RETRO-REFLECTOR PATTERN DESIGN AND IDENTIFICATION FOR ORION RENDEZVOUS, PROXIMITY OPERATIONS, AND DOCKING

Future Orion missions are expected to perform an Apollo-like transposition, docking, and extraction sequence after the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn. During this sequence, Orion will observe the motion of the Exploration Upper Stage using a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor. This process will be aided by observing a collection of retroreflectors mounted at known locations on the Exploration Upper Stage. In order to ensure robust retroreflector identification in the presence of spurious returns and without a-priori pose information, a holistic approach is taken to retroreflector pattern design and the development of reflector identification algorithms. Here several approaches to retroreflector placement, and identification are examined.