Testing verifies communications for Orion missions beyond the Moon
2018-08-31
Engineers recently completed a series of tests of the Orion communications system to ensure the spacecraft and mission controllers in Houston can flawlessly communicate through NASA’s satellite networks in space and on the ground when Orion and its crew are far from Earth on missions to the Moon and beyond.
The most recent evaluations in the series, known as SpaceCom, took place in mid-August and involved testing between a lab at Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver that replicates Orion’s computer, wiring and avionics systems configurations, and NASA’s Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Spacecraft telemetry, files, commands and video were sent and received through the Deep Space Network (DSN) to and from mission control. The DSN is typically used for communications with deep space robotic spacecraft, but has not been used for human spaceflight missions since the Space Shuttle Program.
The testing included communications during Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) scenarios such as from the pre-launch countdown through the point at which Orion data is relayed through the DSN, operations in lunar orbit, handover between the DSN and the Space Network during Orion’s trajectory from the Moon back toward Earth, and post-splashdown operations. Previous testing as part of the SpaceCom series also verified communications through the Space Network satellites and Near Earth Network ground station at Cape Canaveral, and also included support from personnel at the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to verify they can receive data from the Space Launch System rocket. The testing also marked a busy time for communications tests for deep space human exploration missions. Engineers at the Space Launch System Engineering Support Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently concluded voice tests to ensure teams across the country included flight controllers in MCC, launch controllers in Florida and engineer teams at several locations, including in Huntsville, can communicate by voice.
The testing was the final checkout of communications between Orion and NASA’s networks before testing with the vehicle for EM-1 is conducted in the fall at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Rachel Kraft
NASA Johnson Space Center
The most recent evaluations in the series, known as SpaceCom, took place in mid-August and involved testing between a lab at Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver that replicates Orion’s computer, wiring and avionics systems configurations, and NASA’s Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Spacecraft telemetry, files, commands and video were sent and received through the Deep Space Network (DSN) to and from mission control. The DSN is typically used for communications with deep space robotic spacecraft, but has not been used for human spaceflight missions since the Space Shuttle Program.
The testing included communications during Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) scenarios such as from the pre-launch countdown through the point at which Orion data is relayed through the DSN, operations in lunar orbit, handover between the DSN and the Space Network during Orion’s trajectory from the Moon back toward Earth, and post-splashdown operations. Previous testing as part of the SpaceCom series also verified communications through the Space Network satellites and Near Earth Network ground station at Cape Canaveral, and also included support from personnel at the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to verify they can receive data from the Space Launch System rocket. The testing also marked a busy time for communications tests for deep space human exploration missions. Engineers at the Space Launch System Engineering Support Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently concluded voice tests to ensure teams across the country included flight controllers in MCC, launch controllers in Florida and engineer teams at several locations, including in Huntsville, can communicate by voice.
The testing was the final checkout of communications between Orion and NASA’s networks before testing with the vehicle for EM-1 is conducted in the fall at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Rachel Kraft
NASA Johnson Space Center