National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Technology for Discovery
Goddard Memorial Symposium
Erik K. Antonsson, Ph.D.
Corporate Director of Technology
Northrop Grumman
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Technology Drives Exploration*
Images from open source public domain.
* Charles F. Bolden
NASA Administrator
March 11, 2015
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KeplerMission
0
500
1000
1500
2000
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Exoplanets Discovered
1st Exoplanet
Discovered
in 1989
1990 2000 2010 2015
The Search for Life is on…
Howard,
2013
Fra
ctio
n o
f sta
rs w
ith
pla
ne
ts (
P <
50
da
ys)
Planet size (relative to Earth)
Images from either Northrop Grumman Public Release or open source public domain. DSEA # AS-DSEA-15-00353 Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15
Planetary Exploration
MARS
VENUS
JUPITERSATURN
NEPTUNE URANUS
201220041997MARS Rovers
Images from either Northrop Grumman Public Release or open source public domain. DSEA # AS-DSEA-15-00353 Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15
NASA Earth Science MissionsCurrent and Planned
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Source: NASA
Trends: Terabytes of data per day. Opportunities
and need for data fusion, decision support systemsCleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15Images from either Northrop Grumman Public Release or open source public domain. DSEA # AS-DSEA-15-00353 Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15
Next Steps in Astrophysics RequireLarger Apertures ….
• Needs:
– Robotic Assembly
with Progressive
diameter growth /
proximity
operation flying /
additive docking
– Adaptive optics
Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15Images from either Northrop Grumman Public Release or open source public domain. DSEA # AS-DSEA-15-00353 Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15
Search for Life: Science Signatures
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Vegetation
Jump
O P T I C A L V I S I B L E
I N F R A R E D
N E A R I N F R A R E D
Images from either Northrop Grumman Public Release or open source public domain. DSEA # AS-DSEA-15-00353 Cleared for public release; NGAS case 15-0173 dated 2/02/15
Earth Science Instruments
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GSFC/NGES ACE Cloud Radar using Reflector/Reflectarray Technology for wide swath Ka-band profiling
Subscale Antenna for a/c flight demo using CRS
Ka-band AESA Line Array
Reflector/ Reflectarray
W-band Sub-Reflector
Ka-band Sub-Reflector
Thunderstorm anvil cloud imaged at W-band during IPHEX/RaDEX
Antenna Technology For A 3-D
Wide Swath Imaging Radar
Supporting the ACE Mission
Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke
three stages of reaction:
o It’s completely impossible.
o It’s possible, but not worth doing.
o I said it was a good idea all along.
Arthur C. Clarke
Thanks to:
R. Polidan, G. Lee, D. Sokol, K. Griffin, C. Snodgrass
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS)
R. Park, M. Cooley, P. Stenger
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (NGES)
and
L. Bolisay, N. Barnes
L•GARDE, Inc
Paul E. Racette, Gerald Heymsfield, Lihua Li
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)