Fault protection design for the command and data subsystem on the Cassini spacecraft

The Cassini orbital mission is to explore the Saturnian system are much greater depth than was possible by the Voyager flyby missions. To do this, the Cassini spacecraft is comprised of a Saturn orbiter and a Titan probe. The Command and Data Subsystem (CDS) on Cassini is responsible for uplink command processing, spacecraft intercommunications and control, and downlink telemetry formatting. The 10.7 year mission life, 160 minute round-trip light time, and extended periods of operation without continuous ground communications drive the CDS design in directions of redundancy, autonomy, and fault protection to assure the mission objectives