NASA autopilot test suffers crippling flaw

[drwayne]

Found here:<br /><br />http://www.spaceflightnow.com/pegasus/dart/<br /><br />NASA's $110 million high-risk, high-tech demonstration of a space autopilot for future human spaceships and robotic cargo craft closed within 300 feet of its target Friday night, then inexplicably ran out of fuel to the dismay of helpless engineers on the ground. <br /><br />The Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology was propelled into polar orbit aboard an air-launched Pegasus rocket off the coast of California at 1727 GMT (10:27 a.m. local time; 1:27 p.m. EDT) Friday, beginning a day-long mission entirely without human assistance. <br /><br />Dubbed DART for short, the sophisticated 800-pound, 6-foot spacecraft was equipped with a scifi-like "brain" and "eye" to smartly chase down a target satellite and maneuver within feet of the object devoid of any input from mission control. <br /><br />A half-hour into the flight, DART flew over the McMurdo tracking station in Antarctica and relayed initial data. Although engineers could not issue commands to the satellite, they were anxiously awaiting any and all information from the craft to assess the mission's progress. <br /><br />The satellite completed a checkout of its systems and instruments, which appeared normal. In hindsight, officials said there were some navigation errors beyond what was expected. <br /><br />"About 30 minutes in the mission, we went into our on-orbit checkout. We had all of the instruments powered up. Then we got a pass over McMurdo," Jim Snoddy, DART project manager from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, told reporters in a teleconference today. "The first event that we consider anomalous was we had higher than anticipated navigation errors that we observed after the first McMurdo pass over upon completion of the on-orbit checkout." <br /><br />But DART flew on successfully over the next 7 hours or so, executing the rendezvous phase of the mission <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

Thanks for the update. I will spare you any gratiuitous expressions of shock, dismay or humor.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[davp99]

It was a Success, <br /><br />in my book anyways,<br /><br />baby steps, but at least we are Finally taking them..<br /><br />GO NASA ~! <br /><br />Thanks for the Updates S_G Ironman <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="4">Dave..</font> </div>

 

[halman]

This would seem to me to be an excellent example of the old adage, "Penny wise, pound foolish." This mission was under such budget constraints that continuious telemetry was impossible. We seem to have learned something from this mission, but the cost of the failure analysis will far excede what the cost of continuious telemetry would have been. If lack of data from the spacecraft prevents specific failure to be isolated, we will have learned more about mis-management then about autonomous control systems.<br /><br />A last minute software change is certainly an ill omen. How ironic that a multi-million dollar mission might have been doomed because the computer thought that it only had 4 liters of propellant left when it really had 4 gallons. (Just kidding! But one has to wonder.)<br /><br />Increasingly, I am getting the feeling that the United States is courting disaster by trying to do space on the cheap. This is something where the penalty for cutting corners is much steeper than it would be on Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>

 

[vogon13]

Sure is disappointing if it is confirmed to be software related. All that good hardware wasted over some bad code. <br /><br />It seems like we already know as much as we need to know about bad code, maybe we should try working with good code for a change. See what happens. It could be like an experiment or test or something. If it turns out to be a good thing, maybe we could require its' use everywhere.<br /><br />Looks like we are going to have bad code until bad coders are (get the Daleks ready) EX...TER...MIN...ATED...! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

"Looks like we are going to have bad code until bad coders are (get the Daleks ready) EX...TER...MIN...ATED...!"<br /><br />Actually, it sounds like the issue wasn't the coders so much as it was a last minute change to the software, apparently demanded by management. Management that does not understand the software process, the timelines for testing, the process for V&V - yet *think* they do - well...<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

I just had to re-install Windows XP. I expect to be 'touchy' about software for quite awhile. Also, Bill Gates may wish to be extra suspicious of any squids that approach him, especially if they are holding a tub of vaseline.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[drwayne]

lol at work...<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[halman]

After all the years of learning, how easily do we forget! Telemetry has been essential in saving missions and rescuing hardware, as well as reconstructing what went wrong. Without data, figuring out if code was the problem will be hard. Tracking data will reveal a lot, but only after extensive analysis. I hope that this type of cost saving measure is never taken again. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>