NASA ‘Nose’ Importance of Humans, Robots Exploring Together
April 19, 2019 | NASAEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
NASA is sending humans forward to the Moon, this time to stay. Upcoming expeditions to the Moon will require making every moment of astronaut time outside the safety of the Gateway in orbit and lunar lander system on the surface count. Robotics will enable lunar crews to do more while minimizing their risk.
NASA’s Satellite Servicing Projects Division is teaming up with the International Space Station to develop the technologies for this kind of astronaut-robotic collaboration, and tomorrow is launching a Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL) aboard Cygnus on Northrop Grumman’s 11th Commercial Resupply Services mission.
Spacecraft and habitats rely on extensive cooling systems. Just as coolant in a car is used to cool its engine, ammonia is circulated through a huge system of pumps, reservoirs and radiators on station to cool its complex life support systems, spacecraft equipment and science experiments. RELL is a “sniffer,” or a robotic, remote-controlled tool that helps mission operators detect the location of external ammonia leaks on space station and rapidly confirm a successful repair.
The Robotic External Leak Locator flight unit before launch.
“RELL capabilities help mitigate the risk of the potentially severe impacts to the space station presented by an external ammonia leak,” said Christopher Craw, ISS Senior Systems Integration Lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
When it arrives at ISS, this will be the second RELL on board and will serve as a spare. The first flight RELL is already on board station where it successfully located a leak in one of these systems, significantly reducing astronaut time required outside of station to inspect and repair the leak.
“The decision to build and fly another flight unit seemed like the obvious choice to ensure this capability was going to be available to the ISS Program through the rest of spacecraft’s life,” said Adam Naids, ISS Hardware Development Engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Astronaut Shane Kimbrough with RELL aboard the International Space Station.
After Cygnus delivers the second RELL to station, the plan is to store the unit until an ammonia leak is detected. Then, a game of “hot and cold” would begin. Affixed to the Canadian Space Agency’s Dextre robot arm, RELL would be moved around the outside of station using its mass spectrometer “sniffer” to locate ammonia leaks. When RELL is directed toward a leak, it returns a higher signal. The higher the signal, the closer the leak. This process allows RELL to pinpoint the source of any given ammonia leak, giving space station managers the information they need to understand and correct the problem.
Before RELL, astronauts manually searched for leaks on spacewalks, which always carry an element of risk. The Leak Locator that is currently stationed in-orbit has proven its worth, paving the way for the second unit.
Both RELL units will eventually be stored in the Robotics Tool Stowage, or RiTS, which is still in development. Once installed to the outside of station, RiTS will store the instruments so they are available when needed to track down a leak.
The RELL design includes two sensors: a mass spectrometer and a total pressure gauge.
Page 1 of 2
Suggested Items
AI-equipped Robots Help Logistics Industry to Fight Labor Shortages
03/13/2024 | IFRThe global logistics industry serves as a backbone of international trade - representing about 10 percent of the world´s GDP.
LG Makes Strategic Investment in Bear Robotics
03/12/2024 | PRNewswireLG Electronics (LG) is making a strategic investment move to expedite the advancement of its capabilities in service robotics, a key new business area of the company.
Top 5 Robot Trends 2024
02/15/2024 | IFRThe stock of operational robots around the globe hit a new record of about 3.9 million units. This demand is driven by a number of exciting technological innovations. The International Federation of Robotics reports about the top 5 automation trends in 2024:
AUKUS Defense Scientists Test Robotic Vehicles
02/06/2024 | U.S. DoDDefense scientists from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States collaboratively tested a range of robotic vehicles and their sensors during a trial at Cultana Training Area, South Australia. The Trusted Operation of Robotic Vehicles in a Contested Environment (TORVICE) trial was conducted in fall 2023 to identify and resolve vulnerabilities faced by autonomous systems in a congested electronic warfare environment.
Global Robotics Race: Korea, Singapore and Germany in the Lead
01/10/2024 | IFRDriven by the high volume of industrial robot installations, the world hit a new record of 3.9 million operational robots in 2022.