AES 2630Spacecraft Mission Ops. I

Catalog

Pre-requisite: AES 1050 with D- or better Co-requisite: AES 3600 Students gain an overview of the real-time skills, techniques, and methods necessary to conduct a space mission as a Spacecraft Operator including generation of the daily planning and successful execution of the real-time portion of a space mission. The differences in ground and space system architectures, mission dynamics (orbit, spacecraft agility, etc.), operations tempo, and the planning timeline inherent in various types of missions are examined. The laboratory includes hands-on exercises in the AES Mission Operations Center to create a daily mission plan, conduct spacecraft real-time command and control, and perform post contact (pass) data analysis. A real-time ops environment is created using an interactive spacecraft simulator. Focus is on learning the skills necessary to operate a space mission.