TECHNICAL CHALLENGES AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGY NEEDS FOR NASA'S GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION AND CONTROL ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE

摘要

Currently the United States (U.S.) National Aeronautics and Space Adm inistration (NASA) is experiencing some significant changes, particularly in the human exploration arena. Notable among the changes that have recently occurred within NASA is the retirement of the space shuttle, the emergence of commercial crew transport to the International Space Station (ISS), the development of architectures for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO), affordability constraints on robotic spaceflight missions, and a renewed emphasis on and commitment to space technology development/demonstration. These new changes within the Agency will have impacts on the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) discipline. This paper will summarize an independent NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) assessment of the GN&C technical challenges and barriers currently faced by the three NASA Mission Directorates. Technical challenges and future technological need for NASA's GN&C engineering discipline will be summarized. In particular, three key GN&C challenge areas will be discussed in this paper. The first challenge concerns the fact that advanced GN&C capabilities (e.g., the application of robust/optimal or adaptive control) are not being exploited as much as they could be due to perceived risk of implementation. The second challenge addresses the need for meaningful investments in the next generation of GN&C component-level technologies. The third challenge arises from the lack of consistent NASA-wide top-level guidelines for GN&C system Design, Development, Test and Evaluation (DDT&E). Specific steps, many involving the efforts of the NESC GN&C Technical Discipline Team (TDT), to mitigate these three challenges will be identified and described. This paper will also discuss the need for sustained investments to sufficiently mature the several classes of GN&C technologies required to implement NASA crewed exploration missions beyond LEO, to address future aeronautical system needs, and to conduct robotic spaceflight missions for attaining Earth and Space scientific goals.