SPHERES-derived Mars Orbiting Sample Retrieval Testbed (SPHERES MOSR)

We propose to modify the Synchronized Position Hold Engage Re-orient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) system to support the development of Mars orbiting sample retrieval (MOSR) techniques for a Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The SPHERES system, an innovative spacecraft flight testbed developed by Payload Systems Inc. and the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, is currently scheduled for its first mission aboard the International Space Station in May 2003 to demonstrate metrology, formation flying, and autonomy algorithms. The effort proposed here would adapt the SPHERES system for a follow-on mission to the ISS to serve as a testbed for MSR autonomous software technologies, including target search, acquisition, rendezvous, and capture operations as would be involved in the retrieval of a sample lofted into Mars orbit. The MSR mission has been proposed for the NASA Mars Exploration Program, and, if approved, would be conducted sometime in the second decade of this century. The autonomous retrieval of the orbiting sample (OS) is one of the most technically complex and risky aspects of the MSR mission. The SPHERES MOSR testbed would streamline OS retrieval algorithm and hardware development, and significantly reduce the risk of this critical MSR mission operation.