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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2006

Lessons Learned from Daily Uplink Operations during the Deep Impact Mission

The Deep Impact mission to comet Tempel-1 produced some of the more spectacular science results ever collected by a spacecraft. On July 4, 2005 the Deep Impact Flyby vehicle observed the Deep Impact Impactor vehicle's collision with the comet. 24 hours earlier the Flyby vehicle released the Impactor vehicle into the path of comet Tempel-1. The process to command the spacecraft was a challenge to the entire flight operations team. This paper presents an overview of the process used prepare command products for uplink and the lessons that were learned from this process.

mission operations↗
NASA NTRS2005

Numerical Modelling of the Deep Impact Mission Experiment

NASA s Deep Impact Mission (launched January 2005) will provide, for the first time ever, insights into the interior of a comet (Tempel 1) by shooting a approx.370 kg projectile onto the surface of a comets nucleus. Although it is usually assumed that comets consist of a very porous mixture of water ice and rock, little is known about the internal structure and in particular the constitutive material properties of a comet. It is therefore difficult to predict the dimensions of the excavated crater. Estimates of the crater size are based on laboratory experiments of impacts into various target compositions of different densities and porosities using appropriate scaling laws; they range between 10 s of meters up to ~250 m in diameter [1]. The size of the crater depends mainly on the physical process(es) that govern formation: Smaller sizes are expected if (1) strength, rather than gravity, limits crater growth; and, perhaps even more crucially, if (2) internal energy losses by pore-space collapse reduce the coupling efficiency (compaction craters). To investigate the effect of pore space collapse and strength of the target we conducted a suite of numerical experiments and implemented a novel approach for modeling porosity and the compaction of pores in hydrocode calculations.

Wuennemann, K.↗
NASA NTRS2006

A Whale of a Tale: Creating Spacecraft Telemetry Data Analysis Products for the Deep Impact Mission

A description of the Whale product generation utility and its means of analyzing project data for Deep Impact Missions is presented. The topics include: 1) Whale Definition; 2) Whale Overview; 3) Whale Challenges; 4) Network Configuration; 5) Network Diagram; 6) Whale Data Flow: Design Decisions; 7) Whale Data Flow Diagram; 8) Whale Data Flow; 9) Whale Team and Users; 10) Creeping Requirements; 11) Whale Competition; 12) Statistics: Processing Time; 13) CPU and Disk Usage; 14) The Ripple Effect of More Data; and 15) Data Validation and the Automation Challenge.

ground data systems↗
NASA NTRS2006

A Whale of a Tale: Creating Spacecraft Telemetry Data Analysis Products for the Deep Impact Mission

This paper describes some of the challenges and lessons learned from the Deep Impact (DI) Mission Ground Data System's (GDS) telemetry data processing and product generation tool, nicknamed 'Whale.' One of the challenges of any mission is to analyze testbed and operational telemetry data. Methods to retrieve this data to date have required spacecraft subsystem members to become experts in the use of a myriad of query and plot tools. As budgets shrink, and the GDS teams grow smaller, more of the burden to understand these tools falls on the users. The user base also varies from novice to expert, and requiring them to become GDS tool experts in addition to spacecraft domain experts is an undue burden. The "Whale" approach is to process all of the data for a given spacecraft test, and provide each subsystem with plots and data products 'automagically.'.

Deep Impact↗
NASA NTRS2006

Lessons Learned from Daily Uplink Operations during the Deep Impact Mission

The daily preparation of uplink products (commands and files) for Deep Impact was as problematic as the final encounter images were spectacular. The operations team was faced with many challenges during the six-month mission to comet Tempel One of the biggest difficulties was that the Deep Impact Flyby and Impactor vehicles necessitated a high volume of uplink products while also utilizing a new uplink file transfer capability. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Multi-Mission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) Mission Planning and Sequence Team (MPST) had the responsibility of preparing the uplink products for use on the two spacecraft. These responsibilities included processing nearly 15,000 flight products, modeling the states of the spacecraft during all activities for subsystem review, and ensuring that the proper commands and files were uplinked to the spacecraft. To guarantee this transpired and the health and safety of the two spacecraft were not jeopardized several new ground scripts and procedures were developed while the Deep Impact Flyby and Impactor spacecraft were en route to their encounter with Tempel-1. These scripts underwent several adaptations throughout the entire mission up until three days before the separation of the Flyby and Impactor vehicles. The problems presented by Deep Impact's daily operations and the development of scripts and procedures to ease those challenges resulted in several valuable lessons learned. These lessons are now being integrated into the design of current and future MGSS missions at JPL.

