Tug rendezvous and docking with a spacecraft - A remote manned approach

The development and use of a visual simulator for remote-manned rendezvous and docking utilizing frame-by-frame, slow-scan, low-light-level TV (LLLTV) was conceived and initiated in mid-1974. The effort was limited to modification, checkout, and validation of simulator hardware specific to this task, to the development of simulation (digital computer) software, and technical support to several rendezvous and docking simulation studies. Analysis and simulation has shown that LLLTV, such as would be required for satellite inspection, could provide a suitable acquisition sensor for a remote manned rendezvous/docking subsystem. A manned, remote simulation has demonstrated its feasibility during the terminal rendezvous and docking phases. Should this approach prove fully adequate in subsequent detailed simulation studies and tests, an order-of-magnitude cost savings can be obtained for early rendezvous and docking operations.