April 4, 2008
Jules Verne Auto-Docking
Well, I have been a bit behind in posting anything in a while, but perhaps now with the Mechatronics demo behind me, I will have a bit more time.
In the meantime, some very interesting technological feats have happened, and one I thought to bring to your attention was the automated docking of the Jules Verne space truck to the International Space Station.
After assessing results of two days of trial maneuvers around the station, including having the two craft close to within 36 feet of one another, the Mission Management Team of international partners in the project gave approval for an attempt on Thursday to link the ships.
The Jules Verne, named for the visionary French author, is the first of a new class of robot station supply ships called Automatic Transfer Vehicles or A.T.V.’s. The robot ship was built by the member nations of the European Space Agency as one of Europe’s major contributions to the international station.
[...]
The ship is to maneuver and dock itself automatically using Global Positioning System satellite navigation, as well as a new optical guidance system for close approach to the station. A twin laser system is to fire pulses of light at reflectors positioned on the end of Zvezda to determine the craft’s orientation, distance and closing rate to the space station.
It seems the Russians have been doing this since 1985, but it is still very exciting to see happen.
Posted by elkaim at April 4, 2008 8:52 PM