uplink↗
NASA NTRS2004

Deep Impact : the mission and results

The Deep Impact project completed its mission on July 4, 2005 with a spectacularly successful encounter with the comet Tempel 1, culminating a four-year development effort and a six-month cruise period. The project's primary purpose was to conduct what can be considered a simple experiment that occurs in space on a very frequent basis: to impact a cometary nucleus with a man made meteor and excavate a crater to reveal the interior of a nucleus.

flyby↗
NASA NTRS2006

Transferring Files Between the Deep Impact Spacecrafts and the Ground Data System Using the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP): A Case Study

The CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP) Standard could reshape ground support architectures by enabling applications to communicate over the space link using reliable-symmetric transport services. JPL utilized the CFDP standard to support the Deep Impact Mission. The architecture was based on layering the CFDP applications on top of the CCSDS Space Link Extension Services for data transport from the mission control centers to the ground stations. On July 4, 2005 at 1:52 A.M. EDT, the Deep Impact impactor successfully collided with comet Tempel 1. During the final 48 hours prior to impact, over 300 files were uplinked to the spacecraft, while over 6 thousand files were downlinked from the spacecraft using the CFDP. This paper uses the Deep Impact Mission as a case study in a discussion of the CFDP architecture, Deep Impact Mission requirements, and design for integrating the CFDP into the JPL deep space support services. Issues and recommendations for future missions using CFDP are also provided.

CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP)↗
NASA NTRS2008

Deep Impact Extended Mission Challenges for the Validation and Verification Test Program

The Deep Impact Spacecraft was launched on January 12, 2005 as part of NASA's Discovery Program as a radical mission to excavate the interior of a comet. The Spacecraft consisted of two separate entities known as the Flyby and the Impactor, which were commanded to separate prior to comet rendezvous with comet 9P/Tempel 1. The overall mission was deemed a success on July 4, 2005, as the 370-kg Impactor collided with the comet at 10.2 km/s. This event was captured using the camera and infrared spectrometer on the Flyby spacecraft, along with ground-based observatories. Since this event, the Flyby spacecraft has been in hibernation mode and has received only a small amount of maintenance. The Deep Impact Program was managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), led by Dr. Michael A'Hearn from the University of Maryland in College Park, and built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado.

Test Bench↗
NASA NTRS2017

Understanding the Effects of Collisional Evolution and Spacecraft Impact Experiments on Comets and Asteroids

Comets and asteroids have endured impacts from other solar system bodies that result in outcomes ranging from catastrophic collisions to regolith evolution due to micrometeorid bombardment of the surface ices and refactory components. Experiments designed to better understand these relics of solar system formation have been conducted on Earth in a laboratory setting, as well as in space through, e.g., the Deep Impact Mission to Comet Tempel 1. Deep Impact fired a high-speed impactor into the roughly 6 km nucleus of the comet. The ejecta plume generated by the impact was studied by both spacecraft instrumentation and groundbased telescopes.

Lederer, S.M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Navigation of the EPOXI Spacecraft to Comet Hartley 2

On November 4, 2010, the EPOXI spacecraft flew by the comet Hartley 2, marking the fourth time that a NASA spacecraft successfully captured high resolution images of a cometary nucleus. EPOXI is the extended mission of the Deep Impact mission, which delivered an impactor on comet Tempel-1 on July 4, 2005. EPOXI officially started in September 2007 and eventually took over 3 years of flight time and had 3 Earth gravity assists to achieve the proper encounter conditions. In the process, the mission was redesigned to accommodate a new comet as the target and changes in the trajectory to achieve better imaging conditions at encounter. Challenges in navigation of the spacecraft included precision targeting of several Earth flybys and the comet encounter, uncertainties in determining the ephemeris of the comet relative to the spacecraft, and the high accuracy trajectory knowledge needed to image the comet during the encounter. This paper presents an overview of the navigation process used for the mission.

