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Over 500 externally distributed technical reports released during 1981 that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory are listed by primary author. Of the total number of entries, 311 are from the bimonthly Deep Space Network Progress Report, and its successor, the Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Progress Report.
JPL Bibliography 39-28 describes and indexes by primary author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during calender year 1986, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three classes of publications are included: (1) JPL Publications in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment, (2) Articles from the quarterly Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Progress Report, and (3) Articles published in the open literature.
A bibliography is presented which describes and indexes by author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during the calender year 1987, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed, by the Jet Propulsion Lab. Three classes of publications are included: (1) JPL publications in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment; (2) Articles from the quarterly Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Progress Report; and (3) Articles published in the open literature.
The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.
Future NASA deep space missions able to provide tens of kilo-watts of spacecraft DC power, make it feasible to employ high power RF telecommunications systems. Traditional flight systems (e.g., Cassini), constrained by limited DC power, used a single high-gain 4m Cassegrain reflector fed by a single lower power (20W) transmitter. Increased available DC power means that high power (1000 W) transmitters can be used. Rather than continue building traditional single-transmitter systems it now becomes feasible to engineer and build multi-element active arrays that can illuminate a dish. Illuminating a 2m dish with a spherical wavefront from an offset 1kW active array can provide sufficient ERP (Effective Radiated Power) when compared to a larger Cassegrain dish. Such a system has the advantage of lower mass, lower volume, improved reliability, less stringent pointing requirements, lower cost and risk. We propose to design and build a prototype Ka-band transmit antenna with an active sub-array using 125W TWTAs. The system could be applied to a telecommunications downlink or radar transmitter used for missions such as JIMO.
JPL Bibliography 39-33 describes and indexes by primary author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during calendar year 1992, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed or managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three classes of publications are included: (1) JPL Publication (92-series) in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment; (2) articles from the quarterly Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Progress Report (42-series) (each collection of articles in this class of publication presents a periodic survey of current accomplishments by the Deep Space Network as well as other developments in Earth-based radio technology); and (3) articles published in the open literature.
The TDRSS will provide telecommunications support to near-earth orbiting satellites through the 1980s and into the 1990s. The system incorporates two operational satellites at geostationary altitude and a single ground station at White Sands, NM. Of the many tasks facing the engineering team in development of this system, one of the most challenging was K-band autotrack. An approach not previously attempted placed the error detection, processing, and feedback elements for automatic control of the TDR satellite antennas on the ground. This approach offered several advantages to the designers but posed a number of interesting questions during the development program. The autotrack system design and its test program are described with emphasis given to areas of special interest in developing a working K-band service.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) bibliography 39-26 describes and indexes by primary author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during calendar year 1984, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three classes of publications are included: (1) JPL Publications (82-, 83-, 84-series, etc.), in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment; (2) articles from the quarterly Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Program Report (42-series); and (3) articles published in the open literature.
JPL Bibliography 39-32 describes and indexes by primary author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during calendar years 1990 and 1991, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed or managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Three classes of publications are included: (1) JPL publications (90- and 91-series) in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment; (2) articles from the quarterly Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Progress Report (42-series); and (3) articles published in the open literature.
This paper provides an overview and status of Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon providing vital support for a sustained, long-term human return to the lunar surface and a steppingstone to Mars as part of the Artemis missions. As a lunar outpost, Gateway is a destination for deep space crew expeditions and science investigations, a port for deep space transportation, including landers transiting to the lunar surface or spacecraft embarking to deep space destinations beyond the Earth-Moon system. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leads the Program and is the integrator of the spaceflight capabilities and contributions of U.S. commercial partners and international partners to develop Gateway. This paper will provide an overview of Gateway’s major components in various stages of development. The entire Gateway spacecraft is at preliminary design level of maturity, with some components at or near critical design review. Gateway’s major components are the Power and Propulsion Element; the Habitation and Logistics Outpost; Deep Space Logistics; the International Habitation module; Gateway External Robotics System; European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications; and an Airlock. This paper will also provide an update on the status of the integration activities necessary to fly and operate this complex, next-generation integrated spacecraft for a minimum 15 year design life, including systems engineering integrated analysis cycles, the autonomous Vehicle System Manager software, verification and validation labs, and common vehicle equipment. Expanding on the successful partnership that has provided over 20 years of continuous crew operations in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station, Gateway is an evolution of this extraordinary partnership leveraging the capabilities of each contributor to expand humankind’s sustained exploration deeper into the cosmos. Highlighting the international program with participation from multiple space agencies, this paper will also provide a status of Gateway multilateral governance structure and international agreements.
