
NASA is testing out a new spacecraft model that can predict where spacecraft might land before they crash into the ocean.
The new model, called the Space-Cafe Model, was developed by the Aerospace Corporation, the agency’s space technology arm.
It simulates how a spacecraft might react to a sudden, unexpected loss of pressure, as well as how it might behave under extreme conditions.
The model was developed to aid in space agency planning, said Michael Wieden, a senior adviser to the agency.
“When we’re doing things like that, we want to know what’s going to happen,” he said.
Wieden said the model was a joint effort between NASA and Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense firm.
The model uses a combination of sensors to track the spacecraft and the software to simulate the spacecraft’s movements.
It uses a large number of simulations that simulate the motion of the spacecraft.
The spacecraft model can provide some answers to questions such as:Will the spacecraft crash into a mountain?
Will it crash into an ocean?
Will it hit a reef?
The model also offers an overview of how the spacecraft might behave in an environment where pressure drops.
It also offers information on the location of the crash site.NASA is considering whether to send a crew to the space station for a test run, Wiedens said.
The agency plans to use the model for its own future missions.NASA also is developing its own model to help determine the effectiveness of future deep-space missions.
NASA has begun testing the SpaceCafe model on several different missions, Wiesen said.
That includes an asteroid-hunting mission called Cometary Explorer, a flyby of Jupiter that will involve an instrument that can measure Jupiter’s gravity.NASA has also begun using the model to predict the size of asteroid impacts, Wieens said, though the agency hasn’t tested it.
The goal is to develop a better understanding of the effects that impact has on asteroids.
The SpaceCafe Model will be deployed at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in Moffett Field, Calif., as part of NASA’s Space Systems Research Laboratory, a division of the agency that develops and manages satellites.
NASA also has an ongoing mission called Asteroid Mission, that will attempt to explore potential impacts on asteroids in the asteroid belt.NASA’s Space Launch System, the rocket that launched Orion and Dragon, is expected to fly in 2017 and 2021.