The Role Of Venus Express Liaison Scientists In Geographically Distributed Science Planning

Abstract

The planetary missions of the European Space Agency are characterized by the geographically distributed teams for planning the science operations of the spacecraft. The Project Scientist, the Science Ground Segment (SGS) and the Principal Investigator (PI) teams are not in the same physical location although all of them have a significant responsibility in the experiment operations. Due to the high complexity of the information that is being passed on, the interfaces between the planning teams are of great importance. Well defined weekly teleconferences are held supported by documents and email exchanges. In these meetings PIs share the information of what geometry and commands they need to execute to achieve their science objectives. The SGS, with the guidance from the Project Scientist, has the task to consolidate the inputs that are later sent to the spacecraft. In Venus Express a new approach was used to streamline even further these interfaces with the introduction of the so-called Liaison Scientists. These Liaison Scientists are members of the SGS with a close relationship with one of the experiment teams. Their task is to facilitate the communications between the PIs and the SGS in order to improve the flow of information. Their knowledge of both the experiment and of the science planning system permits them to improve significantly the quality of the planning products and ease its incorporation in the global science plan. The presence of the Liaison Scientists also improves the interexperiment communication and therefore makes it easier to combine operations between experiments. This paper will describe the tasks of the Liaison Scientists and how their roles are incorporated within the project.