NASA | RRM: The Main Event

Publicado el 23/01/2013 In orbit at 18,000 miles an hour, day and night change places every 90 minutes. Darkness and light, sleep and wake: it's tough to focus on precise tasks floating outside the International Space Station. But not if you're a robot. NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission puts that proposition to the test, with a first-of-its-kind demonstration of a simulated fuel transfer in space, no human in sight. But first, there's a pile of prep before the operation can commence.

Robotic Refueling Mission: The Main Event

The prospect of robots in space tantalizes NASA engineers with extraordinary possibility. Powerful and sophisticated, these tools may be able to extend the working lives of aging spacecraft, something that would profoundly change the way we manage expensive flight hardware. The Robotic Refueling Mission tests this proposition with a battery of demonstrations, culminating in the marquee event. This video takes a look at the progress made through proof-of-concept testing aboard the International Space Station in January 2013. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Robotic Refueling Mission: Day 1

refueling is challenging. Before a satellite leaves the ground, technicians fill its fuel tank through a valve that's then triple-sealed and covered with a protective blanket, designed never to be accessed again. RRM paves the way for a future robotic servicing mission by demonstrating that a remote-controlled robot can overcome these obstacles to service and refuel a satellite on orbit. On Jan. 14, 2013, NASA engineers put a robot to work outside the International Space Station to test some of these capabilities. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

ISS Update: Robotic Refueling Mission

NASA Public Affairs Officer Josh Byerly conducts a phone interview with Benjamin Reed, Deputy Program Manager of NASA’s Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, about this week’s Robotic Refueling Mission activities.

NASA | Space Station Robots Test Techniques of the Future.

Publicado el 10/01/2013 Engineers practice precise maneuvers for the Robotic Refueling Mission and animations of various robotic tasks to be preformed at International Space Station.