Planetary Science Geometry Visualization Tool for Planning
- Paper number
IAC-11,A3,5,13,x11214
- Author
Mr. Marc Costa i Sitjà, INSA, Ingeniería y Servicios Aeroespaciales, S.A., Spain
- Coauthor
Mr. Miguel Almeida, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands
- Year
2011
- Abstract
The Solar System Science Operations Division of the European Space Agency conducts the planning process of the planetary missions. This project in particular was focused on the planning process of the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) onboard of the Venus Express spacecraft (VEX).\\ In planetary missions the geometry of the observations is of key importance. The observations can be characterized by all types of positions and attitudes of the spacecraft with respect to the planet, various Sun angles, or even star positions. Different payloads pointing requirements are not always compatible and decisions have to be made on which experiments take priority. Therefore the full knowledge of a given observation is extremely important in the decision-making process. Given the large amount of observation possibilities the conflict resolution process can be long and hard to optimize.\\ The “Planetary Science Geometry Visualization Tool” project’s purpose is to provide a faster method to analyze real-time the different observation options available. The tool has been developed in IDL (Interactive Data Language) using an object oriented approach and SPICE, a planetary data information system developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The tool allows the user to visualize in a dynamic three-dimensional environment a requested pointing for a given instrument, spacecraft attitude at a certain time and obtain a large and tailored list of requested outputs such as the field of view of the instrument, the thermal constraints of the spacecraft, or the complete geometry of the observation.\\ The tool is used during two periods of the planning process. First, during the multi-instrument Preparatory Science Discussion, where it provides a quick analysis tool to assess the feasibility of some science goals. Secondly it is used during the pointing request preparation, namely mosaic creation, optimized tracking and nadir pointings. These processes are done with a reduction of the time spent on planning and lead to the optimization of the science data products from the instrument.\\ This paper will show the use of the tool in the planning process and its impact, as well as a validation of the resulting planning against real data and will discuss further applications of it.\\ Furthermore, proven modularity would enable the tool to be applicable to other planetary missions within the Agency such as Mars Express, Rosetta or BepiColombo.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-11,A3,5,13,x11214.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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