This paper provides an overview and status of Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon providing vital support for a sustained, long-term human return to the lunar surface and a steppingstone to Mars as part of the Artemis missions. As a lunar outpost, Gateway is a destination for deep space crew expeditions and science investigations, a port for deep space transportation, including landers transiting to the lunar surface or spacecraft embarking to deep space destinations beyond the Earth-Moon system. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leads the Program and is the integrator of the spaceflight capabilities and contributions of U.S. commercial partners and international partners to develop Gateway. This paper will provide an overview of Gateway’s major components in various stages of development. The entire Gateway spacecraft is at preliminary design level of maturity, with some components at or near critical design review. Gateway’s major components are the Power and Propulsion Element; the Habitation and Logistics Outpost; Deep Space Logistics; the International Habitation module; Gateway External Robotics System; European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications; and an Airlock. This paper will also provide an update on the status of the integration activities necessary to fly and operate this complex, next-generation integrated spacecraft for a minimum 15-year design life, including systems engineering integrated analysis cycles, the autonomous Vehicle System Manager software, verification and validation labs, and common vehicle equipment. Expanding on the successful partnership that has provided over 20 years of continuous crew operations in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station, Gateway is an evolution of this extraordinary partnership leveraging the capabilities of each contributor to expand humankind’s sustained exploration deeper into the cosmos. Highlighting the international program with participation from multiple space agencies, this paper will also provide a status of Gateway multilateral governance structure and international agreements.
This paper presents the application of the first comprehensive Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) during the design phase of a joint NASA/NOAA weather satellite program, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series R (GOES-R). GOES-R is the next generation weather satellite primarily to help understand the weather and help save human lives. PRA has been used at NASA for Human Space Flight for many years. PRA was initially adopted and implemented in the operational phase of manned space flight programs and more recently for the next generation human space systems. Since its first use at NASA, PRA has become recognized throughout the Agency as a method of assessing complex mission risks as part of an overall approach to assuring safety and mission success throughout project lifecycles. PRA is now included as a requirement during the design phase of both NASA next generation manned space vehicles as well as for high priority robotic missions. The influence of PRA on GOES-R design and operation concepts are discussed in detail. The GOES-R PRA is unique at NASA for its early implementation. It also represents a pioneering effort to integrate risks from both Spacecraft (SC) and Ground Segment (GS) to fully assess the probability of achieving mission objectives. PRA analysts were actively involved in system engineering and design engineering to ensure that a comprehensive set of technical risks were correctly identified and properly understood from a design and operations perspective. The analysis included an assessment of SC hardware and software, SC fault management system, GS hardware and software, common cause failures, human error, natural hazards, solar weather and infrastructure (such as network and telecommunications failures, fire). PRA findings directly resulted in design changes to reduce SC risk from micro-meteoroids. PRA results also led to design changes in several SC subsystems, e.g. propulsion, guidance, navigation and control (GNC), communications, mechanisms, and command and data handling (C&DH). The fault tree approach assisted in the development of the fault management system design. Human error analysis, which examined human response to failure, indicated areas where automation could reduce the overall probability of gaps in operation by half. In addition, the PRA brought to light many potential root causes of system disruptions, including earthquakes, inclement weather, solar storms, blackouts and other extreme conditions not considered in the typical reliability and availability analyses. Ultimately the PRA served to identify potential failures that, when mitigated, resulted in a more robust design, as well as to influence the program's concept of operations. The early and active integration of PRA with system and design engineering provided a well-managed approach for risk assessment that increased reliability and availability, optimized lifecyc1e costs, and unified the SC and GS developments.
