Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems

Transcription

Sound of communications traffic and music. Spaceflight missions of the future … will be collaborative ventures of many nations. But with technology changing rapidly, how can space agencies ensure that their data and communications systems will work together… to even allow international spaceflight missions? As technology evolves, our missions and international agreements need to evolve too. It’s a challenge, but necessary for us to work together. Looking back, who would have foreseen all the consequences of international air travel or the internet availability across the globe? Similarly, the “Space Race” has yielded untold benefits to mankind including the seeds of cooperation between nations in space. Early international science missions in the 1960’s were followed by joint manned missions with the Soviet Union and later Russia from the 1970’s to the present. These set the stage for the possibilities to come.Those early missions proved that there are great benefits to cooperation, and to international standardization! That is where CCSDS or the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems comes in. This international consortium capitalizes on new technology and moves it rapidly to an international standard. Today we enjoy the benefits of an international internet with rarely a thought about the speed and complex routing that allows us to take it for granted. But for the internet to work globally, many nations had to accept one set of communications standards. Just as our home computers are becoming more plug-n-play because of better terrestrial standards… CCSDS aims for those same kinds of improvements in “space” communications and data systems; establishing agreements similar to those that founded the global internet. As humans have pushed back the space frontier with a permanent international presence in low earth orbit, we’ve adapted that internet technology for space, and we’re expanding the International Space Station’s role as a test bed for more advanced internet technology.But what happens as we routinely expand both robotic and human exploration beyond a near Earth orbit? New challenges and opportunities emerge in an environment where data transmission takes seconds, several minutes, or even longer. One of the key CCSDS efforts that will lay the groundwork for future international space missions is Delay or Disruption Tolerant Networking or DTN. DTN pushes the boundary of internet communications into space! This will adapt internet systems to become tolerant of the deep space environment and provide automatic network routing. The routing of data from Earth, for example, to a robotic lander on Mars, currently relies on a disruption prone series of paths that are vulnerable to a variety of single point failures. Commands must be routed through a series of communication nodes; then on to Mars, only when every node is available. Now imagine a human mission endangered because a communication link is lost. Critical life- saving time or priceless data could be lost because of an inability to buffer and reassemble that communication. Unlike the terrestrial internet, space is not a richly connected environment. A Delay and Disruption Tolerant Network will be required to ensure both faster and more reliable transfer. To remedy this situation “bundles” of data will need to be stored and forwarded automatically to the next available link in the communications chain. To smoothly transition to the future communications environment, some very obvious steps need to be taken. Moving from lag time or “latency” of a few seconds near Earth to as much as 40 minutes, round trip to Mars, will require a blended approach that more reliably integrates terrestrial and space-based networks. The new Space Internetworking environment will integrate traditional spacecraft data types; command, telemetry, voice, video… plus new data types like message bus technology and web browsing in an autonomous and standardized architecture. A Solar System Internet will provide highly efficient communications that integrate DTN and internet technologies for the benefit of international space missions. CCSDS is also working in other areas bringing together technology development and standardization. They envision that Mission Operations will benefit from using service oriented architecture. Standardized “service interfaces” allow interoperability between Mission Control Centers and between the spacecraft and ground systems! Mission Operations standardization means that Mission Control Centers become service providers to other operations teams and potentially even their spacecraft can become service providers. External institutions can use the same service to interface with equipment or experiments on spacecraft or rovers! Everyone benefits from using standard service interfaces rather than requiring custom interfaces. Connecting to Mission control… a spacecraft… an experiment becomes easier and less expensive! This is just a small sample of the work done up to now; by these and other CCSCS teams. There is much work ahead. The goal of collaboration between agencies and nations is challenging. The task of keeping up with ever-changing technology is difficult, but the rewards are worth the efforts. CCSDS efforts will allow international cooperation and standardization to extend to all aspects of the space-to-ground communications and mission architecture; from cooperating control centers, through cross- supporting communication systems, to multi-agency mission spacecraft. Investing in a reliable and efficient space data and communication system capitalizes on new technology systems and techniques will pay cost and safety dividends for generations to come. In essence, we can’t afford not to make these investments. We owe it to ourselves and following generations to lay the groundwork today for a communications and control system; a Solar System Internetwork that will deliver the dream of extending human reach wherever we choose to explore! Music and sound effect.