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DART Succumbs to Fuel Problems
qw0ntum writes "The AP reports that NASA's experimental DART (Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology) spacecraft mission ended early when the craft's onboard computers detected a fuel-system problem. The craft, which was entirely computer-controlled, came within 300 feet of its target rendezvous target, a Pentagon satelite, before detecting the problem. Despite the failure, mission leaders 'called the mission a partial success because it demonstrated that an entirely computer-controlled craft could find a satellite in space.'"
They really should, in space rendevous is going to be a very important technology in the future, especially when the CEV needs to be assembled in orbit for a trip to the moon or mars, much easier to have it autonomously done.
And this time, launch the thing off of a Falcon 1, not a $30million pegasus.
Well, you can hardly blame NASA for leaving the thing a bit short...
Gas is $2.35 a gallon in Houston !
-- "It's not stalking if you're married!" My Wife.
I consider my recent trip to the bathroom a partial success, too. After all, I SAW the toilet.
Enormous success? Certainly not complete success: the Russians almost lost MIR due to a problem with a Progress resupply spacraft in 1997.
An automated docking spacecraft is a simpler design than DART. DART navigated only by GPS, received no navigation information from the Earth after it launched, and then once the satellite was located it navigated within 300 feet visually. DART failed to navigate within 15 feet and do maneuvers around the satellite prior to going into a parking orbit due to a fuel issue. I think it is obvious that the method that DART was using is much more complicated than used on Progress supply ships (which can count on a beacon from the space station and additional information from the Earth--not to mention a manual override).
The difference between DART and Progress is that Progress requires ground and space support in order to dock. DART requires neither. In the future, if a successful DART 2 mission occurs, it may be possible to launch a spacecraft and forget about it until it docks or performs its mission (like a computer program). This could reduce costs for automated spacecraft (logisitics costs).