The DSN view periods for a mission

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Resource Allocation, Planning and Scheduling Office (JPL-RAPSO) is chartered to allocate the limited amount of tracking hours among the various missions in as equitable allotment as can be achieved. The communication windows that can be used for communication between the ground and the Project/spacecraft are called 'viewperiods.' The concept of the viewperiods for (any) mission is presented in this paper, along with the levels of refinement over time (Forecasting/Project/Mid- Range/NSS) associated with those viewperiods.