Previously, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) did not allow observations to go beyond the end of a planning period. However, opportunities for observing the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover occur close enough to these boundaries to require the observations that support the rover to cross these boundaries. This requires the observation to be included in two planning cycles.
The program developed in this work accepts input describing the observations schedule for execution during a science planning period. It identifies observations that start during the planning period and end after the planning period. These observations are saved to a file. The program will be incorporated into the MRO Science planning process to aid the MRO Cycle Coordinator in identifying cycle spanning observations. The program is written in Perl and should be able to operate in most commercial environments that support Perl.
This work was done by John M. Diehl of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The software used in this innovation is available for commercial licensing. Please contact Dan Broderick at
This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Program Determines When MRO Observations Span More Than One Spacecraft Sequencing Period
(reference NPO49197) is currently available for download from the TSP library.
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Overview
The document outlines a program developed to enhance the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) science planning process by allowing observations to span more than one spacecraft sequencing period. Traditionally, MRO did not permit observations to extend beyond the end of a planning period, which limited the ability to support missions like the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. As MSL operations often occur close to these boundaries, the new program addresses this limitation by enabling observations that start during a planning period and end afterward to be included in two planning cycles.
The program is designed to accept two input parameters: one for the cycle boundary definition file and another for the observations file. Both files must adhere to a specific format crucial for the program's functionality. The program first verifies the existence and format of these files. If any discrepancies are found, it prints an error message and aborts the process. Once the files are validated, the program reads the observations, calculates their end times, and checks if they fall outside the defined cycle boundaries. Observations that do exceed these boundaries are then saved to an output file.
Written in Perl, the program is intended to operate in various commercial environments that support this programming language. Its design is adaptable, suggesting that similar methodologies could be applied in other contexts beyond MRO. The program aims to assist the MRO Cycle Coordinator in identifying observations that span multiple planning cycles, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the science planning process.
The document also emphasizes the importance of the program in the broader context of aerospace-related developments, highlighting its potential applications in various technological and scientific fields. It serves as a technical support package under NASA's Commercial Technology Program, aiming to disseminate results that could have wider implications beyond the immediate scope of MRO.
In summary, this program represents a significant advancement in the operational capabilities of the MRO, facilitating more comprehensive data collection for Mars exploration and enhancing the overall mission support for the MSL rover.
