MISSION OPERATIONS TECHNOLOGY

In the last decade, the operation of a spacecraft after launch has eme rged as a major component of the total coe of the mission. This trend is sustained by the increasing complexity, flexibility, and data gathe ring capability of the space assets and by their greater reliability a nd consequent longevity. The trend can, however. be moderated by the p rogressive transfer of selected functions from the ground to the space craft and by application, on the ground, of new technology. Advances i n ground operations derive from the introduction in the mission operat ions environment of advanced microprocessor-based workstations in the class of a low million instructions per second and from the selective application of intelligence technology. In the last few years a number of these applications have been developed, tested in operational sett ings and successfully demonstrated to users. Some are now being integr ated in mission operations facilities.An analysis of mission operation s indicates that the key areas are: concurrent control of multiple mis sions; automated/interactive production of command sequences of high i ntegrity at low cost; automated monitoring Of spacecraft health and au tomated aidos for fault diagnosis; automated allocation of resources; automated processing of science data; and high-fidelity, high-speed sp acecraft simulation. Examples of major advances in selected areas are described.