Deep Impact (DI)↗
NASA NTRS2012

New Mission Old Spacecraft: EPOXI's Approach to the Comet Hartley-2

NASA's Deep Impact mission ended successfully in 2005 after an impact and close flyby of the comet 9P/Tempel-1. The Flyby spacecraft was placed in hibernation and was left to orbit the sun. In 2007, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory brought the spacecraft out of hibernation and successfully performed two additional missions. These missions were EPOCh, Extra-solar Planetary Observation and Characterization, a photometric investigation of transiting exo-planets, and DIXI, Deep Impact eXtended Investigation, which maneuvered the Flyby spacecraft towards a close encounter with the comet 103P/Hartley- 2 on 4 November 2010. The names of these two scientific investigations combine to form the overarching mission's name, EPOXI. The encounter with 103P/Hartley-2 was vastly different from the prime mission's encounter with 9P/Tempel-1. The geometry of encounter was nearly 180 ? different and 103P/Hartley-2 was approximately one-quarter the size of 9P/Tempel-1. Mission operations for the comet flyby were broken into three phases: a) Approach, b) Encounter, and c) Departure. This paper will focus on the approach phase of the comet encounter. It will discuss the strategies used to decrease both cost and risk while maximizing science return and some of the challenges experienced during operations.

science return↗
NASA NTRS2012

Lessons Learned in the Decommissioning of the Stardust Spacecraft

The Stardust spacecraft completed its prime mission in 2006, returning samples from the coma of comet Wild 2 to earth in the sample return capsule. Still healthy, and in a heliocentric orbit, the Stardust spacecraft was repurposed for a new mission - Stardust NExT. This new mission would take the veteran spacecraft to a 2011 encounter with comet Tempel 1, providing a new look at the comet visited in 2005 by the Deep Impact mission. This extended mission for Stardust would push it to the limits of its fuel reserves, prompting several studies aimed at determining the actual remaining fuel on board. The results were used to plan mission events within the constraints of this dwindling resource. The team tracked fuel consumption and adjusted the mission plans to stay within the fuel budget. This effort intensified toward the end of the mission, when a final assessment showed even less remaining fuel than previously predicted, triggering a delay in the start of comet imaging during the approach phase. The flyby of comet Tempel 1 produced spectacular up close views of this comet, imaging previously seen areas as well as new territory, and providing clear views of the location of the 2005 impact. The spacecraft was decommissioned about a month after the flyby, revealing that the fuel tank was now empty after having flown successfully for 12 years, returned comet dust samples to earth, and flown by an asteroid and two comets.

repurposed spacecrafts↗
NASA NTRS2005

Will Deep Impact Make a Splash?

Recent cometary observations from spacecraft flybys support the hypothesis that short-period comets have been substantially modified by the presence of liquid water. Such a model can resolve many outstanding questions of cometary dynamics, as well as the differences between the flyby observations and the dirty snowball paradigm. The model also predicts that the Deep Impact mission, slated for a July 4, 2005 collision with Comet Temple-1, will encounter a layered, heterogenous nucleus with subsurface liquid water capped by dense crust. Collision ejecta will include not only vaporized material, but liquid water and large pieces of crust. Since the water will immediately boil, we predict that the water vapor signature of Deep Impact may be an order of magnitude larger than that expected from collisional vaporization alone.

Sheldon, Robert B.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Deep Impact Sequence Planning Using Multi-Mission Adaptable Planning Tools With Integrated Spacecraft Models

The Deep Impact mission was ambitious and challenging. JPL's well proven, easily adaptable multi-mission sequence planning tools combined with integrated spacecraft subsystem models enabled a small operations team to develop, validate, and execute extremely complex sequence-based activities within very short development times. This paper focuses on the core planning tool used in the mission, APGEN. It shows how the multi-mission design and adaptability of APGEN made it possible to model spacecraft subsystems as well as ground assets throughout the lifecycle of the Deep Impact project, starting with models of initial, high-level mission objectives, and culminating in detailed predictions of spacecraft behavior during mission-critical activities.

Deep Impact Mission↗