Herschel-Planck Mission Data System a remarkable Collection of Challenges

The European Space Agency’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC), in Darmstadt, Germany, has been involved in the development of operational spacecraft simulators and mission control systems (MCS) for ESA projects for the past 35 years. Together, these form the Mission Data Systems (MDS) for each project. This paper presents the Mission Data Systems for the Herschel-Planck project, which is part of ESA’s Astronomical Mission Family. This paper is a follow up of the paper presented at SpaceOps2006 “Efficient Development of the Herschel-Planck Mission Data Systems“ [1] where the Mission Data Systems for the Herschel-Planck project, was presented, at that time in an early phase of the development lifecycle. At that occasion the Mission Data Systems for the HerschelPlanck project, were introduced and attention focused on the HPMCS design together with the most innovative concepts it exploited in order to meet the high demand imposed by the two missions. The Herschel and Planck spacecraft and instruments were designed for autonomous operations driven by an onboard schedule, relying on a single 3-hour telecommunication period per day. A large volume of data are stored onboard and downlinked at data rates (1.5 Mbps and up to circa 700 packets/second) that were unprecedented for such missions at the time the development started. The short contact window and high data rates imposed very high performance demands on the Mission Data Systems. In particular, there are very demanding monitoring and archiving requirements on the mission control system. Furthermore, for the simulator, emulation of the on-board processors (2 per spacecraft) is extremely demanding and was the main driver of the simulator design and platform selection. This and other factors have made of the HPMCS the ESA/ESOC s largest and most demanding mission data system developed at ESOC to date. Herschel and Planck were the first ESA missions to adopt the promising concept of a “Smooth Transition”, involving both space and ground segment development, which can be summarized as “Reuse and share rather then redevelop”, throughout the project lifecycle with obvious advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness. Now that the Herschel & Planck spacecraft were successfully launched on the 14th May 2009 from the ESA Launch site in Kourou (Guyana – FR) and are executing the nominal mission. This paper reports on the results of the actual implementation of those theories presented in 2006 This article provides an overview of the many challenges faced in both the MCS and simulator domains adding up to those known at the outset, and those which were encountered during the development. The article complements the status summary reported in 2006 with all the subsequent accomplishments and the final lesson learnt. 1 Data System Manager, Application and Special Projects Data Systems Section, ESA, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293, Darmstadt, Germany. 2 Data System Manager, Application and Special Projects Data Systems Section ESA, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293, Darmstadt, Germany. 3 Head of Application and Special Projects Data Systems Section, ESA, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293, Darmstadt, Germany. 4 Head of Study and Special Project Division, ESA, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293, Darmstadt, Germany. 5 Data System Manager , Application and Special Projects Data Systems Section, Makalumedia gmbh, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293, Darmstadt, Germany. SpaceOps 2010 Conference Delivering on the Dream Hosted by NASA Mars 25 30 April 2010, Huntsville, Alabama AIAA 2010-2087 Copyright © 2010 by ESA. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2 . Nomenclature AIT = Assembly, Integration and Test CCS = Central Checkout System COTS = Commercial Off the Shelf DBMS = DataBase Management System DIF = Direct Interface DTCP = Daily TeleCommunication Period EGSE = Electrical Ground Support Equipment LEOP = Launch and Early Orbit Phase MCS = Daily TeleCommunication Period MDS = Mission Data System MOC = Mission Operation Centre MMI = Man Machine Interface OBQD = On-Board Queue Display OBQM = On-Board Queue Model PUS = Packet Utilization Standard ROCF = Return Operational Control Field