THE MAJOR RESEARCH FOCUS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO ADVANCE THE STATE OF THE ART OF AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION OF MANNED SPACE VEHICLES BEYOND EARTH ORBIT ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON AND MARS. AUTONOMOUS DEEP SPACE NAVIGATION AVOIDS THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE GROUND. THE WORK DEVELOPS ABSOLUTE AS WELL AS RELATIVE NAVIGATION SOLUTIONS. BOTH THESE RESEARCH AREAS FIND GREAT APPLICABILITY IN NASA S FUTURE ORION MISSIONS WHICH ARE PLANNED TO TAKE HUMANS TO DEEP SPACE AND RENDEZVOUS OUTSIDE OF LOW OR MID EARTH ORBITS.

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators