Pulsar Navigation for Crewed Exploration of the Solar System, Year 1

Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)

Description

The area of focus is autonomy and autonomous navigation of vehicles outside of LEO. In addition, we propose to anchor the vehicle's clock which will provide accurate timing for the entire vehicle. We will design, develop and test the sensor electronics and optics which are compatible with the mass, power and size constraints of Orion and future habitation and Mars transfer vehicles. We will integrate this with a sensor loaned from GSFC and perform analysis as to the efficacy of this navigation technology. This project extends the NICER/SExTANT capability supported by STMD during its formulation. NICER/SExTANT is a flight experiment due to be tested on-board the ISS by the end of this calendar year.

Benefits

The Gateway station will need to be able to navigate autonomously without relying on the DSN and the ground to determine its navigation state. x-ray navigation, along with optical navigation will provide a navigation capability that will be essential for the Evolvable Mars Campaign. This technology addresses two key requirements: accurate navigation and autonomy.All future architectures for crewed exploration of the Solar System will require the vehicles such as Gateway to operate autonomously for periods of time without relying on the DSN and the ground to determine its navigation state. In particular, the delays due to one-way light time may be up to several minutes. These vehicles will be required to return the crew to Earth in case of loss of communications with the ground. A central aspect of this is the ability to navigate independent of the ground.

Details

Program	Center Innovation Fund: JSC CIF (JSC CIF)
Lead organization	Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Start date	2016-10-01
End date	2017-07-01

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Christopher N D'souza — chris.dsouza-1@nasa.gov

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.