Supported Projects
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
The LRO mission is the first mission in NASA's Robotic Lunar Exploration program. The LRO spacecraft will provide detailed mapping of the moon for future missions, and will validate new technologies for use in those missions.
the Hammers Company, Inc. is working with the Goddard Space Flight Center to design and develop the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) flight software for the mission. Additionally, the Hammers Company, Inc. is providing several ITOS systems to the LRO mission experimenters to help them test their instruments before launch.
Earth Observing - 1 (EO-1)
EO-1 was the first New Millennium Program (NMP) Earth observing mission, and was designed to demonstrate new technologies in orbit, such as the Light-Weight Flexible Solar Array, Enhanced Formation Flying, the Pulsed Plasma Thruster, and the X-Band Phased Array Antenna. EO-1 was planned as a one-year mission, but has been operating continuously since its launch in November 2000. In the extended mission, additional technologies have been validated on board, including the On-board Cloud Cover Detection software and the Autonomous Science Experiment (ASE) software.
the Hammers Company, Inc. was responsible for designing, developing and testing the attitude control system (ACS) flight software, and the attitude control electronics (ACE) flight software before launch. After launch, the Hammers Company, Inc. has been responsible for maintenance of all flight software on the Command & Data Handling (C&DH) processor (including the ACS software), and the ACE software. The Hammers Company is also responsible for maintenance of the flight software development lab located at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
Space Technology 7 / Disturbance Reduction
System
The ST-7/DRS mission is designed to demonstrate that a solid body can float in space completely undisturbed. The mission will apply new technologies to detect small disturbance and issue small corrections to allow a test mass to float with no external disturbances. The technologies validated in the mission will be applied to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). ST-7/DRS is an instrument flying on the European Space Agency's (ESA) LISA Pathfinder mission.
the Hammers Company, working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, is responsible for providing the Dynamic Control System (DCS) software portion of the ST-7/DRS experiment to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. the Hammers Company is developing and testing the DCS software based on GSFC control algorithms, and providing this software to JPL for integration into the experiment.
SECCHI Description
The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) instrument hosts five observing telescopes (an Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI), two Coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), and two Heliospheric Imager (HI-1 and HI-2) telescopes) and one Guide Telescope (GT). With SECCHI, solar scientists will be able to determine the causes and characteristics of the explosive coronal mass ejections from the sun and observe their travel through the heliosphere toward the Earth.
There have been two SECCHI instruments developed. They are the primary payload of two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft to be launched August/September 2006. The pair of STEREO spacecraft will be in solar orbits with one spacecraft advancing ahead of the Earth and the other lagging behind the Earth. Observing schedules on the two spacecraft will be synchronized to produce three-dimensional images of solar activity after images are combined by ground processing capabilities.
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
Launched in November 1997 as a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), TRMM provides data on rainfall and heat release associated with rainfall in the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the earth.
the Hammers Company, Inc., was responsible for designing and developing the Attitude Control System (ACS) flight software and the Attitude Control Electronics (ACE) flight software for the TRMM mission.
SCISAT-1
SCISAT was launched by NASA in 2003. The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) as the scientific mission of SCISAT. The major scientific goal of the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) mission is to measure and understand the chemical processes that control the distribution of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere, especially at high latitudes. The data that will be recorded as SCISAT orbits the Earth will help Canadian scientists and policy makers to assess existing environmental policy, and to develop protective measures for improving the health of our atmosphere and preventing further ozone depletion.
The Hammers Company has supplied ITOS to the SCISAT-1 project of the Canadian Space Agency. ITOS was used for spacecraft development and I&T at Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is being used for mission operations at CSA headquarters in St. Hubert, Quebec.
