It's corrosive, it's hazardous, and it can cause an explosion powerful enough to thrust a satellite forward in space. Multiple NASA centers are currently conducting a remotely controlled test of new technologies that would empower future space robots to transfer this dangerous fluid -- satellite oxidizer -- into the propellant tanks of spacecraft in space today.

Building on the success of the International Space Station's landmark Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) demonstration, the ground-based Remote Robotic Oxidizer Transfer Test (RROxiTT) is taking another step forward in NASA's ongoing campaign to develop satellite-servicing capabilities for space architectures and human exploration.

On Earth, RROxiTT technologies could one day be applied to robotically replenish satellites before they launch, keeping humans at a safe distance during an extremely hazardous operation.

Building on the Past to Set the Stage for the Future In January 2013, RRM demonstrated that remotely controlled robots -- using current-day technology -- could work through the caps and wires on a satellite fuel valve and transfer fluid into existent, orbiting spacecraft that were not designed to be serviced.

To meet the safety requirements of space station, ethanol was used as a stand-in for satellite fuel. For the team that conceived and built RRM, the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the successful conclusion of this refueling demonstration was not the end of their work -- only the beginning.

"We were immensely pleased with RRM results. But doing more was always part of the plan," says Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager of SSCO. "There were certain aspects of satellite refueling that couldn't be demonstrated safely while we were using space station as a test bed - aspects that we chose to defer to a later test date. RROxiTT is the next step in that technology development."

Taking lessons learned from RRM, the SSCO team devised the ground-based RROxiTT to test how robots can transfer oxidizer, at flight-like pressures and flow rates, through the propellant valve and into the mock tank of a satellite that was not designed to be serviced in space.

"No one has ever attempted this type of oxidizer transfer before," says Marion Riley, the SSCO test manager for RROxiTT. "Like any NASA-sized challenge, we had to figure out -- and at times, create -- the right set of technologies and procedures to get the job done. Testing on the ground helps us know we're on the right track."

At the heart of RROxiTT's complexity is the nature of the dangerous substance the robot is handling. Oxidizer -- namely nitrogen tetroxide -- is a chemical that, when mixed with satellite fuel, causes instant combustion that provides thrust (motion) for a satellite.

Oxidizer is contained within a satellite tank at intense pressures, up to 300 pounds per square inch (about 20 times atmospheric pressure). Toxic, extremely corrosive and compressed, it requires special handling and a unique set of technologies to transfer it. A Collaborative Effort to Build Space Capabilities

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NASA Tests New Technologies for Robotic Refueling