Design of the Automated Rendezvous and Capture Docking System

This paper describes the Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) system that was designed and is being tested at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The AR&C system incorporates some of the latest innovations in Global Positioning System (GPS), laser sensor technologies and automated mission sequencing algorithms as well as the capability for ground and crew monitoring and commanding. This paper summarizes the variety of mission scenarios supported by the AR&C system. It also describes the major components of the AR&C system including the Guidance, Navigation and Control system, GPS receivers, relative navigation filter and the Video Guidance Sensor. A discussion of the safety and reliability issues confronted during the design follows. By designing a safe and robust automated system, space mission operations cost can be reduced by decreasing the number of ground personnel required for the extensive mission design, preflight planning and training typically required for rendezvous and docking missions.