Planetary mission operations - An overview

An overview of the missions operations systems (MOS) used to support NASA planetary missions is given. The principal factors governing the design characteristics of MOS are discussed, including: the communications requirements of spacecraft over long distance from the earth, the fragility of the scientific payloads, and the inability to carry out planetary missions more than a few times a decade. The uplink and downlink parts of the MOS of Galileo and Voyager spacecraft are illustrated as examples of successful MOS design. A black and white photograph of the operations control center of JPL is provided.