NASA has awarded 2004 Group Achievement Awards to two teams within the Computational Sciences Division.

• The Personal Satellite Assistant (PSA) Team, for their work developing a free-flying conversational robot that will one day assist astronauts on the International Space Station

• The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission Infusion Team, for developing tools and processes to help JPL mission staff in MER science and surface operations.

"The NASA Group Achievement Award is being presented to selected groups who have distinguished themselves by making outstanding contributions to the NASA mission," says Ames Research Center Director Scott Hubbard. "This is one of the most prestigious awards a group can receive."

The PSA team, a diverse group of scientists and engineers, was recognized for surpassing its milestone for having a mobile robot prototype. With the prototype, the team can further develop automated reasoning algorithms for vision, planning, and control. Hardware improvements can also be made for more efficient operation, and sensing capabilities can be added for developing the next-generation PSA.

The PSA is intended to be the first autonomous flying astronaut support device designed to move and operate independently inside the microgravity environment of a spacecraft and during future space exploration missions to the moon and Mars.

The MER Infusion Team comprises several teams that developed a range of technologies, work processes, and recommendations that MER mission center JPL integrated into mission operations. These include software that helps mission operations teams plan the daily rover operations and several software tools for knowledge management and collaborative planning during mission operations.