Options for the Continuing Evolution of the Earth Science Constellation
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Options for the Continuing Evolution of the Earth Science Constellation
The International Earth Science Constellation (ESC) continues to evolve and has come a long way since the official formation in 1990. This poster describes the successful operations and the challenges and options being considered for the future evolution of the constellation. Space agencies face significant challenges in order to extend the current observation capabilities and long-term climate record from the Earth Science Constellation.
Machado, Michael↗
Leverage Your Science Data Return by Flying with the International Earth Science Constellation (ESC)
Constellations have proven to be an effective and efficient way to acquire earth science data. By flying together, sensors on all satellites in a constellation take measurements of the same air, water, or land mass at essentially the same time. The sensors form a single "virtual satellite". The key to making a constellation effective and efficient is keeping the operations as independent as possible in order to minimize the operational burden and costs. The Earth Science Constellation (ESC) has been successful on all counts and continues to welcome new missions to continue its 18+ year record of coincidental earth science observations. The ESC also serves as a model for future constellation designs. This paper describes the ESC and its evolution from its initial launches in 1999 through the present and how new missions might benefit from joining the ESC.
Morning Constellation; Afternoon Constellation; Ea↗
Leverage Your Science Data Return by Flying with the International Earth Science Constellation (ESC)
Constellations have proven to be an effective and efficient way to acquire earth science data. By flying together, sensors on all satellites in a constellation take measurements of the same air, water, or land mass at essentially the same time. The sensors form a single "virtual satellite". The key to making a constellation effective and efficient is keeping the operations as independent as possible in order to minimize the operational burden and costs. The Earth Science Constellation (ESC) has been successful on all counts and continues to welcome new missions to continue its 18+ year record of coincidental earth science observations. The ESC also serves as a model for future constellation designs. This paper describes the ESC and its evolution from its initial launches in 1999 through the present and how new missions might benefit from joining the ESC.
leverage data↗
The Legacy and Future of the International Earth Science Constellation (ESC)
The most recent Decadal Survey placed high value on continuing constellation science. The ESC has evolved by seeing new missions joining and old missions retiring. Most recently, GCOM-W1, Landsat-8, and OCO-2 joined during 2012-2014. Landsat-9 is set to join in 2020. Each new mission provides new and improved suite of sensors. The new sensors also benefit both from the multitude of other existing on-orbit sensors as well as from the long-term cross-calibrated climate observations from the sensors that preceded them. At the same time, existing missions leave the constellation due to low fuel reserves or aging spacecraft subsystems. For example, CloudSat and CALIPSO left the ESC orbits in 2018, although they plan to continue making coordinated science observations at their new lower altitudes. This ESC evolution is expected to continue and this paper will discuss the opportunities for other new missions to join the ESC.
afternoon constellation↗
Space Weather Investigation Frontier (SWIFT)
Continuous, in-situ, multi-point observations along the Sun-Earth line at and inside the Lagrange point L1 (sub-L1) will enable a better understanding of the three-dimensional structure and temporal evolution of heliospheric structures that drive terrestrial space weather. The proposed SWIFT (Space Weather Investigation Frontier) mission will use a new solar sail propulsion system developed by NASA to enable a suite of science instruments onboard a smallsat to maintain observations along the Sun-Earth line, sub-L1, for extended periods. Three identically instrumented small spacecraft at L1 will fly in concert with the sailcraft at sub-L1in an optimized tetrahedron constellation, covering distances between 10 to 100’s of Earth radii. This viewing geometry will enable scientists to distinguish between local and global processes driving space weather by revealing the spatial characteristics, temporal evolution, and geo-effectiveness of small-to meso-scale solar wind structures and substructures of macro-scale structures, such as interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and stream interaction regions (SIRs). In addition, real time measurements of earth-bound heliospheric structures from sub-L1 will improve our current forecasting lead-times by up to 35 percent. This paper will provide an overview of the proposed SWIFT science and mission concept.
Heliophysics↗
Space Weather Investigation Frontier (SWIFT) Mission Concept: Continuous Distributed Observations of Geo-Effective, Heliospheric Structures from the Vantage Points of Sun-Earth L1 and Sub- L1
Continuous, in-situ, multi-point observations along the Sun-Earth line at and inside the Lagrange point L1 (sub-L1) will enable a better understanding of the three-dimensional structure and temporal evolution of heliospheric structures that drive terrestrial space weather. The proposed SWIFT (Space Weather Investigation Frontier) mission will use a new solar sail propulsion system developed by NASA to enable a suite of science instruments onboard a smallsat to maintain observations along the Sun-Earth line, sub-L1, for extended periods. Three identically instrumented small spacecraft at L1 will fly in concert with the sailcraft at sub-L1 in an optimized tetrahedron constellation, covering distances between 10 to 100’s of Earth radii. This viewing geometry will enable scientists to distinguish between local and global processes driving space weather by revealing the spatial characteristics, temporal evolution, and geo-effectiveness of small- to meso-scale solar wind structures and substructures of macro-scale structures, such as interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and stream interaction regions (SIRs). In addition, real time measurements of earth-bound heliospheric structures from sub-L1 will improve our current forecasting lead-times by up to 35 percent. This paper will provide an overview of the proposed SWIFT science and mission concept.
