Jump to content

NASA Seeks Commercial Partner for Robots Aboard Space Station


Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
Posted

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

As NASA continues to enable a sustainable, cost-effective commercial space economy, the agency is seeking partnership proposals for the operations, sustaining engineering, and utilization of Astrobee, a free-flying robotic system aboard the International Space Station.

The Announcement for Partnership Proposal contains instructions and criteria for transferring responsibility of the Astrobee system to a commercial provider. Submissions are due to NASA by Friday, March 21.

Astrobee has operated aboard the space station since 2019, working autonomously or managed by flight controllers or researchers on the ground. Technology like the Astrobee system can help astronauts with routine duties, like inventory or documentation, freeing up time for complex work and additional experiments.

The Astrobee system includes three cube-shaped robots aboard the space station, software, and a docking station for recharging. On the ground, three robots function as flight spares and are used for software and maintenance testing. The system is an important technology demonstration and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics outreach platform.

The robots can fly freely through the station’s microgravity environment, with cameras and sensors to help guide them. Their perching arms can grasp station handrails or grab and hold items. Past experiments involving the Astrobee robots include testing mechanical adhesive technology, mapping the station, and identifying potential life support system issues.

“Astrobee has been a beacon for robotic and autonomous research in space for many years, working with academia and industry partners across our country and internationally,” said Eugene Tu, center director at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, which led the Astrobee project. “We’re excited about the opportunity to continue this mission with a commercial partner.”

As part of the agreement, the commercial partner will provide ground-based testing, equipment, and lab space as needed. The partner will be responsible for the Astrobee system through the end of the space station’s operational life. The commercial partner also will provide milestone objectives and ensure the continued development of Astrobee technology to support the future of commercial space.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth orbit economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars. 

Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and its crew, at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/station

Learn more about NASA Ames’ world-class research and development in aeronautics, science, and exploration technology at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/ames

-end-

Tara Friesen
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley
650-604-4789
tara.l.friesen@nasa.gov

