The new systems perform spacecraft management functions and automatically notify operators should problems arise. The systems allowed a cut to the spacecraft operations budget of approximately $1.2 million over the past two years, with additional savings expected.

"The new automated systems significantly reduce operations cost and provide flexibility, allowing better use of our flight team's limited time," said Robert Sodano, Mission Director at Goddard for NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE).

The Reduced Operations by Optimizing Tasks and Technology (ROBOTT) system, developed for CGRO, permitted the CGRO flight operations team to be reduced from 22 people scheduled in shifts for 24-hour operations to seven people working eight hours per day.

The Automated Mission Operations System (AMOS), developed for RXTE, allowed a reduction from 16 people providing 24-hour support to 6 - 7 people scheduled over a 16-hour day.

Both systems include backup systems and self-monitoring scripts for safe operation.

"Since the control center is unmanned at night, we know that at least the spacecraft is being watched by something reliable, and we feel confident during these unmanned hours," said John Richter, the AlliedSignal Corp. Flight Operations Team Manager for CGRO at Goddard.

"We haven't had an anomalous situation attributed to automation on CGRO or RXTE," added Sodano.

"RXTE is a satellite with one of the most active pointing programs, typically carrying out 10-20 maneuvers per day to satisfy its scientific requirements, and the automation frees operations personnel to carry out engineering monitoring and other functions," said Dr. Jean Swank, project scientist for RXTE.

The systems use a series of rules to make decisions and perform actions. Both automate or assist in the performance of nearly identical spacecraft activities, including real time operations (spacecraft health and safety, and command and control) and automated data distribution via web pages.

ROBOTT adds automated mission planning. AMOS and ROBOTT check for problems but do not take corrective action; rather, they notify off-duty engineers who are on call should a situation develop that requires human intervention.

The ROBOTT effort began in September, 1995, and AMOS in December, 1996, in response to expected budget cuts. Both systems are to be completed by January, 2000. ROBOTT and AMOS are generic enough to permit adaptation to the operation of other spacecraft missions relatively easily.

Controllers plan to apply the systems to two other NASA spacecraft, the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM).

Development was done at Goddard, with help from both flight operations teams.

"The CGRO and RXTE operations teams were invaluable to the success of the automation," said Matthew Fatig, senior spacecraft analyst with AlliedSignal and technical lead on the automation projects. "They provided much good input, and were very supportive of the tasks. We could not have completed the projects without them."

ROBOTT and AMOS were created using software tools, developed earlier at Goddard, for building expert systems that automate spacecraft operations. The Generic Spacecraft Analyst Assistant (GenSAA) assists with the automation of spacecraft monitoring, fault detection and isolation (health and safety functions).

The Generic Inferential Executor (Genie), 1999 NASA Software of the Year runner-up, automates the routine monitoring, decision making and actions of flight operations personnel (command and control functions).

"This was a technology validation and infusion activity in addition to a cost reduction measure, and the result of earlier investments in technologies enabled the realization of these applications," said Peter Hughes, Chief Technologist for Information Systems at Goddard's Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate.

"The experiences and lessons learned from these activities will be incorporated into future automation activities and technology development efforts (beyond the immediate application to ACE and TRMM).

These pathfinding automation activities will be applied to future NASA missions, especially to constellation missions comprised of tens or possibly a hundred spacecraft. Operations for these future missions will be cost prohibitive if we don't have adequate automation and autonomous capabilities to manage the collection of spacecraft," added Hughes.

The effort was funded by NASA through a Space Operations Directive Agreement (SODA). Both automation projects totaled $650,000 for development and implementation.

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

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