The Jet propulsion Laboratory (JPL) bibliography describes and indexes by primary author the externally distributed technical reporting, released during calendar year 1983, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Three classes of publications are included. JPL Publication (81-,82-,83-series, etc.), in which the information is complete for a specific accomplishment, articles published in the open literature, and articles from the quarterly telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Progress Report (42-series) are included. Each collection of articles in this class of publication presents a periodic survey of current accomplishments by the Deep Space Network as well as other developments in Earth-based radio technology.
The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to discuss high temperature superconductors with specific reference to their employment in telecommunications applications; and (2) to discuss a few of the limitations of the normally employed two-fluid model. While the debate on the actual usage of high temperature superconductors in the design of electronic and telecommunications devices - obvious advantages versus practical difficulties - needs to be settled in the near future, it is of great interest to investigate the parameters and the assumptions that will be employed in such designs. This paper deals with the issue of providing the microwave design engineer with performance data for such superconducting waveguides. The values of conductivity and surface resistance, which are the primary determining factors of a waveguide performance, are computed based on the two-fluid model. A comparison between two models - a theoretical one in terms of microscopic parameters (termed Model A) and an experimental fit in terms of macroscopic parameters (termed Model B) - shows the limitations and the resulting ambiguities of the two-fluid model at high frequencies and at temperatures close to the transition temperature. The validity of the two-fluid model is then discussed. Our preliminary results show that the electrical transport description in the normal and superconducting phases as they are formulated in the two-fluid model needs to be modified to incorporate the new and special features of high temperature superconductors. Parameters describing the waveguide performance - conductivity, surface resistance and attenuation constant - will be computed. Potential applications in communications networks and large scale integrated circuits will be discussed. Some of the ongoing work will be reported. In particular, a brief proposal is made to investigate of the effects of electromagnetic interference and the concomitant notion of electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC) of high T(sub c) superconductors.
This paper details an architectural description of the Mission Data Processing and Control System (MPCS), an event-driven, multi-mission ground data processing components providing uplink, downlink, and data management capabilities which will support the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) project as its first target mission. MPCS is developed based on a set of small reusable components, implemented in Java, each designed with a specific function and well-defined interfaces. An industry standard messaging bus is used to transfer information among system components. Components generate standard messages which are used to capture system information, as well as triggers to support the event-driven architecture of the system. Event-driven systems are highly desirable for processing high-rate telemetry (science and engineering) data, and for supporting automation for many mission operations processes.
A document discusses the physical and engineering principles affecting the design of the Smart Data Node in the Sky (SDNITS) -- a proposed Earth-orbiting satellite for relaying scientific data from other Earth-orbiting satellites to one or more ground station(s). The document characterizes the problem of designing the telecommunication architecture of the SDNITS as consisting of two main parts: (1) finding the most advantageous orbit for the SDNITS to gather data from the scientific satellites and relay the data to the ground, taking account of such factors as visibility and range; and (2) choosing a telecommunication architecture appropriate for the intended relay function.
Future NASA earth science missions, including the Earth Observing System (EOS), will be generating vast amounts of data that must be processed and stored at various locations around the world. Here we present a stepwise-refinement of the intelligent database management (IDM) of the distributed active archive center (DAAC - one of seven regionally-located EOSDIS archive sites) architecture, to showcase the telecommunications issues involved. We develop this architecture into a general overall design. We show that the current evolution of protocols is sufficient to support IDM at Gbps rates over large distances. We also show that network design can accommodate a flexible data ingestion storage pipeline and a user extraction and visualization engine, without interference between the two.
In any Earth-Space or Space-Earth communications link, atmospheric effects cause significant signal attenuation. In order to develop a communications system that is cost effective while meeting appropriate performance requirements, it is important to accurately predict these effects for the given link parameters. This project aimed to develop a Matlab(TradeMark) (The MathWorks, Inc.) program that could augment the existing Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Link Budget Tool with accurate predictions of atmospheric attenuation of both optical and radio-frequency signals according to the SCaN Optical Link Assessment Model Version 5 and the International Telecommunications Union, Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R) atmospheric propagation loss model, respectively. When compared to data collected from the Advance Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), the radio-frequency model predicted attenuation to within 1.3 dB of loss for 95 of measurements. Ultimately, this tool will be integrated into the SCaN Center for Engineering, Networks, Integration, and Communications (SCENIC) user interface in order to support analysis of existing SCaN systems and planning capabilities for future NASA missions.