Abstract: General Dynamics has been developing an Autonomous Rendezvous Docking and Landing (ARD&L) system that utilizes cruise missile technologies. In November 1990 the Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) system was first demonstrated for members of NASA's Strategic Avionics Technology Working Group (SATWG). This simulation utilized prototype hardware from the Cruise Missile and Advanced Centaur Avionics systems. The objective was to show that all the accuracy, reliability, and operational requirements established for a spacecraft to dock with Space Station Freedom could be met by the proposed system. Rapid prototyping techniques were used to evaluate the proposed system in a real time, hardware in the loop simulation of the rendezvous and docking reference mission. The simulation is currently being upgraded to test an Autonomous Approach and Landing (AA&L) system. Both systems use inertial guidance and control systems supplemented by the Global Positioning System (GPS) and an Image Processing System (IPS), for target recognition and tracking. The IPS includes a general purpose multiprocessor computer and a selected suite of sensors that will provide the required relative position and orientation data. Graphic displays can provide the astronaut/operator with realtime guidance and navigation data with enhanced video or sensor imagery. !3
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