Autonomous Multi-Missions, Multi-Sites X-Band Data Capture Systems
Guy R. Cordier, Carlos Gomez-Rosa, Gene Knoble, F. McCaleb · SpaceOps 2006 Conference · 2006
The EOS spacecraft: Terra, Aqua, Aura, ICESat, and EO-1 downlink X-Band data at distributed sites supported by multiple antennas.This paper describes an innovative technique to capture the X-Band downlink data from any antenna at any time and for any of the missions set.The operational dependencies and constraints associated with the scheduling of X-Band data capture times and resources are eliminated and the systems operate in an autonomous data-driven mode.The application of such an adaptive technique has already been demonstrated at the White Sands site, in New Mexico with the Terra spacecraft downlinks.The simplification of the data capture system operations with the added flexibility to accommodate last minute antenna reassignments for the downlink eliminates burdensome manual operations, reduces chances of misconfigurations and enables full automation.The full deployment of the solution to all sites is scheduled for June 2006.The authors will also report on the lessons learned in the process.This technique is particularly valuable when the ground station resources are shared, and the controls of the users systems for science data capture are not fully integrated into ground station operations.