The Spitzer Space Telescope is executing the seventh year of extended warm mission science. The cryogenic mission operated from 2003 to 2009. The observing proposal review process has evolved from large, week-long, in-person meetings during the cryogenic mission to the introduction of panel telecon reviews in the warm mission. Further compression of the schedule and budget for the proposal solicitation and selection process led to additional changes in 2014. Large proposals are still reviewed at an in-person meeting but smaller proposals are no longer discussed by a topical science panel. This hybrid process, involving an in-person committee for the larger proposals and strictly external reviewers for the smaller proposals, has been successfully implemented through two observing cycles. While people like the idea of not having to travel to a review it is still the consensus opinion, in our discussions with the community, that the in-person review panel discussions provide the most satisfying result. We continue to use in-person reviews for awarding greater than 90% of the observing time.
The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 as part of NASA’s Great Observatory Program, measuring the infrared universe. As a 100% Community Observatory, Spitzer started with a large infrastructure, and has been trimmed during its extended missions to less than two-thirds of its original budget. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array is a NASA Small Explorer Mission targeting the high-energy x-ray sky. It was launched in June of 2012 and is currently carrying out its two-year primary mission. This paper discusses a comparison of the two missions; differences between large and small missions, Community and Principal Investigator missions, and operations and management strategies of each. In addition, the paper will discuss the process of downsizing a large mission into a model similar to that of an explorer class spacecraft.
The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is the first focusing high energy (3-79 keV) X-ray observatory. The NuSTAR project is led by Caltech, which hosts the Science Operations Center (SOC), with mission operations managed by UCB Space Sciences Laboratory. We present an overview of NuSTAR science operations and describe the on-orbit performance of the observatory. The SOC is enhancing science operations to serve the community with a guest observing program beginning in 2015. We present some of the challenges and approaches taken by the SOC to operating a full service space observatory that maximizes the scientific return from the mission.
KEYWORDS: Observatories, Exoplanets, Cryogenics, Space operations, Data compression, Calibration, Space telescopes, Data analysis, Photometry, Galactic astronomy
The Spitzer Space Telescope is executing the third observing cycle in the `warm' extended phase of the mission. For the
warm mission, the observatory was effectively reinvented as a new, scientifically productive mission operating at a
substantially lower cost. In this paper we describe the ongoing implementation of improvements in science capabilities
during the extended mission phase even as the project budget continues to shrink. Improvements in pointing stability,
data compression and data analysis techniques allow for new science opportunities more than 8 years after launch.
Engineering analyses have shown that the mission can operate with high reliability and minimal technical risk through at
least January 2017.
KEYWORDS: Cryogenics, Observatories, Data analysis, Space telescopes, Space operations, Astronomy, Data archive systems, Infrared imaging, Infrared radiation, Infrared spectroscopy
The Spitzer Space Telescope transitioned from the cryogen mission to the IRAC warm mission during 2009. This
transition involved changing several areas of operations in order to cut the mission annual operating costs to 1/3 of the
cryogen mission amount. In spite of this substantial cut back, Spitzer continues to have one of the highest science return
per dollar ratio of any of NASA's extended missions. This paper will describe the major operational changes made for
the warm mission and how they affect the science return. The paper will give several measures showing that warm
Spitzer continues as one of the most scientifically productive mission in NASA's portfolio. This work was performed at
the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
KEYWORDS: Cryogenics, Space operations, Observatories, Calibration, Space telescopes, Helium, Data processing, Data archive systems, Infrared imaging, Infrared radiation
The Spitzer Space Telescope is a cryogenically cooled telescope operating three instruments in wavelengths ranging from 3.6 microns to 160 microns. Spitzer, the last of NASA's Great Observatories, was launched in August 2003 and has been operating for 4.5 years of an expected 5.5 year cryogen mission. The highly efficient Observatory has provided NASA and the science community with unprecedented data on galaxies, star formation, interstellar medium, exoplanets, and other fundamental astronomical topics. Spitzer's helium lifetime is predicted to end on April 18, 2009, with an uncertainty of +/- 3 months. Planning for this cryogen end involves many diverse areas of the project and is complicated due to the uncertainty in the actual date of helium depletion. This paper will describe how the Spitzer team is accommodating the unknown end date in the areas of observation selection, planning and scheduling, spacecraft and instrument monitoring, data processing and archiving, and finally, budgeting and staffing. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The Spitzer Science Center (SSC) Software Science Operations System (SOS) is a large, complex software system.
