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Iac-02.C1.3.8 an Automated Science IAC-02.C1.3.8 AN AUTOMATED SCIENCE OBSERVATION SCHEDULING SYSTEM FOR MESSENGER Teck H. Choo, Brian J. Anderson, Robert J. Steele, Joseph P. Skura, and Peter D. Bedini The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA improves operational safety and efficiency and optimizes science return. It enabled a small team of I. Abstract scientists to schedule an average of 500 science Launched in August 2004, the MErcury Surface, observations per week achieved with approximately 3 Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging 50,000 instrument commands . The MESSENGER (MESSENGER) spacecraft will be the first to orbit mission extends CRISM SciBox from a single- Mercury, beginning in March 2011. The spacecraft instrument concept to a system capable of scheduling carries seven science instruments and a radio all observations from the array of MESSENGER experiment designed to study all aspects of Mercury investigations and providing an automated approach and its environment. Scheduling science observations to generate an integrated, conflict-free observing to meet all measurement objectives during the schedule for the entire orbital mission phase. primary orbital phase of the mission is a considerable MESSENGER SciBox is an automated science challenge due to the thermally harsh environment and planning and commanding system that simulates the restricted viewing opportunities. The MESSENGER entire orbital mission and schedules science team therefore developed an integrated planning and observations within operational constraints using commanding system, MESSENGER SciBox, to models for each instrument and key spacecraft 4 simulate the entire orbital-phase observation plan, resources. The orbital operational challenges, the evaluate a variety of scheduling strategies, anticipate approach adopted by the MESSENGER science foreseeable contingencies, analyze their impacts, and operations team, and the general architecture of the develop mitigation strategies, all before orbit MESSENGER SciBox have been described insertion. In this paper we describe the architecture of previously.4 In this paper we focus on the the automated scheduling system, which is the core Opportunity Search Engine and the Schedule of the MESSENGER SciBox. Optimizer, which are at the core of the automated science observation scheduling capability of II. Introduction MESSENGER SciBox. The key new features of the Space science missions often use a labor- MESSENGER SciBox scheduling system are the intensive approach to science observation scheduling automated scheduling for the entire suite of and instrument commanding in which scientists or instruments, the guidance and control (G&C) system, engineers generate and review instrument and and the radio frequency (RF) telecommunication spacecraft commands manually. For example, the system. A background summary of the Cassini mission uses multiple working groups, MESSENGER mission is given in Section III. distributed planning tools, and a multi-level science Section IV presents an overview of MESSENGER planning and review process to achieve a conflict- SciBox. Section V covers the automated scheduling free science observation schedule 1,2 . An initial system. Section VI reviews sample outputs generated departure from this methodology was made by the by the scheduling system, and section VII concludes Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for with a summary and future plans. Mars (CRISM) instrument team on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission. The CRISM III. Background 5 team developed SciBox, a fully automated science NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft was launched observation scheduling software system, for their on 3 August 2004 from Cape Canaveral Air Force instrument. 3 The CRISM SciBox tool demonstrated Station, Florida. To lower the spacecraft orbital that a well-designed software system significantly energy relative to Mercury, three flyby encounters simplifies the planning and commanding process, with Mercury have been preformed: on 14 January 1 2008, 6 October 2008, and 29 September 2009. The Composition Spectrometer (MASCS), which includes one-year primary orbital mission phase will begin two sensors, the Visible and Infrare d Spectrograph when MESSENGER enters into orbit about Mercury (VIRS) and the Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer in March 2011.6 The orbit will be non -Sun- (UVVS); and an Energetic Particle and Plasma synchronous and highly elliptical at 200 km x 15,200 Spectrometer (EPPS), which includes a Fast Imaging km altitude, with an orbital inclination of Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) and an Energetic approximately 82.5° and an orbital period of Particle Spectrometer (EPS). The fixed remote- approximately 12 hours. sen sing instruments, MASCS, XRS, GRNS, and The mission was designed to address the MLA, are mounted with a common boresight that is following six key scientific questions: normal to both the direction to the center of the 1. What planetary formational processes led to sunshade and to the solar array axis. The MDIS the high ratio of metal to silicate in camera is mounted on a pivot that provides some Mercury? freedom to view sunwar d and anti -sunward of the 2. What is the geological history of Mercury? common boresight direction. 