Fractionated Spacecraft
image: darpa.mil
Remember how interchangeable parts revolutionized manufacturing in the early 20th century? I do. Also, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and Lincoln was shot in a log cabin.
Well, since the 1980s the world’s smartest and handsomest scientists have been pushing to implement such an idea onto our aging satellite and spacecraft systems.
Fractionated spacecraft are all the buzz in the aerospace industry [pdf]. To oversimplify the concept for the purpose of entertainment in an otherwise dry blog entry, fractionated spacecraft are like Ocean’s 11. Instead of sending one big monolithic satellite to do the job, you send a bunch of smaller specialized components, like Matt Damon and an Asian guy who does acrobatics.
LCROSS
LCROSS - Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
“No, we’re not going to break the moon. But we’re gonna put a dent in it.”
It’s Thursday, June 18th, 2009 and LCROSS is patiently waiting atop an Atlas V-Centaur at Cape Canaveral Florida. Patience is the word of the day. 2700 miles away at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach California, James Wehner, the LCROSS Deputy Program Manager, is taking questions from a roomful of engineers and their families.
LCROSS, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, was a dual build between Northrop Grumman and the NASA Ames Research Center. What was described as a “fast-track, low-cost” project, LCROSS is billed as an overwhelmingly successful display of system engineering. A piggy-back to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), LCROSS was quickly designed and built by Northrop Grumman to fill excess space on NASA’s launch vehicle. Using many recylced and off-the-shelf parts, LCROSS was delivered early this year — on-time and under budget.
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