Space Jargon
Out There
Satellite Basics
Robots in Space
Servicing
100
How repair robots SENSE when far away.
What are visible light cameras (monocular or stereo vision)
100
This keeps an astronaut moving after the thruster’s turn off.
What is inertia.
100
This toxic compound powers many satellites in space.
What is hydrazine.
100
Moving and grappling are examples of this robotics requirement.
What is ACT
100
Stripped bolts cause astronauts to do this to space hard hardware.
What is rip it off by hand.
200
A repair robot waits here in space until it has a job to do.
What is a parking orbit.
200
The name of the repairing robot on the International Space Station.
What is DEXTRE
200
The parameter that is most carefully managed in spacecraft design.
What is weight or mass.
200
The robotics “requirement” involved in calculating the distance to an object.
What is THINK
200
The trickiest part of a repair robot’s job.
What is initial capture.
300
The requirement to have a solution plus two back of plans.
What is 2-fault tolerant
300
In addition to being pressurized and providing oxygen to breathe, the spacesuit protect the astronauts from this.
What are extreme temperature flucutuations.
300
There is one in your cell phone and space robots and satellites use them to sense their own motion.
What is an accelerometer.
300
Dumb, dirty and dangerous.
What are jobs that robots are best for.
300
The approximate number of specialized tools developed for Hubble Servicing Mission 4.
What is 100.
400
400-500 satellites orbit here at 22,000 miles.
What is geosynchronous orbit.
400
The approximate distance above the Earth’s surface in which the International Space Station orbits.
What is 200 miles
400
This is one difficult and dangerous job for robots in space because of the toxic chemicals involved.
What is refueling on orbit (Robotic Refueling Mission)
400
DEXTRE communicates with a human while working and thus is an example of this.
What is supervised autonomy.
400
The astronauts and robots experience this at the top of the parabolic flight path.
What is microgravity (weightlessness, almost).
500
The name of the simulator test pad in the Robotics Lab at Goddard.
What is "rotopod."
500
The limiting factor for making DEXTER completely autonomous.
What is the melting temperature of solder.
500
Materials that send a signal right back to where it came from, like a road sign.
What is retroreflective.
500
The laser sensor is used to calculate distance but measures this.
What is the time for the light signal to travel to the object and bounce back to sensor
500
The main reason for replacing outdated or faulty hardware, rather than sending up new spacecraft.
What is the cost of servicing compared to launching.
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