Viewing page 55 of 208

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

3.5 Mission Operations Scenario

Before each mission, the Gateway acquired orbit parameters from JSC, based on the best planning information. A set of maps was generated that showed the orbit tracks for times during the mission when the KidSat camera would acquire photographs. These maps were put on-line for access by the SMOCs. The teams in the SMOCs selected the times they wanted to take pictures, based on the locations of the orbit tracks on Earth during the daylight portion of the orbit. These student requests formed the pre-mission plan that was launched with the shuttle as a backup CCF.

After launch, a new set of orbit parameters was distributed periodically from JSC, based on the latest predictions for the orbit. These new parameters were used to update the orbit maps on-line. The SMOCs revised and added to their selections, based on the updated tracks and the development of actual weather conditions or events taking place on Earth during the mission.

The Gateway accepted new photograph requests from the SMOCs until ninety minutes before the orbit on which the photographs would be taken. Photograph requests from all schools were compiled and verified. Improper requests were returned to the SMOCs where they were either deleted or resolved and requested again. Each request included a priority which helped the Gatewat determine which image would be acquired when a conflict between two or more schools occurred.

The verified set of requests formed the CCF and was sent to JSC. Then the CCF was relayed to the shuttle on the night side of the orbit immediately preceding the daylight photograph period. Once the photographs were taken, the images were downlinked on the night side of the orbit following the image acquisitions. The images were immediately sent by the KidSat POCC to JPL and UCSD. The images were placed on the Web at JPL and checked for engineering problems at UCSD. A Generated Annotation (GA) file was made at the Gateway, based on each orbit's photograph requests, and sent to the Data System. This file was used to document the location, requesting school(s), and preliminary image-content information for each acquired photograph.

[[image]]

[[italics]]Figure 29: A detailed orbit map from the Mission Operations Web page.[[/italics]]