Three Eyed Raven - Blog Posts
Far from Westeros, a Three-Eyed Raven Helps NASA Find Its Way
Perched on the outside of the International Space Station is Raven—a technology-filled module that helps NASA develop a relative navigation capability, which is essentially autopilot for spacecraft. Raven has been testing technologies to enable autonomous rendezvous in space, which means the ability to approach things in space without human involvement, even from the ground.
Developed by the Satellite Servicing Projects Division (SSPD), our three-eyed Raven has visible, infrared, and Lidar sensors and uses those “eyes” to image and track visiting spacecraft as they come and go from the space station. Although Raven is all-seeing, it only sees all in black and white. Color images do not offer an advantage in the case of Raven and Restore-L, which also utilize infrared and Lidar sensors.
The data from Raven’s sensors is sent to its processor, which autonomously sends commands that swivel Raven on its gimbal, or pointing system. When Raven turns using this system, it is able to track a vehicle. While these maneuvers take place, NASA operators evaluate the movements and make adjustments to perfect the relative navigation system technologies.
A few days ago, Raven completed its 21st observation of a spacecraft when it captured images of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus vehicle delivering science investigations and supplies as part of its 11th commercial resupply services mission, including another SSPD payload called the Robotic External Leak Locator.
And just last month, Raven celebrated its two-year anniversary in space, marking the occasion with an observation of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon during the Demo-1 mission.
What is this—a spacecraft for ants??
While this shot of Dragon isn’t terribly impressive because of where the spacecraft docked on station, Raven has captured some truly great images when given the right viewing conditions.
From SpaceX Dragon resupply mission observations…
…to Cygnus supply vehicles.
Raven has observed six unique types of spacecraft.
It has also conducted a few observations not involving spacecraft, including the time it captured Hurricane Irma…
…or the time it captured station’s Dextre arm removing the Robotic Refueling Mission 3 payload, another mission developed by SSPD, from the Dragon spacecraft that delivered it to the orbiting laboratory.
Thus far, Raven has had a great, productive life aboard the station, but its work isn’t done yet! Whether it’s for Restore-L, which will robotically refuel a satellite, or getting humans to the Moon or Mars, the technologies Raven is demonstrating for a relative navigation system will support future NASA missions for decades to come.
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Bran and Sam should have written A Song of Ice and Fire. Sam wrote the prose and Bran did all the research.
Bran should have been either King of the North, Master of Whispers (with his own army of literal little birds to replace Varys), or an advisor to the new king or queen of Westeros, not king himself.
‘Who has a better story than bran the broken?’ is blatant meera and jojen reed erasure (osha and hodor as well). Osha busted them out of winterfell, jojen showed up with his green dreams to guide them to the three eyed raven, and meera dragged his ass home after. The only thing bran managed to do is touch the night king and get a bunch of people killed (including the last living members of an entire species). Bran in general has very little agency in his own story. Jaime throws him out the window, robb leaves him in charge, theon takes the castle, the three eyed raven decides to train him. Even when he finally seems like he might actually do something in the battle with the dead, he just doesn’t.
I saw the point made that if the idea had been that the person with the most stories, that knows the most history, should be king, then this might work a little better. A 'those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it’ type thing. But as it stands, it’s such a ridiculously unsupported choice.
Fly or die (the Last Greenseer)
I was reading A Song of Ice and Fire (again) and I felt like painting Bran's "fly or die" dream. The problem is that my brain is broken and I ended up thinking about the Three Eyed Crow and how he probably may have learned greensight the same way from his predecessor... so here is Brynden Rivers being taught the fine art the greenseer by almost being impaled on oniric spikes.
(In my headcanon this happened while he was recovering from the Redgrass Field)