Ground control station development for the dexterous orbital servicing system

Abstract

The development of a ground control station for Earth based control of the dexterous orbital servicing system (DOSS) is described. The DOSS flight test program provides a manipulator which is mounted on a multi-purpose experiment support structure (MPESS) in a Space Shuttle payload bay and may execute tasks from the MPESS or while held by the SSRMS manipulator. The DOSS demonstrates the ability to perform dexterous robotic operations both from an on-board control station and from an Earth-based control station. The initial prototype ground control station for DOSS is described.