Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US have come up with a new algorithm that could aid in analysing the rotation of objects in space, which will help in cleaning up debris in the geosynchronous orbit.
The algorithm was tested using two small satellites deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) through MIT’s SPHERES project.
One of the SPHERES satellite rotated in place, while the other captured photographs of the spinning satellite.
Researchers will report results of experiments conducted using the algorithm on-board the ISS at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems scheduled to be held from 14-18 September 2014.
MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics principal research scientist Alvar Saenz-Otero said: "There are satellites that are basically dead, that are in the ‘geostationary graveyard,’ a few hundred kilometers from the normal geostationary orbit.
"With over 6,000 satellites operating in space right now, people are thinking about recycling.
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By GlobalData"Can we get to that satellite, observe how it’s spinning, and learn its dynamic behaviour so that we can dock to it?"
Brent Tweddle, an MIT graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics, said that determining the characteristics of a spinning object would be to first design a visual model of it and then base estimates of its position, orientation, linear and angular velocity, and inertial properties.
However, MIT researchers’ new algorithm is claimed to estimate all the characteristics of a spinning object at the same time.
The work is backed by the Nasa and the US Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency.
Image: Artistic view of the International Space Station. Photo: courtesy of Nasa / Jose-Luis Olivares/ MIT.
