An Astronaut Positioning System for Space Station Assembly and Maintenance Support
Large space structures require special systems to support assembly, operations, and maintenance. These systems must be designed to support many tasks throughout the life of the space facility....
Space Station Freedom Attached Payloads and Commercialization
The Space Station Freedom (SSF) accommodates a class of payloads called external attached payloads. These payloads are attached to the main truss of Space Station Freedom through the use...
Technology Needs Development and Orbital Support Requirements for Manned Lunar and Mars Missions
This paper will present an overview of the critical technology needs and the Space Station Freedom (SSF) focused support requirements for the Office of Exploration's (OEXP)...
Space Transportation Node: The Atrium Facility
During the next thirty years the infrastructure of space transportation is expected to expand to a system of advanced vehicles. A transportation node is an important link, as a vehicle...
MALEO: Modular Assembly in Low Earth Orbit: An Alternate Strategy for Lunar Base Deployment
Modular Assembly in Low Earth Orbit (MALEO) is a new strategy for building an initial operational capability lunar habitation base. In this strategy, the lunar base components are brought...
Automated Manufacturing in Platform-Based Orbital Systems (APROPOS)
As an example of an orbital manufacturing scenario, an automated orbital manufacturing system is designed for the production of turbine blades for high pressure turbines. The target here...
Site Constraints for a Lunar Base
A rigorous site plan is a prerequisite for quantitative analyses of lunar base operations. The development of such a site plan, done for a detailed lunar base study (RLSO, 89), is described...
A Robotics Testbed for In-Space Assembly Tasks
The operations testbed of the Center for Space Construction at the University of Colorado is described. This testbed serves as a centralized testing environment for interdisciplinary research...
Explosive Metal Working for Space
As the United States looks towards larger and larger lift vehicles for the transportation of the space station and other large payloads, the application of explosive metalworking becomes...
Motion Control of Space Structures
A new area of civil engineering is emerging as we begin to establish a permanent presence in space. The new area of civil engineering is the motion control of space structures. This paper...
Effects of Initial Conditions on Large Space Structures
Effects of initial conditions of axial deformation (length) and attitude (pitch) angle have been investigated on the subsequent orbital motion, attitude (librational) motion, and axial...
Space Construction: A CSI Perspective
This paper outlines the control structure interaction (CSI) problem for space construction engineers. An overview of the Control Astrophysics and Structures Experiment in Space (CASES)...
An Introduction to Pressurized Volumes in Space
Space habitation designers come from diverse backgrounds. As it is human nature to emphasize that which is familiar, habitat design is strongly influenced by the designer's...
Space-Based Control of the Climate
The expected global greenhouse warming of 2 ?C may be reversed by a space-based screen that intercepts 3% of the incident solar radiation. Space-based devices may also mitigate the ozone/UV...
Antarctic Testbed for Extraterrestrial Operation and Technology
A remote and harsh environment, Antarctica has areas which are more similar to the Moon and Mars than anywhere else on Earth. The physical similarities, coupled with strong parallels between...
A Center for Extraterrestrial Engineering and Construction (CETEC)
The Center for Extraterrestrial Engineering and Construction (CETEC) has been envisioned as an organization, a center of knowledge and information, and a set of experimental test facilities....
Biosphere II: Closed Ecological Systems Engineering
This paper provides a general description of the Biosphere II project - a 3.15 acre materially closed ecological system containing tropical rainforest, savannah, marsh, marine, desert,...
National Aero-Space Plane Pioneering New Frontiers
Paper reviews the current status, technology and potential future space launch applications of the joint DOD/NASA National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program. Key program goals include first...
Lunar Base Power Requirements, Options & Growth
A preliminary study of lunar base scenarios and associated power requirements has recently been completed. Minimum power levels of 50-100 kW are required for 'science-only'...
A Prototype Model for Human/Automation Trade-offs
Future space construction missions will involve both human and machine constructors. Selection of the optimum constructor mix requires a model of constructor capabilities and requirements....
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