Abstract
The astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) are only the most visible part of a much larger team engaged around the clock in the performance of science and technical activities in space. The bulk of such team is scattered around the globe in five major Mission Control Centers (MCCs), as well as in a number of smaller payload operations centres. Communication between the crew in space and the flight controllers at those locations is an essential element and one of the key drivers to efficient space operations. Such communication can be carried out in different forms, depending on available technical assets and the selected operational approach for the activity at hand. This paper focuses on operational voice communication and provides a quantitative overview of the balance achieved in the Columbus program between collaborative space/ground operations and autonomous on-board activity execution. An interpretation of the current situation is provided, together with a description of potential future approaches for deep space exploration missions.
Highlights
Flight control operations for the International Space Station (ISS) are carried out [1] around the clock by five major Mission Control Centres (MCCs): Mission Control CentreHouston (MCC-H), located in Houston (United States); the Payload Operations and Integration Centre (POIC), located in Huntsville (United States); the Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC), located near Munich (Germany); the Space Station Integration and Promotion Centre (SSIPC), located in Tsukuba (Japan); and the Tsentr Upravleniya Poloyotami (TsUP) located near Moscow (Russia).Flight controllers at those centres and the crew on board the International Space Station rely primarily on a constellation of geostationary satellites, the Telemetry and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), to carry out their communication
The most important of such opportunities are the Daily Planning Conferences (DPC): two 30 min round calls placed at the beginning (Morning Daily Planning Conference) and at the end (Evening Daily Planning Conference) of the crew working day, where control centres discuss with the astronauts the current schedule, on-board and ground situation, and any critical issue requiring resolution
The analysis shows that 64% of the procedures do not require any space-to-ground interaction: they can be considered as examples of autonomous crew operations
Summary
Flight control operations for the International Space Station (ISS) are carried out [1] around the clock by five major Mission Control Centres (MCCs): Mission Control CentreHouston (MCC-H), located in Houston (United States); the Payload Operations and Integration Centre (POIC), located in Huntsville (United States); the Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC), located near Munich (Germany); the Space Station Integration and Promotion Centre (SSIPC), located in Tsukuba (Japan); and the Tsentr Upravleniya Poloyotami (TsUP) located near Moscow (Russia) Flight controllers at those centres and the crew on board the International Space Station rely primarily on a constellation of geostationary satellites, the Telemetry and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), to carry out their communication. This latter option, normally carried out over two channels in S-band (S/G 1 and S/G 2) and two channels in Ku-band (S/G 3 and S/G 4), constitutes the primary way to perform official, work related discussions and it represents the main focus of this study
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