Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office

Robotic Refueling Mission

1. Launch Lock Removal & Vision	2. Gas Fittings Removal	3. Refueling	4. SMA Cap Removal	5. Screw Removal	6. Thermal Blanket Manipulation	RRM Phase II
COMPLETE						Summer 2013

Learn about the latest RRM activities completed in May 2013:

Recent RRM Milestones:

05.10.2013 - NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission Practices New Satellite-Servicing Tasks

02.08.2013 - NASA's Refueling Demonstration Proves Viability of Satellite-Servicing Technologies

02.08.2013 - NASA's Successful Robotic Refueling Demo Points to a Bright Satellite-Servicing Future

What is RRM?

The Robotic Refueling Mission is an International Space Station demonstration that proves the tools, technologies and techniques to refuel and repair satellites in orbit - especially satellites not designed to be serviced.

RRM gives NASA and the emerging commercial satellite servicing industry the confidence to robotically refuel, repair and maintain satellites in both near and distant orbits - well beyond the reach of where humans can go today.

Why is NASA Testing Robotic Servicing Technologies?

Since 2009, SSCO has been aggressively advancing the robotic technologies for a notional free-flying servicer spacecraft that could access, repair and refuel satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO. RRM is a critical part of this technology development campaign.

Located about 22,000 miles above Earth, GEO is home to more than 400 satellites, many of which deliver such essential services as weather reports, cell phone communications, television broadcasts, government communications and air traffic management.

By developing robotic capabilities to repair and refuel GEO satellites, NASA hopes to add precious years of functional life to satellites and expand options for operators who face unexpected emergencies, tougher economic demands and aging fleets. NASA also hopes that RRM technologies will help boost the commercial satellite-servicing industry that is rapidly gaining momentum.

How RRM Works

RRM consists of the "RRM module" and four RRM Tools. The International Space Station's twin-armed Canadian "Dextre" robot acts as a skilled spacecraft refueling and servicing technician.

During operations, controllers on the ground remotely control Dextre to reach into the RRM module and pick up RRM tools. Dextre then goes to work on RRM's components and activity boards, demonstrating such servicing tasks such as cutting and peeling back protective thermal blankets, unscrewing caps, turning valves, and transferring fluid.

RRM Tools

Designed by NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, the same team that developed astronaut tools for the Hubble Servicing Missions, the four unique RRM tools cut and manipulate wires, unscrew caps, open and close valves, and transfer fluid.

Tasks

Now that the RRM is securely mounted onto the International Space Station, the operations team is dedicating the next two years to demonstrating robotic servicing and refueling and repair tasks using the RRM module and Dextre. See a breakdown of RRM's tasks.

The RRM Module

The RRM team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center broke down robotic servicing activities into distinct, testable tasks, then built the cube-shaped RRM module to contain the components, activity boards, and tools to practice them.

The module is about the size of a washing machine and weighs approximately 550 pounds, with dimensions of 33" by 43" by 45." RRM includes 0.45 gallon (1.7 liters) of ethanol to demonstrate fluid transfer in orbit. Protective thermal blankets, caps, valves, simulated fuel, and other spacecraft components allow the team to practice a wide range of satellite-servicing tasks.

[Above] On July 12, 2011, spacewalking astronauts successfully transferred the RRM module from the Atlantis shuttle cargo bay to an temporary platform on the ISS's Dextre robot. [full gallery]

Schedule at a Glance
September 6-7, 2011
+ Launch Lock Removal and Vision

March 7-9 and June 19-22, 2012
+ Gas Fittings Removal, Parts I and II

January 14-25, 2013
+ Refueling

May 1-3 and 6-10, 2013
+ SMA cap removal
+ Screw Removal
+ Thermal Blanket Manipulation

Summer 2013 and early 2014
+ New RRM tools and taskboards launch to orbit

Summer 2013 - into 2015
+ RRM - Phase 2

Results To Date

SMA Cap Removal Robotically removed tiny coaxial radio frequency connector caps, demonstrating the first task that a servicer would need to perform to plug into a satellite to diagnose system problems.

Screw Removal Unscrewed fasteners using a robotic "space power screwdriver." The screws were secured with a specialized cage inspired by technology used for the fourth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Thermal Blanket Manipulation Performed precision cuts and careful manipulation of thermal blanketing. Used on satellites to protect components and interfaces, this blanketing would need to be removed and replaced to complete many repairs.

Launch Lock Removal and Vision task Collected data to produce customized machine vision algorithms that could tackle multiple lighting disturbances during a robotic servicing mission

Gas Fittings Removal task Proved that remotely controlled robots and specialized tools can successfully perform extremely precise satellite-servicing tasks in space. More than 70 feet worth of teleoperated robotics cut wires the thickness of four sheets of paper with minimal clearance.

Refueling task Confirmed that current-day robotic technology can refuel the common, triple-sealed satellite fuel valves of orbiting satellites

What Makes RRM Unique?

First demo to test the robotic refueling of satellite interfaces not designed to be accessed or serviced. The Orbital Refueling System tested by astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan during the 1984 STS-41-G shuttle flight and DARPA's robotic Orbital Express Mission were very successful, but had different objectives.

First use of the International Space Station's Dextre robot for technology research and development

Operations completely controlled from the ground

RRM tools execute activities at the end of more than 70 feet (21.34 meters) of combined Dextre and Canadarm2 robotics

Launch and Mounting on ISS

The shuttle Atlantis carried RRM to the International Space Station on July 8, 2011 during STS-135, the last shuttle mission. Spacewalking astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan then transferred RRM onto a temporary platform on Dextre on July 12, 2011. RRM is the last payload an astronaut ever removed from a shuttle cargo bay.

On September 2, 2011, Canadarm2 and the Dextre robot transferred RRM to its permanent location on space station, the ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Logistics Carrier-4.

Mission Operations

RRM operations are entirely remote controlled by flight controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Johnson Space Center in Houston, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Canadian Space Agency's control center in St. Hubert, Quebec.

Development and Testing

Each RRM task requires a high level of robotic precision and demonstrates state-of-the-art technology, tools, and techniques. RRM maneuvers, tools and algorithms were tested and verified in the Goddard Satellite Servicing Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.