Over 1.2 million lines of code had been written for the SOS by time of launch (August 2003). The SSC uses a defect
tracking tool called GNATS to enter defect reports and change requests. GNATS has been useful beyond just tracking
defects to closure. Prior to launch a number of charts and graphs were generated using metrics collected from GNATS.
These reports demonstrated trends and snapshots of the state of the SOS and enabled the SSC to better identify risks to
the SOS and focus testing efforts. This paper will focus primarily on the time period of Spitzer's launch and In Orbit
Checkout. It will discuss the metrics collected, the analyses done, the format the analyses was presented in, and lessons
learned. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.
Performance goals for data archive systems need to be established early in the design process to ensure stability and
acceptable response throughput. Load testing is one technique used to measure the progress towards these performance
goals. Providing resources for load-test planning is critical, and this planning must include feasibility studies, tool
analyses, and generation of an overall load-test strategy. This strategy is much different for science data archives than
other systems, including commercial websites and high-volume data centers. This paper will provide an overview of the
load testing performed on the Spitzer Space Telescope's science archive, which is part of Science Operations System at
the Spitzer Science Center (SSC). Methods used for planning and conducting SSC load tests will be presented, and
advanced load-testing techniques will be provided to address runtime issues and enhance verification results. This work
was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
KEYWORDS: Databases, Space operations, Data archive systems, Observatories, Data processing, Space telescopes, Calibration, Infrared cameras, Telescopes, Infrared imaging
The Spitzer Space Telescope was successfully launched on August 25th, 2003. After a 98 day In Orbit Checkout and
Science Verification period, Spitzer began its five and one half year mission of science observations at wavelengths
ranging from 3.6 to 160 microns. Results from the first two years of operations show the observatory performing
exceedingly well, meeting or surpassing performance requirements in all areas. The California Institute of Technology
is the home for the Spitzer Science Center (SSC). The SSC is responsible for selecting observing proposals, providing
technical support to the science community, performing mission planning and science observation scheduling,
instrument calibration and performance monitoring during operations, and production of archival quality data products.
This paper will provide an overview of the Science Operations System at the SSC focusing on lessons learned during
the first two years of science operations and the changes made in the system as a result. This work was performed at the
California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
KEYWORDS: Observatories, Space telescopes, Space operations, Calibration, Telescopes, Data archive systems, Helium, Data processing, Cryogenics, Infrared telescopes
The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched on August 25th, 2003, and has been operating virtually flawlessly for over two years. The projected cryogenic lifetime for Spitzer is currently 5.5 years, substantially exceeding the required lifetime of 2.5 years and the pre-launch prediction of 5 years. The Spitzer Project has made a singular effort to extend Spitzer's lifetime through operational changes to conserve helium. Additionally, many updates to calibration and scheduling activities have been made in order to maximum the scientific return from Spitzer. Spitzer has met its level one science time requirement of 90%, and routinely exceeds it today. All this has been achieved with an operating budget that is substantially smaller than that of NASA's other Great Observatories.
This paper will describe the overall performance of the Spitzer Space Telescope Science Operations System and detail the modifications made to increase both the helium lifetime and the science data return. It will also discuss trades made between performance improvements and cost. Lessons learned which can be applied to future observatory operations will be included in the paper. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
KEYWORDS: Observatories, Space operations, Data processing, Space telescopes, Calibration, Data archive systems, Infrared radiation, Infrared cameras, Infrared imaging, Telescopes
The Spitzer Space Telescope was successfully launched on August 25th, 2003. After a 90 day In Orbit Checkout and Science Verification period, Spitzer began its five and one half year mission of science observations at wavelengths ranging from 3.6 to 160 microns. Early results from Spitzer show the observatory performing exceptionally well, meeting performance requirements in all areas. The California Institute of Technology is the home for the Spitzer Science Center (SSC). The SSC is responsible for selecting observing proposals, providing technical support to the science community, performing mission planning and science observation scheduling, instrument calibration and performance monitoring during operations, and production of archival quality data products. This paper will address the performance of the Spitzer science operations for the first nine months of the mission, covering science efficiency, science planning and scheduling metrics, data through-put and processing durations, system improvements, and science community interest. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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