Federal award (DELIVERY ORDER, fiscal year 2022)
Recipient: THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2017-07-11 to 2017-12-31
Current total value of award: $72026
Description: MICRO COLD GAS SPACECRAFT PRECISION ATTITUDE CONTROL LINE OF SIGHT (LOS) POINTING AND STABILIZATION QUICK LOOK FEASIBILITY STUDY  THE NASA TECHNICAL FELLOW FOR GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION, AND CONTROL (GN&C) IS SEEKING AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF USING MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTERS FOR SPACECRAFT PRECISION ATTITUDE CONTROL LINE OF SIGHT (LOS) POINTING AND STABILIZATION. THEREFORE, THERE IS AN INTEREST IN PERFORMING A SHORT QUICK-LOOK ANALYTICAL STUDY TO ASSESS RELATIVE SPACECRAFT POINTING PERFORMANCE OBTAINABLE WITH A MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER SYSTEM VERSUS THE PERFORMANCE OBTAINED FROM A STANDARD TYPICAL REACTION WHEEL CONTROL APPROACH. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE ANALYTICAL STUDY WOULD BE TO IMPROVE NASAS UNDERSTANDING OF THE BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER CONTROL SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE CONTROL/LOS POINTING AND STABILIZATION. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO DETERMINE THE POTENTIAL SUITABILITY OF MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER SYSTEMS AS ALTERNATIVE TO REACTION WHEELS AS CONTROL TORQUE ACTUATORS FOR NASA MISSIONS THAT REQUIRE PRECISION POINTING/STABILIZATION.  IDEALLY, TO DETERMINE HOW WELL THE MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER SYSTEM REJECTS DIFFERENT TYPES OF IN-FLIGHT DISTURBANCE TORQUES, THE STUDY WOULD CONSIDER PERFORMANCE IN AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT SPACECRAFT OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS: IN LOW EARTH ORBIT AND IN DEEP SPACE.  IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO NASA TO HAVE THE CONTRACTOR EXPLORE THE CAPABILITY OF A REPRESENTATIVE MICRO COLD GAS SYSTEM TO SATISFY THE ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEM (ACS) REQUIREMENTS OF A RANGE OF DIFFERENT MISSION APPLICATIONS WITH DIFFERENT POINTING REQUIREMENTS IN THE DEFINED OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS. ONE POSSIBLE OUTCOME OF THIS ASSESSMENT WOULD BE A MISSION AGNOSTIC SENSITIVITY STUDY THAT SHOWS THE POINTING PERFORMANCE THAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER CONTROL IN THE FACE OF VARYING DISTURBANCE ENVIRONMENTS. THESE RESULTS SHOULD PROVIDE INSIGHT THAT WILL BETTER ALLOW NASA TO DRAW PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS AS TO WHICH MISSION APPLICATIONS AND OPERATIONAL REGIMES THE MICRO COLD GAS THRUSTER APPROACH COULD BE A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE OR ADJUNCT TO THE REACTION WHEELS TYPICALLY USED FOR GENERATING CONTROL TORQUES.