3. What are the nature and origin of Mercury’s The science questions motivate observation magnetic field? objectives and measurement requirements. For 4. What are the structure and state of planning purposes, the measurement requirements are Mercury’s core? organized by observational activity type and are 5. What are the radar-reflective materials at summarized in Table 1. Mercury’s poles? 6. What are the important volatile species and Table 1. Summary of MESSENGER Science their sources and sinks on and near Observation Activities . Mercury? Observation Measurement requirements These questions guided the development of the Activity and relevant mission, the seven instruments 7, and a radio science instrument/investigation (RS) experiment. The seven instruments, illustrated Global • Monochrome imaging with in Figure 1, include the Mercury Dual Imaging surface >90% coverage at 250 -m System (MDIS) with wide-angle and narrow -angle mapping average resolution or better for geological characterization: MDIS • Multispectral imaging with > 90% coverage at 2 km/pixel average resolution or better for mineralogy: MDIS • Stereoscopic imaging with > 80% coverage for global topography: MDIS • Elemental abundance determination: GRNS, X RS • High-resolution spectral measurements of geological units for mineralogy: VIRS Figure 1: MESSENGER Science Payload. This Northern • Northern hemisphere topography view shows the MESSENGER spacecraft from the hemisphere measurement for obliquity and +Z side of the main body together with detailed and polar libration amplitude views of the payload sub-systems. The remote region determination: MLA sensing instruments are mounted so a s to view in observations • Composition of polar d eposits: the +Z direction (out of the page). The spacecraft GRNS sunshade is on the left in green, and the solar • Polar ionized species panels and Magnetometer boom are not shown in measurement s for volatile this close -up. identification: EPPS cameras; a Gamma-Ray and N eutron Spectrometer • Polar exosphere measurement s (GRNS); an X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS); a for volatile identification: UVVS Magnetometer (MAG); the Mercury Laser A ltimeter In-situ • Mapping magnetic field to (MLA); the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface observations characterize the internally 2 generated field: MAG science data. Science data taken by the instruments • Determining magnetosphere are compressed prior to storage on the SSR. Once a structure, plasma pressure day, for eight hours, the compressed data are distributions, and their downlinked to the Deep Space Network (DSN). The dynamics: MAG, EPPS available downlink bandwidth varies with the • Solar wind pick-up ions to Mercury-Earth distance, the Sun-Earth- understand volatiles: EPPS MESSENGER angle, and the DSN station viewing Exosphere • Neutral species in exosphere to geometry. During solar conjunctions there is no survey understand volatiles: UVVS downlink activity. Due to the highly variable Region-of- • High-resolution imaging, downlink capability, science observations must be interest spectroscopy, photometry to carefully scheduled not to overflow the SSR. targeting support geology, mineralogy, and topography: MDIS Complex Observing Geometry During the orbital science phase, because of the Radio science • Gravity field determination to highly elliptical orbit, the surface-track speed peaks measurements support characterization of at 3.7 km/s at periapsis and drops to 0.6 km/s at internal structure (in apoapsis. Scheduled observations must account for combination with topography both the orbital distance and velocity. and libration): RS Observation opportunities are limited by Mercury’s orbit and rotation. Mercury is in a 3:2 IV. Orbital Operational Challenges spin-orbit resonance; its rotation period is long (56 Shortly after MESSENGER is inserted into orbit days), and it completes one and a half rotations in about Mercury in March 2011, the one-year orbital inertial space every 88-day orbit about the Sun, primary science phase begins. The MESSENGER resulting in a 176-day solar day. The MESSENGER science operations team will face the challenge of orbit plane is approximately fixed in inertial space, planning and scheduling the set of ambitious science and this implies that comparable viewing geometries
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