Spacecraft Propulsion↗
International Earth Science Constellation Mission Operations Working Group September 27-29, 2016 Aqua Spring 2017 IAM Series
This Aqua Spring 2017 IAM Series powerpoint presentation will be presented at the MOWG meeting in Albuquerque, NM. Topics to be discussed are: recap Aqua 2016 IAM campaign maneuver results and post 2016 IAM MLT evolution; current DMU strategy; 2017 IAM campaign dates and planning; Aqua latest lifetime MLT team predictions. Susan Good is a contractor who supports David Tracewell in code 595 therefore this is being routed through 595. Eric Moyer, ESMO Deputy Project Manager-Technical has reviewed and approved this presentation.
Constellation↗
Operations Coordination Plan Status
This will be presented at the Earth Science Constellation Mission Operations Working Group meeting June 13-15, 2017, to discuss Operatioins Coordination Plan Status.
Operations coordination plan↗
Strategy for Mitigating Collision Between Landsat-5 and the Afternoon Constellation
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Mission Operations project, the French space agency Centre National d tudes Spatiales, the Argentinian space agency Comisi n Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, and the United States Geological Survey all operate spacecraft in sun-synchronous frozen orbits. The orbits are planned to not place any of the spacecraft at risk of colliding with another. However, evolution of these orbits over time has com-promised the safe interaction between Landsat-5 and the Afternoon Constella-tion. This paper analyzes the interactions between the Landsat-5 spacecraft and the Afternoon Constellation members over a period of 6 years, describing the current risk and plan to mitigate collisions in the future.
Levi, Joshua A.↗
NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Delivering on the Dream, Today and Tomorrow
This paper describes the successful operations of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites over the past 10 years and the plans for the future. Excellent operations performance has been a key factor in the overall success of EOS. The EOS Program was conceived in the 1980s and began to take shape in the early 1990s. EOS consists of a series of satellites that study the Earth as an interrelated system. It began with the launch of Terra in December 1999, followed by Aqua in May 2002, and Aura in July 2004. A key EOS goal is to provide a long-term continuous data set to enable the science community to develop a better understanding of land, ocean, and atmospheric processes and their interactions. EOS has produced unprecedented amounts of data which are used all over the world free of charge. Mission operations have resulted in data recovery for Terra, Aqua, and Aura that have consistently exceeded mission requirements. The paper describes the ground systems and organizations that control the EOS satellites, capture the raw data, and distribute the processed science data sets. The paper further describes how operations have evolved since 1999. Examples of this evolution include (a) the implementation of new mission safety requirements for orbital debris monitoring; (b) technology upgrades to keep facilities at the state of the art; (c) enhancements to meet changing security requirements; and (d) operations management of the 2 international Earth Observing Constellations of 11 satellites known as the "Morning Constellation" and the "A-Train". The paper concludes with a view into the future based on the latest spacecraft status, lifetime projections, and mission plans.
Kelly, Angelita C.↗
Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution Overview
TEMPO is now well into its implementation phase, having passed both its Key Decision Point C and the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the instrument. The CDR for the ground systems will occur in March 2016 and the CDR for the Mission component at a later date, after the host spacecraft has been selected. TEMPO is on schedule to measure atmospheric pollution for greater North America from space using ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy. TEMPO measures from Mexico City to the Canadian oil sands, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, hourly and at high spatial resolution. TEMPO provides a tropospheric measurement suite that includes the key elements of tropospheric air pollution chemistry. Measurements are from geostationary (GEO) orbit, to capture the inherent high variability in the diurnal cycle of emissions and chemistry. The small product spatial footprint resolves pollution sources at sub-urban scale. Together, this temporal and spatial resolution improves emission inventories, monitors population exposure, and enables effective emission-control strategies. TEMPO takes advantage of a GEO host spacecraft to provide a modest cost mission that measures the spectra required to retrieve O3, NO2, SO2, H2CO, C2H2O2, H2O, aerosols, cloud parameters, and UVB radiation. TEMPO thus measures the major elements, directly or by proxy, in the tropospheric O3 chemistry cycle. Multi-spectral observations provide sensitivity to O3 in the lowermost troposphere, substantially reducing uncertainty in air quality predictions by 50 percent. TEMPO quantifies and tracks the evolution of aerosol loading. It provides near-real-time air quality products that will be made widely, publicly available. TEMPO provides much of the atmospheric measurement capability recommended for GEO-CAPE in the 2007 National Research Council Decadal Survey, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond. Instruments from Europe (Sentinel 4) and Asia (GEMS) will form parts of a global GEO constellation for pollution monitoring later this decade, with a major focus on intercontinental pollution transport. TEMPO will launch at a prime time to be a component of this constellation.
