Hover Testing of a Prototype Small Planetary Spacecraft
- Paper number
IAC-08.B4.8.3
- Author
Dr. William Marshall, NASA - Ames Research Center, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
We report on the design, building and free-flight hover testing of a prototype small planetary spacecraft. The Modular Common Bus (MCB) is being developed as a flexible, low cost spacecraft for both orbiting and landing on the Moon and other planetary bodies. The hover test prototype used the MCB structural design, processor and avionics hardware as well as the same software development methodology but used a thrust equivalent pressurized cold-gas propulsion system rather than a bipropellant system. This paper summarizes the performance characteristics of the successful free-flights, including the measured attitude and position control and the propulsion and structural performance. The prototype’s flight time of 7 s, being much greater than the vehicle control timescale of ~0.1 s, was adequate to determine stable attitude control. The tests allow iterative development of the MCB design as well as the collection of data that can enable the design to gain higher technological readiness in preparation for potential spaceflight missions. An analysis of the approach methodology of hover testing for low cost spacecraft is provided.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B4.8.3.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.