Request for Proposals

https://sam.gov/opp/ad273ca16c3a4068902797f07df543be/view

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Similar Topics

    • By NASA
      Hydrocarbon lake and methane rain clouds on Titan Jenny McElligott/eMITS NASA research has shown that cell-like compartments called vesicles could form naturally in the lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan.
      Titan is the only world apart from Earth that is known to have liquid on its surface. However, Titan’s lakes and seas are not filled with water. Instead, they contain liquid hydrocarbons like ethane and methane. 
      On Earth, liquid water is thought to have been essential for the origin of life as we know it. Many astrobiologists have wondered whether Titan’s liquids could also provide an environment for the formation of the molecules required for life – either as we know it or perhaps as we don’t know it – to take hold there.
      New NASA research, published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, outlines a process by which stable vesicles might form on Titan, based on our current knowledge of the moon’s atmosphere and chemistry. The formation of such compartments is an important step in making the precursors of living cells (or protocells).
      The process involves molecules called amphiphiles, which can self-organize into vesicles under the right conditions. On Earth, these polar molecules have two parts, a hydrophobic (water-fearing) end and a hydrophilic (water-loving) end. When they are in water, groups of these molecules can bunch together and form ball-like spheres, like soap bubbles, where the hydrophilic part of the molecule faces outward to interact with the water, thereby ‘protecting’ the hydrophobic part on the inside of the sphere. Under the right conditions, two layers can form creating a cell-like ball with a bilayer membrane that encapsulates a pocket of water on the inside.
      When considering vesicle formation on Titan, however, the researchers had to take into account an environment vastly different from the early Earth.
      Uncovering Conditions on Titan
      Huygens captured this aerial view of Titan from an altitude of 33,000 feet. ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the second largest in our solar system. Titan is also the only moon in our solar system with a substantial atmosphere.
      The hazy, golden atmosphere of Titan kept the moon shrouded in mystery for much of human history. However, when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, our views of Titan changed forever.
      Thanks to Cassini, we now know Titan has a complex meteorological cycle that actively influences the surface today. Most of Titan’s atmosphere is nitrogen, but there is also a significant amount of methane (CH4). This methane forms clouds and rain, which falls to the surface to cause erosion and river channels, filling up the lakes and seas. This liquid then evaporates in sunlight to form clouds once again.
      This atmospheric activity also allows for complex chemistry to happen. Energy from the Sun breaks apart molecules like methane, and the pieces then reform into complex organic molecules. Many astrobiologists believe that this chemistry could teach us how the molecules necessary for the origin of life formed and evolved on the early Earth.
      Building Vesicles on Titan
      The new study considered how vesicles might form in the freezing conditions of Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes and seas by focusing on sea-spray droplets, thrown upwards by splashing raindrops. On Titan, both spray droplets and the sea surface could be coated in layers of amphiphiles. If a droplet then lands on the surface of a pond, the two layers of amphiphiles meet to form a double-layered (or bilayer) vesicle, enclosing the original droplet. Over time, many of these vesicles would be dispersed throughout the pond and would interact and compete in an evolutionary process that could lead to primitive protocells.
      If the proposed pathway is happening, it would increase our understanding of the conditions in which life might be able to form. 
      “The existence of any vesicles on Titan would demonstrate an increase in order and complexity, which are conditions necessary for the origin of life,” explains Conor Nixon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’re excited about these new ideas because they can open up new directions in Titan research and may change how we search for life on Titan in the future.”
      NASA’s first mission to Titan is the upcoming Dragonfly rotorcraft, which will explore the surface of the Saturnian moon. While Titan’s lakes and seas are not a destination for Dragonfly (and the mission won’t carry the light-scattering instrument required to detect such vesicles), the mission will fly from location to location to study the moon’s surface composition, make atmospheric and geophysical measurements, and characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment.
      News Media Contacts
      Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker This image, taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 14, 2015, is the most accurate natural color image of Pluto. This natural-color image results from refined calibration of data gathered by New Horizons’ color Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC). The processing creates images that would approximate the colors that the human eye would perceive, bringing them closer to “true color” than the images released near the encounter. This single color MVIC scan includes no data from other New Horizons imagers or instruments added. The striking features on Pluto are clearly visible, including the bright expanse of Pluto’s icy, nitrogen-and-methane rich “heart,” Sputnik Planitia.
      Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker
      View the full article
    • By Amazing Space
      Massive Solar Prominence "The Beast" Threatens Eruption? Space Weather Update July 14 2025 NASA SDO
    • By NASA
      The Axiom Mission 4 and Expedition 73 crews join together for a group portrait inside the International Space Station’s Harmony module. In the front row (from left) are Ax-4 crewmates Tibor Kapu, Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski with Expedition 73 crewmates Anne McClain and Takuya Onishi. In the rear are, Expedition 73 crewmates Alexey Zubritskiy, Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, Jonny Kim, and Nichole Ayers.Credit: NASA NASA will provide live coverage of the undocking and departure of the Axiom Mission 4 private astronaut mission from the International Space Station.
      The four-member astronaut crew is scheduled to undock from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at approximately 7:05 a.m. EDT Monday, July 14, pending weather, to begin their return to Earth and splashdown off the coast of California.
      Coverage of departure operations will begin with hatch closing at 4:30 a.m. on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
      Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary, will have spent about two weeks in space at the conclusion of their mission.
      The Dragon spacecraft will return with more than 580 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from over 60 experiments conducted throughout the mission.
      NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
      Monday, July 14
      4:30 a.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+.
      4:55 a.m. – Crew enters spacecraft followed by hatch closing.
      6:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+, Axiom Space, and SpaceX channels.
      7:05 a.m. – Undocking
      NASA’s coverage ends approximately 30 minutes after undocking when space station joint operations with Axiom Space and SpaceX conclude. Axiom Space will resume coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown on the company’s website.
      A collaboration between NASA and ISRO allowed Axiom Mission 4 to deliver on a commitment highlighted by President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first ISRO astronaut to the station. The space agencies participated in five joint science investigations and two in-orbit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics demonstrations. NASA and ISRO have a long-standing relationship built on a shared vision to advance scientific knowledge and expand space collaboration.
      The private mission also carried the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the space station.
      The International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth orbit economy. NASA’s goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
      Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-space
      -end-
      Claire O’Shea
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1100
      claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
      Anna Schneider
      Johnson Space Center, Houston
      281-483-5111
      anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Jul 11, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
      International Space Station (ISS) Commercial Crew Commercial Space Commercial Space Programs Humans in Space ISS Research Johnson Space Center Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
    • By NASA
      The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission sit inside a Dragon training spacecraft at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Pictured from left: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui (Credit: SpaceX). NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is set to launch a four-person crew to the International Space Station later this summer. Some of the crew have volunteered to participate in a series of experiments to address health challenges astronauts may face on deep space missions during NASA’s Artemis campaign and future human expeditions to Mars.
      The research during Crew-11 includes simulated lunar landings, tactics to safeguard vision, and other human physiology studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program.
      Select crew members will participate in a series of simulated Moon landings, before, during, and after their flight. Using a handheld controller and multiple screens, the astronauts will fly through simulated scenarios created to resemble the lunar South Pole region that Artemis crews plan to visit. This experiment allows researchers to evaluate how different gravitational forces may disorient astronauts and affect their ability to pilot a spacecraft, like a lunar lander.
      “Even though many landing tasks are automated, astronauts must still know how to monitor the controls and know when to take over to ensure a safe landing,” said Scott Wood, a neuroscientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston coordinating the scientific investigation. “Our study assesses exactly how changes in gravity affect spatial awareness and piloting skills that are important for navigating these scenarios.”
      A ground control group completing the same tasks over a similar timeframe will help scientists better understand gravitational effects on human performance. The experiment’s results could inform the pilot training needed for future Artemis crews.
      “Experiencing weightlessness for months and then feeling greater levels of gravity on a planet like Mars, for example, may increase the risk of disorientation,” said Wood. “Our goal is to help astronauts adapt to any gravitational change, whether it’s to the Moon, a new planet, or landing back on Earth.”
      Other studies during the mission will explore possible ways to treat or prevent a group of eye and brain changes that can occur during long-duration space travel, called spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS).  
      Some researchers suspect the redistribution of bodily fluids in constant weightlessness may increase pressure in the head and contribute to SANS. One study will investigate fluid pressure on the brain while another will examine how the body processes B vitamins and whether supplements can affect how astronauts respond to bodily fluid shifts. Participating crew members will test whether a daily B vitamin supplement can eliminate or ease symptoms of SANS. Specific crew members also will wear thigh cuffs to keep bodily fluids from traveling headward.
      Crew members also will complete another set of experiments, called CIPHER (Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research), which measures how multiple systems within the human body change in space. The study includes vision assessments, MRI scans, and other medical exams to provide a complete overview of the whole body’s response to long-duration spaceflight.
      Several other studies involving human health and performance are also a part of Crew-11’s science portfolio. Crew members will contribute to a core set of measurements called Spaceflight Standard Measures, which collects physical data and biological samples from astronauts and stores them for other comparative studies. Participants will supply biological samples, such as blood and urine, for a study characterizing how spaceflight alters astronauts’ genetic makeup. In addition, volunteers will test different exercise regimens to help scientists explore what activities remain essential for long-duration journeys.
      After landing, participating crew members will complete surveys to track any discomfort, such as scrapes or bruises, acquired from re-entry. The data will help clarify whether mission length increases injury risks and could help NASA design landing systems on future spacecraft as NASA prepares to travel to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
      NASA’s Human Research Program pursues methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and aboard the International Space Station, the program investigates how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives NASA’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready.
      Explore More
      2 min read NASA Announces Winners of 2025 Human Lander Challenge
      Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA, Australia Team Up for Artemis II Lunar Laser Communications Test
      Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing
      Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
      Living in Space
      Artemis
      Human Research Program
      Space Station Research and Technology
      View the full article
  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...