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Automated Rendezvous & Docking (AR&D)
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HOME ::: NEWS ::: Orbital Express
Update: Take a look at a video taken from the arm of the spacecraft, during an in-space inspection, click here to view.
Marshall-developed automated rendezvous and docking technology to be tested in space
02.05.2007
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On March 8, 2007 - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Boeing Company of Huntington Beach, Calif., and NASA launched the Orbital Express satellite servicing demonstrator -- an innovative solution to the long-sought automated rendezvous and docking capabilities that could dramatically enhance government, military and commercial missions in space.
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Orbital Express Flight
| "The goal of Orbital Express is to demonstrate on-orbit refueling, component exchange and satellite repair -- all without a human operator," said engineer James Lee of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. He's the project manager at the Marshall Center for NASA's Orbital Express Advanced Video Guidance Sensor, or AVGS, the compact, state-of-the-art system that will sub for a human pilot during portions of the Orbital Express mission. |
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For a complete report on the Orbital Express test flight and its value to the future of NASA's exploration mission, visit Science@NASA.gov:
+ SCIENCE@NASA Story
+ An audio version of the story
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