Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
local areas where the information originates, and eliminating unneeded man-
agement layers whose only function is to shuttle that information between
boxes on a classic pyramid-shaped table of organization while providing non-
value added redundant checking and counter-checking.
Leaving the conventional fully earth-embedded workplace behind and re-
turning to the modern spacecraft control center, the reengineering philosophy
is still a valid one, except now the analysis of the system's fundamental pro-
cesses must extend into the spacecraft's (or spacecrafts') orbit (or orbits) and
must include trades between ground system functionality and flight system
functionality, as will be discussed later.
A prerequisite to perform these flight-ground trades is to identify all the
components of the spacecraft operations process, initially without considering
whether that component is performed onboard or on the ground. The following
is a breakdown of operations into a set of activity categories, at least in the
context of typical robotic (i.e., uncrewed) space missions. The order of the
categories is, roughly, increasing in time relative to the end-to-end operations
process, from defining spacecraft inputs to utilizing spacecraft outputs, though
some activities (such as fault detection and correction, FDC) are continuous
and in parallel with the main line.
1.
P&S
2.
Command loading (including routine command-table uplink)
3.
Science schedule execution
4.
Science support activity execution
5.
Onboard engineering support activities (housekeeping, infrastructure,
ground interface, utility support functions, onboard calibration, etc.)
6.
Downlinked data capture
7.
Data and performance monitoring
8.
Fault diagnosis
9.
Fault correction
10.
Downlinked data archiving
11.
Engineering data analysis/calibration
12.
Science data processing/calibration
Many of the operations activity groups listed above currently are partially
automated at this time (for example, P&S, and data and performance moni-
toring), and may well become fully autonomous (within either the ground or
flight systems) in the next 10 years. Some of these functions are already largely
performed autonomously onboard. A working definition of the difference be-
tween autonomy and automation was supplied in Chap.
1
. A description of the
current state of the art of onboard autonomy/automation will be supplied in
Chap.
3
. Next, we will briefly discuss each of the steps in the overall spacecraft
operations process.
