Robust Periodic Planning and Execution for Autonomous Spacecraft

Abstract

The New Millennium Remote Agent (NMRA) will be the first on-board AI system to control an actual spacecraft. The spacecraft domain raises a number of challenges for planning and execution, ranging from extended agency and long-term planning to dynamic recoveries and robust concurrent execution, all in the presence of tight real-time deadlines, changing goals, scarce resource constraints, and a wide variety of possible failures. NMRA is one of the first systems to integrate closed-loop planning and execution of concurrent temporal plans. It is also the first autonomous system that will be able to achieve a sustained, multi-stage, multiyear mission without communication or guidance from earth. 1 Introduction We are developing the first on-board AI system to control an actual spacecraft. The mission, Deep Space One (DS-1), is the first in NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP), an aggressive series of technology demonstrations intended to push Space Exploration into the 21st century. DS-1 ...