Editing Draper Laboratory (section)

===Space navigation===
[[File:STS-134 International Space Station after undocking.jpg|thumb|right|The operation of the [[International Space Station]] employs several Draper Laboratory technologies.]]
In 2010 Draper Laboratory and MIT collaborated with two other partners as part of the Next Giant Leap team to win a grant towards achieving the [[Google Lunar X Prize]] send the first privately funded robot to the Moon. To qualify for the prize, the robot must travel 500 meters across the lunar surface and transmit video, images and other data back to Earth. A team developed a "Terrestrial Artificial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator" to simulate operations in the space environment, using Draper Laboratory's guidance, navigation and control algorithm for reduced gravity.<ref name = "Talaris">{{cite web| last = Klamper| first = Amy| title = Draper, MIT Students Test Lunar Hopper with Eyes on Prize| publisher = Space News| date = 13 April 2011| url = http://www.spacenews.com/article/draper-mit-students-test-lunar-hopper-eyes-prize| access-date = 2013-12-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last = Wall| first = Mike| title = Coming Soon: Hopping Moon Robots for Private Lunar Landing| publisher = Space.com| date = 27 January 2011| url = http://www.space.com/10705-private-moon-hopping-robots-funding.html| access-date = 2013-12-24 }}</ref>

In 2012, Draper Laboratory engineers in [[Houston]], Texas developed a new method for turning the [[International Space Station]], called the "optimal propellant maneuver", which achieved a 94 percent savings over previous practice. The algorithm takes into account everything that affects how the station moves, including "the position of its thrusters and the effects of gravity and gyroscopic torque".<ref name = "ISS">{{cite journal| last = Bleicher| first = Ariel| title = NASA Saves Big on Fuel in ISS Rotation| journal = IEEE Spectrum| date = 2 August 2012| url = https://spectrum.ieee.org/nasa-saves-big-on-fuel-in-iss-rotation| access-date = 2013-12-23}}</ref>

{{As of|2013}}, at a personal scale, Draper was developing a garment for use in orbit that uses Controlled Moment Gyros (CMGs) that creates resistance to movement of an astronaut's limbs to help mitigate bone loss and maintain muscle tone during prolonged space flight. The unit is called a Variable Vector Countermeasure suit, or V2Suit, which uses CMGs also to assist in balance and movement coordination by creating resistance to movement and an artificial sense of "down". Each CMG module is about the size of a deck of cards. The concept is for the garment to be worn "in the lead-up to landing back on Earth or periodically throughout a long mission".<ref name = "V2Suit">{{cite news | last = Kolawole | first = Emi | title = When you think gyroscopes, go ahead and think the future of spacesuits and jet packs, too | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = 1 June 2013 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/06/01/when-you-think-gyroscopes-go-ahead-and-think-the-future-of-spacesuits-and-jet-packs-too/ | access-date = 2013-12-25 }}</ref>

In 2013, a Draper/MIT/NASA team was also developing a CMG-augmented spacesuit that would expand the current capabilities of NASA's "Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue" (SAFER)—a spacesuit designed for "propulsive self-rescue" for when an astronaut accidentally becomes untethered from a spacecraft. The CMG-augmented suit would provide better counterforce than is now available for when astronauts use tools in low-gravity environments. Counterforce is available on Earth from gravity. Without it an applied force would result in an equal force in the opposite direction, either in a straight line or spinning. In space, this could send an astronaut out of control. Currently, astronauts must affix themselves to the surface being worked on. The CMGs would offer an alternative to mechanical connection or gravitational force.<ref name = "CMG suit">{{cite web | last = Garber | first = Megan | title = The Future of the Spacesuit—It involves gyroscopes. And better jetpacks. | publisher = The Atlantic | date = 30 May 2013 | url = https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/the-future-of-the-spacesuit/276321/ | access-date = 2013-12-25 }}</ref>