Dynamic and Static Behavior of a Flexible Fuel Hose in Zero-G

The NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) will conduct an investigation of the behavior of a flexible fuel hose in a near-zero gravity environment. The inner core of these types of fuel hose consist of a long corrugated metal tube that is very stiff to torsion along its longitudinal axis. As a result, this type of hose can be a challenge to manipulate, sometimes resulting in the buildup of forces and torques in a robot arm, and occasionally resulting in breakage of the inner core of the fuel hose. Laboratory tests have produced handling measures to prevent this from occurring, but gravitational sag prevents a clear understanding about the effectiveness of these measures in the microgravity of Earth’s orbit.

This effort is related to T0009-P Autonomous Robotic Capture to Validate Ground-Based Contact Dynamics Simulation. More »