1.1 History

There were three Teleoperations research programs at NASA which predated the current one:

	(1961) early grants from NASA to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) funded work on the effects of time delay in remote manipulation with and without force feedback. This lead (1968) to the first remote manipulation research program, sponsored by the Office of Aeronautics and Research Technology, which is now OSAT.
	(1970's) under sponsorship by the Office of Space Flight, a program focussed on researching free-flying teleoperators was carried out primarily at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).
	(1982) sponsored by the Office of Space Science, a program conducted primarily at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), researched the use of master-slave teleoperation. In addition, work was also initiated at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the control of a large remote manipulator, and at Ames Research Center (ARC) which researched the use of an arm from a hard shell space suit to control a remote slave arm.

The Telerobotics Program also grew from programs as a response to the recommendations of external review committees and congressional interest:

	The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) sponsored a Machine Intelligence Study Group in 1978, headed by Carl Sagan, to analyze the opportunities and needs for automation and robotics and the potential benefits of those technologies. As a response to the release of the report of that group (1980), OAST initiated a small research and development effort in artificial intelligence with a focus on planetary operations and conducted a summer study on A&R for future NASA missions. In 1982, OAST initiated a research and development program in computer science which encompassed and enhanced the machine vision and artificial intelligence research mentioned above.
	Also in 1982, the U. S. House of Representatives held hearings on robotics technology in the United States. This was the beginning of Congressional interest in A&R which later played a large role in augmenting and shaping the automation and robotics research and development efforts at NASA.
	In 1983 OAST initiated a Space Human Factors program which included significant research and development on teleoperation and on human interface with artificial intelligence. This was both complimentary and supplementary to the Computer Science Program.
	In 1984 Congress passed legislation authorizing the development of Space Station Freedom and mandated that NASA implement a program to advance and use A&R technologies, especially with regard to Space Station. In response OAST began planning to integrate all of its research and development in A&R related technologies into a single, more focussed program.
	In 1985 OAST integrated the relevant aspects of its computer science and human factors programs, which totaled about $4M in FY84, and initiated the Automation and Robotics Program with funding of over $8M in FY85.

After that time, the Telerobotics Program was a part of the Civil Space Technology Initiative (CSTI) program which incorporated the existing automation and robotics efforts, and greatly expanded the program. By FY87, the Automation and Robotics Program funding was almost $18M, and under CSTI it grew to over $29M by FY89. In FY92 the A&R program was split into three distinct programs: Artificial Intelligence, Planetary Rovers, and Telerobotics. That same year the Telerobotics Program received a one-time augmentation of $10M, which was an offshoot of the cancellation of the Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) program by Congressional action. This augmentation was accompanied by legislation directing that it be invested in the development of "competitive robotics." At the end of that year, NASA underwent a reorganization which merged the space technology divisions of OAST with the former Office of Commercial Programs, and then that office merged with the former Office of Space Systems Development to become the current Office of Space Access and Technology.

As a result of this reorganization, the program expanded it's compliment of user communities to which it must respond, to include commercial and terrestrial industry concerns. At the same time, the program has been required to become more focussed on near-term mission plans and user projects, and decrease the focus on long-term research and generic technology development which does not directly impact a specific user mission.

In response to these requirements, the program has undergone several changes during the most recent program year. These changes include orienting the NASA-relevant program activities around three specific mission areas, and directly involving the program in a series of flight experiments in cooperation with user organizations. Simultaneously, activities have been instituted to rapidly transfer program-developed technology from the NASA telerobotics laboratories to terrestrial industry through cooperative development projects.