Chance, Kelly↗
Standards-and Component-Based Mission Operations Architecture at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) manages many of NASA s earth and space science satellite missions. A wide variety of commercial products and GSFC-developed software components are typically integrated into a unique system configuration for each mission. Independent development of the many mission operations center systems has led to systems that are expensive to integrate, difficult to infuse with new capabilities developed for other programs, and cumbersome to maintain. This traditional approach becomes even more problematic as NASA moves towards satellite constellations, new operations concepts, and even further budgets reductions. The GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) is creating a new architecture for future missions at GSFC. Instead of selecting the best-in-class components and creating a standard control center system, GMSEC is developing component interface standards so that multiple products can plug-and-play into the configuration. Missions can then select the best components based on the merits of the product and not simply based on recent integration history at NASA. The GMSEC system utilizes a publish/subscribe information bus and standard XML-based key message interfaces. Functional components can either match directly to the interface standard, or adapters can be developed to match the product's interface to the GMSEC standard with out impacting the source product. Applications Program Interfaces (API's) are being developed to isolate the underlying middleware from the applications software and to allow the middleware product to be switched if necessary. Interface Control Documents (ICDs) between each pair of communicating components is replaced by a single message/API specification document. New applications must simply match to the information bus standards and need not worry about all of the other applications in the system. For legacy software, adapters can be developed to facilitate communications between the application and the information bus. As the approach has matured, it has become apparent that it can provide innovative solutions to some of the multi-satellite challenges facing GSFC.
Smith, Danford↗
Defining a Global Lunar Position, Navigation, and Timing System
As NASA seeks to fulfill its mission of extending humanity’s reach through exploration as delineated in the Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development and the Moon to Mars Architecture Definition Document, accurate and timely position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services are critical in the architecture, identifying a need to expand a PNT capability to the full lunar proximity service volume. This is echoed in the White House Office of Science, Technology, and Policy Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy, which pinpoints the fundamental need for PNT infrastructure to enable and sustain a vibrant cislunar ecosystem. While the Human Lunar Return segment seeks commercial services to provide a PNT service over a South Pole service volume for a limited period per Earth day, meeting the Sustained Lunar Evolution segment requires a Lunar Navigation System (LNS) focused on delivery of precise and resilient PNT services across the lunar globe and near-Moon space. This presentation describes the pre-Phase A system concept for an orbital constellation, the requisite lunar surface-based in-situ monitor and control segment, and an Earth control segment to provide lunar PNT services out to 200km altitude above the surface. The LNS leverages the foundational efforts on lunar reference system components such as the Lunar Geodetic System, Lunar Time System, and lunar ephemeris and orientation critical to safe, accurate, and seamless navigation.
navigation↗
Evolution of the Lunar Network
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is planning to upgrade its network Infrastructure to support missions for the 21st century. The first step is to increase the data rate provided to science missions to at least the 100 megabits per second (Mbps) range. This is under way, using Ka-band 26 Gigahertz (GHz), erecting an 18-meter antenna for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and the planned upgrade of the Deep Space Network (DSN) 34-meter network to support the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The next step is the support of manned missions to the Moon and beyond. Establishing an outpost with several activities such as rovers, colonization, and observatories, is better achieved by using a network configuration rather than the current method of point-to-point communication. Another challenge associated with the Moon is communication coverage with the Earth. The Moon's South Pole, targeted for human habitat and exploration, is obscured from Earth view for half of the 28-day lunar cycle and requires the use of lunar relay satellites to provide coverage when there is no direct view of the Earth. The future NASA and Constellation network architecture is described in the Space Communications Architecture Working Group (SCAWG) Report. The Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN) Constellation Integration Project (SCIP) is responsible for coordinating Constellation requirements and has assigned the responsibility for implementing these requirements to the existing NASA communication providers: DSN, Space Network (SN), Ground Network (GN) and the NASA Integrated Services Network (NISN). The SCAWG Report provides a future architecture but does not provide implementation details. The architecture calls for a Netcentric system, using hundreds of 12-meter antennas, a ground antenna array, and a relay network around the Moon. The report did not use cost as a variable in determining the feasibility of this approach. As part of the SCIP Mission Concept Review and the second iteration of the Lunar Architecture Team (LAT), the focus is on cost, as well as communication coverage using operational scenarios. This approach maximizes use of existing assets and adds capability in small increments. This paper addresses architecture decisions such as the Radio Frequency (RF) signal and network (Netcentric) decisions that need to be made and the difficulty of implementing them into the existing Space Network and DSN. It discusses the evolution of the lunar system and describes its components: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), Earth-based ground stations, Lunar Relay, and surface systems.
