living and working in their undersea home," said Bill Todd,
NEEMO project manager. "Researching the challenges of exploring an
asteroid surface in the undersea realm will be exciting for fans of
exploration pioneers Cousteau and Armstrong alike."
NEEMO 15 will investigate three aspects of a mission to an asteroid:
how to anchor to the surface; how to move around; and how best to
collect data. Unlike the moon or Mars, an asteroid would have little,
if any, gravity to hold astronauts or vehicles, so an anchor will be
necessary.
NEEMO 15 will evaluate different anchoring methods and how to connect
the multiple anchors to form pathways. The aquanauts and engineers
will evaluate different strategies for deploying instruments and
moving along a surface without gravity.
For more information about NEEMO and links to follow the mission on
Facebook and Twitter, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/neemo
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#10 by robertross on 18 Oct, 2011 00:51
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As good a place as any to add this:
INTERVIEW: NASA takes asteroid mission underwater
Canadian astronaut-to-be David Saint-Jacques isn't yet scheduled to go to space, but he is going where few people have voyaged: to one of the world's only underwater bases.
Saint-Jacques will live on the Aquarius undersea laboratory off the coast of Florida for 13 days as part of a NASA mission set to start this week. The U.S. space agency is hoping to feel out what it might be like to land astronauts on an asteroid, and has decided that an underwater environment presents the best way to simulate the experience.
more here, plus the interview:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/17/audio-science-nasa-underwater-asteroid-mission-david-saint-jacques-interview.html
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#11 by Chris Bergin on 19 Oct, 2011 04:18
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Follow up article on the above, as this mission is about to start:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/10/neemo-13-days-underwater-mission-sim-neo-exploration/ -
#12 by Jason1701 on 19 Oct, 2011 04:48
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Great article.Quote
the Orion (MPCV) crew vehicle (x2), the MMSEV, and a Deep Space Hab (DSH).
If they have a DSH, why two Orions? -
#13 by Chris Bergin on 20 Oct, 2011 16:26
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I'll try and find out Jason.
Meanwhile!
@NASA_NEEMO
NASA_NEEMO
The crew is off for their 13 day mission!
http://twitter.com/#!/NASA_NEEMO/status/127056439855419392/photo/1 -
#14 by Cherokee43v6 on 20 Oct, 2011 16:41
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Great article.
Quotethe Orion (MPCV) crew vehicle (x2), the MMSEV, and a Deep Space Hab (DSH).
If they have a DSH, why two Orions?
Systems redundancy... ie it's a lifeboat. -
#15 by Chris Bergin on 27 Oct, 2011 16:22
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Mission ended early, due bad weather arriving. I'll get details and write it up.
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#16 by Chris Bergin on 27 Oct, 2011 20:45
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#17 by Robotbeat on 27 Oct, 2011 21:05
) is a great test bed for it.
One of these days, I've got to find out who at NASA is responsible for these punderful acronyms!