NASA
astronaut Jeffrey Williams has put a small satellite through its initial paces
aboard the International Space Station (ISS), deploying the free-flying craft
inside outpost's Destiny lab.
Williams,
NASA science officer and ISS Expedition 13 flight engineer, piloted the SPHERES
microsatellite in the first of a series of test aimed at demonstrating
fundamental concepts for autonomous docking in small vehicles and formation
flying. The tests could lay the groundwork for cooperative satellites and
helper robots to aid spacewalking astronauts, NASA officials said.
SPHERES -
short for Synchronized Position Hold Engage Re-orient Satellite - is an
experiment designed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) to aid the development of future cooperative space robots.
Williams
watched over the single SPHERES satellite last week as it approached two
beacons - one handheld and one wall-mounted - during simulated rendezvous and
docking maneuvers. The satellite's first flight included up to 15 pre-planned
maneuvers, each of which lasted 10 minutes, to check attitude control, station
keeping, collision avoidance, target tracking and fuel balance performance,
NASA officials said.
The
eight-inch (20-centimeter) wide, seven-pound (three-kilogram) SPHERES satellite
is the first of three to launch toward the ISS and arrived at the space station
aboard Progress
21 on April 26. Two additional units are expected to launch toward the
station on future NASA shuttle visits.
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