Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Millisecond X-ray Star Tracker, Phase I
Project Introduction
CrossTrac Engineering, in cooperation with its subcontractors Dr. Suneel Sheikh of ASTER Labs, Inc, and Mr. Paul Graven of Cateni, Inc., proposes to develop a next generation star tracker capable of measuring the attitude of a spacecraft with mill-arcsecond accuracy. This unprecedented improvement in star tracker accuracy is achieved by tracking a single, bright guide star in the deep ultraviolet to soft x-ray bands (1 eV to 10 keV) using a differential measurement of guide star offset angle. The overall field-of-view of the Milli-arcsecond X-ray Star Tracker (MXST) will be limited to a fraction of a degree square with the highest accuracies achieved when the guide star is aligned with the star tracker boresight. This allows a simple, differential measurement to be made of the guide star location relative to the spacecraft coordinate system. By observing guide stars at high energy (short wavelength), the compact star tracker can achieve diffraction limited performance of one milli-arcsecond in a small, compact package.
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Anticipated Benefits
The MXST will provide an unprecedented precision attitude reference for new NASA missions. This novel instrument will enable new missions by providing milli-arcsecond level attitude knowledge for applications such as: ¬ø Missions using clusters of spacecraft to create long baseline, sparse array apertures for probing the universe with increasingly high spatial resolution. The spacecraft in these clusters will require extremely accurate pointing control to the target of interest. ¬ø Planetary missions using laser communications where precise pointing of the laser beam over long distances is necessary ¬ø Extra-solar planet finder missions where ultra-precise position knowledge and stability are required, particularly where a coronograph is employed. ¬ø Space Weather Missions ¬ø Planetary Mapping and Observing Missions We anticipate customers in the Department of Defense being interested in this technology for use on precision pointed platforms for intersatellite optical communication, earth observing systems and precision spacecraft navigation for on-orbit rendezvous. In particular, this instrument will be useful for missions attempting "Distributed RF Communications" whereby several spacecraft in a cluster emit precisely timed and synchronized RF signals to establish and control the positions of nulls and peaks in the RF energy at specific points on the Earth's surface.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrossTrac Engineering, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Mountain View, California |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
California
-
Maryland
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Organization:
- CrossTrac Engineering, Inc.
Responsible Program:
- Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- John Hanson
Project Duration
Start: Feb 2012
End: Aug 2012
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 1 |
| Current: | 3 |
| Estimated End: | 3 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TX17 Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C)
- TX17.4 Attitude Estimation Technologies
- TX17.4.3 Attitude Estimation Sensors
Target Destination
Outside the Solar System
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.