NASA TV Airs Live Kickoff of 2012 Zero Robotics Competition

Sept. 7, 2012

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-176

NASA TV AIRS LIVE KICKOFF OF 2012 ZERO ROBOTICS COMPETITION

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will broadcast live the virtual kickoff
ceremony of the 2012 Zero Robotics High School Tournament beginning
at 1 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 8.

Zero Robotics challenges teams of high school students to write their
own algorithms to fly the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage,
Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. The bowling ball-sized
spherical satellites are used to test telerobotics and maneuvers for
spacecraft performing autonomous flight, including rendezvous and
docking. Three of these satellites fly aboard the International Space
Station. Each is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and
navigation equipment.

The kickoff will include welcoming talks from each of the tournament's
sponsors, including NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Alvar
Saenz-Otero, associate director of the Space Systems Laboratory at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will announce
details of this year's specific challenge that students will work to
overcome in their software development.

This year's Zero Robotics tournament is sponsored by NASA and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Space Systems
Laboratory at MIT, TopCoder and Aurora Flight Sciences will
facilitate the contest. The teams must address challenges of
satellite docking, assembly and flight formation. This educational
program builds critical engineering skills for students, such as
problem solving, design thought process, operations training,
teamwork and presentation skills.

Teams that reach the finals will have their software programs
installed on the SPHERES microsatellites aboard the space station.
NASA astronauts will execute the student data commands in series of
competitive heats to test the accuracy of each team's software
programming. Teams will continue to be eliminated until a final
champion is determined. The final competition will be held in January
2013 at MIT and aboard the station, 250 miles above the Earth.

There is no cost to participate in the Zero Robotics program, and
registration for the 2012 Zero Robotics High School Tournament is
open until Sept. 28. To register, visit:

http://www.zerorobotics.org

MIT's Space Systems Laboratory developed the SPHERES flight hardware
to provide DARPA, NASA and other researchers with a long-term test
bed for validating technologies critical to the operation of future
satellites, docking missions and satellite autonomous maneuvers.
Numerous organizations, including other government agencies and
graduate student research groups have used SPHERES since the program
began in 2006. The satellites provide opportunities to test a wide
range of hardware and software at an affordable cost.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For additional information on the Zero-Robotics program, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/RqbSTN


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