On Jan. 17, teams from across the United States and abroad gathered at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass. and virtually for the fifth annual Zero Robotics SPHERES Challenge.
Zero Robotics is a robotics challenge where students have the opportunity to utilize the International Space Station as a laboratory to test programming codes from the ground using Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES). The program, led by MIT, is aimed at engaging students in innovative, complementary learning opportunities, as well as increasing student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
NASA joined the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the European Space Agency, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space and IT consulting firm Appirio in hosting the live microgravity competition.
This year, the competition included 27 high schools from the U.S. that successfully advanced to the finals out of 108 who entered. There were 18 European schools that advanced out of an original 57. Participants spend much of the summer learning to write computer programs and formulating strategies for their SPHERES in anticipation of the final competition.
“This is not just a minor thing you did in high school. This is really significant. What you’ve been successful at is coding the SPHERES aboard the station, which is a challenge,” said NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science, John Grunsfeld, while addressing the group of students. “That’s part of the fun, trying very hard things.”
In addition to their use in the competition, SPHERES satellites are used on the space station to conduct formation flight maneuvers for spacecraft guidance navigation, control and docking. The three satellites that make up SPHERES fly in formation inside the space station’s cabin. The satellites provide opportunities to affordably test a wide range of hardware and software.
For the competition, NASA uploaded software developed by high school students onto the spherical free-floating SPHERES satellites. During the simulated mission, the teams competed in a special challenge called CosmoSPHERES, a competition in which students must program their satellites to alter a fictional comet’s earthbound trajectory.
Space station Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Richard Mastracchio commanded the satellites aboard the ISS for the competition in order to execute the teams’ flight program and provided real time commentary on the competition via live feed.
Retired NASA astronauts Gregory Chamitoff and Barbara Morgan also made a special appearance at the event.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., operates and maintains the SPHERES National Laboratory Facility aboard the space station.
For more information about SPHERES, visit:
For more about the Zero Robotics Program, visit:
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