Gal-Edd, Jonathan↗
Making Debris Avoidance Decisions for ESMO's EOS Mission Set
The presentation will cover the aspects of making debris risk decisions from the NASA Mission Director's perspective, specifically for NASA Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO) Earth Observing System (EOS) mission set. ESMO has been involved in analyzing potential debris risk conjunctions with secondary objects since the inception of this discipline. Through the cumulated years of experience and continued exposure to various debris scenarios, ESMO's understanding of the problem and process to deal with this issue has evolved. The presentation will describe the evolution of the ESMO process, specifically as it relates to the maneuver execution and spacecraft risk management decision process. It will briefly cover the original Drag Make-Up Maneuver, several day, methodical manually intensive, ramp up waive off approach, to the present day more automated, pre-canned onboard command, tools based approach. The presentation will also cover the key information needed to make debris decisions and challenges in doing so while still trying to meet science goals, constellation constraints and manage resources. A slide or two at the end of the presentation, will be devoted to discussing what further improvements could be helpful to improve decision making and future process improvement plans challenges.
debris↗
Ares V: Shifting the Payload Design Paradigm
NASA's Ares V heavy-lift cargo launch vehicle is being designed send more crew and cargo to more places on the lunar surface than the 1960s-era Apollo program and provide ongoing support to a permanent lunar outpost. In addition to that role, however, its unmatched mass and volume capability represent a global asset for exploration, science, and commerce. The Ares V also is an enabler of a large class of space missions not thought possible by scientists and engineers since the Saturn V program ended over 30 years ago. Compared to current systems, it will offer approximately 5 times the mass and volume to most orbits and locations. This should allow prospective mission planners to build robust payloads with margins that are 3 to 5 times the industry norm. The space inside the planned payload shroud has enough usable volume to launch the volumetric equivalent of approximately 10 Apollo Lunar Excursion Modules or approximately 5 equivalent Hubble Space Telescopes. This mass and volume capability to Low Earth Orbit enables a host of new scientific and observation platforms, such as telescopes, satellites, planetary and solar missions, as well as being able to provide the lift for future large in-space infrastructure missions, such as space based power and mining, Earth asteroid defense, propellant depots, etc. The Ares V team is engaging the potential payload community now, 2-3 years before System Requirements Review, in order to better understand the potential limitations and or additional requirements that could be added to the Ares V from the mission planning community. If a viable mission is determined and added to the Ares V as a design case, tradeoffs will be conducted to determine if other mission design requirements can be included in the system. Multiple shroud options for the Ares V have been analyzed to identify their impact on performance. Ares V is in a conceptual design stage prior to a formal design phase. The initial concept for the cargo launch vehicle (CaLV) that would later be dubbed "Ares V" was produced by the Exploration Systems Architecture Study in 2005. Since then, it has evolved through hundreds of concepts. The current point-of-departure (POD) concept was approved during the Lunar Capabilities Concept Review/Ares V Mission Concept Review in June 2008. This reference concept serves as a starting point for a renewed set of design trades and detailed analysis into its interaction with the other components of the Constellation architecture and existing launch infrastructure. This paper will discuss the Ares V design evolution, the most recent point-of-departure concept, and its capabilities to support future science missions.
Summrall, Phil↗
New vision solar system mission study: Use of space reactor bimodal system with microspacecraft to determine origin and evolution of the outer plants in the solar system
The vision for the future of the planetary exploration program includes the capability to deliver 'constellations' or 'fleets' of microspacecraft to a planetary destination. These fleets will act in a coordinated manner to gather science data from a variety of locations on or around the target body, thus providing detailed, global coverage without requiring development of a single large, complex and costly spacecraft. Such constellations of spacecraft, coupled with advanced information processing and visualization techniques and high-rate communications, could provide the basis for development of a 'virtual presence' in the solar system. A goal could be the near real-time delivery of planetary images and video to a wide variety of users in the general public and the science community. This will be a major step in making the solar system accessible to the public and will help make solar system exploration a part of the human experience on Earth.
Mondt, Jack F.↗