Communications, Navigation And In-Space ... - TomTom GPS Review

WASHINGTON,
Aug. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ? NASA has selected three proposals as Technology Demonstration Missions to transform space communications, deep space navigation and in-space propulsion capabilities. The projects will develop and fly a space solar sail, deep space atomic clock, and space-based optical communications system.

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These crosscutting flight demonstrations were selected because of their potential to provide tangible, near-term products and infuse high-impact capabilities into NASA?s future space operations missions. By investing in high payoff, disruptive technology that the industry does not have today, NASA matures the technology required for its future missions while proving the capabilities and lowering the cost of government and commercial space activities.

?These technology demonstration missions will improve our communications, navigation and in-space propulsion capabilities, enable future missions that could not otherwise be performed, and build the technological capability of America?s space industry,? said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. ?Optical communication will enable rapid return of the voluminous data associated with sending spacecraft and humans to new frontiers. High-performance atomic clocks enable a level of spacecraft navigation precision and autonomous operations in deep space never before achieved, and solar sails enable new space missions through highly efficient station-keeping or propellant-less main propulsion capabilities for spacecraft.?

The proposals selected for demonstration missions are:? Laser Communications Relay Demonstration,
David J. Israel, principal investigator at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md.? Deep Space Atomic Clock,
Todd Ely, principal investigator at the
California Institute of Technology/NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif.? Beyond the Plum Brook Chamber; An In-Space Demonstration of a Mission-Capable Solar Sail,
Nathan Barnes, principal investigator at L?Garde Inc., of
Tustin, Calif.

Technology Demonstration Missions are a vital element in NASA?s space technology maturation pipeline. They prove feasibility in the environment of space and help advance innovations from

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Article Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/11226845/communications-navigation-and-in-space-propulsion-technologies-selected-for-nasa-flight-demonstration.html

Source: http://www.tomtomgpsreview.com/communications-navigation-and-in-space-propulsion-technologies-selected-for-nasa-flight-demonstration/

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