Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the third cooperation pattern shown. The final cooperation pattern is the data
analysis, in which the group must fuse all the data coming from the spacecraft
to generate a single coherent view of the science being returned. Sometimes
the science being returned will cause the teams to reevaluate their plan and
adapt it to collect additional information.
The cooperation found in the mission planning group is similar to that
of science planning. One difference is that their goals come from the science
planning group, instead of being self-generated. Another difference is that
the mission group augments the science activities with additional activities
that must be performed for a successful mission. The product of this group
is the mission plan. The sequence planning group receives the mission plan,
evaluates the spacecraft telemetry, and adapts its plans accordingly.
The cooperative model merges the sequence planning group and command
sequencer components of Fig.
7.8
into a single autonomy cycle. The planning
element takes the mission plan from the mission planning group and converts
it into a series of commands that can be sent to the spacecraft and executed.
Once the commands are executed, the spacecraft telemetry reports the status
of the craft, and command verification checks to see whether the uplinked
command file functioned properly. If it did not, the science planning, mission
planning, and sequence generation must work to recover from the problem.
If the sequence planning group is made up of multiple members (the figure
only shows one), then they must collaborate in building the plan and in co-
ordinating what will ultimately be sent to the spacecraft.
In the above example, the spacecraft has no internal autonomy. It ex-
ecutes the commands that were uplinked in a file and returns the results.
Many spacecraft have a limited amount of internal autonomy as shown in
the sequence planning group, and is responsible for converting commands into
a series of steps, executing them, and monitoring their completion. It also has
To Sequence Group
Spacecraft
Commands
Spacecraft
Telemetry
Plan
Steps
Monitor
Spacecraft
Perform
Steps
Fig. 7.10.
Spacecraft automation
