Cooperative Autonomy - Autonomous and Autonomic Systems - page 152

7.3.3 Sequence Planning
An individual or small group of mission engineers produces a very detailed
command sequence plan using the mission plan as a guide. This plan specifies
all of the commands and communications that take place between the ground
and the spacecraft. For a typical mission today, the sequence plan is a detailed
timeline for every low-level command to be uplinked to the spacecraft.
7.3.4 Command Sequencer
The Command Sequence software uplinks files of commands to the spacecraft,
receives down-linked telemetry and information on spacecraft anomalies, and
verifies that the file of commands was uplinked with no errors. In case of
an uplink or command failure, commands may just be skipped, or sequence
planning may be repeated, or the spacecraft may be put in safemode. If an
anomaly occurs, depending on the severity, replanning may have to be done
after the anomaly is resolved.
7.3.5 Science Data Processing
Science Data Processing converts the raw data down-linked from the platform
into useful science data for dissemination to a wide audience. This processing is
conducted on the ground and often involves massive amounts of processing and
data storage. The Science Planning group, especially the scientists, constantly
monitors the science data produced by the mission. Based on the science data
produced, the Science Planning group will sometimes modify the activities
and priorities for the mission to produce an updated science plan.
7.4 Spacecraft Mission Viewed as Cooperative
Autonomy
In this section, we combine the cooperative autonomy model in Sect. 7.3 with
the spacecraft mission model of Sect. 7.3 . Figure 7.9 shows the current mission
organization, now redrawn from Fig. 7.8 in terms of what it might look like
with hierarchical cooperating groups. The hierarchical cooperation pattern is
well suited to describing the spacecraft mission organization. The results of
this combined model are discussed below.
7.4.1 Expanded Spacecraft Mission Model
At each level of the hierarchy in Fig. 7.9 , a group is focused on a specific
domain and its purpose is defined by its position in the hierarchy. For example,
the domain of the science planning group is concerned with the science aspects