The contingency of success: Operations for Deep Impact´s planet hunt

Author

Rieber, Richard R. ; Sharrow, Robert F.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA

fYear

2009

fDate

7-14 March 2009

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

9

Abstract

The Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft completed its prime mission in August 2005. It was reactivated for a mission of opportunity add-on called EPOXI on September 25, 2007. The first portion of EPOXI, called EPOCh (Extra-solar Planetary Observation & CHaracterization), occurred from January 21, 2008 through August 31, 2008. Its purpose was to characterize transiting hot-Jupiters by measuring the effects the planet has on the luminosity of its parent star. These observations entailed using the spacecraft in ways it was never intended. A new green-light, success-oriented operational strategy was devised that entailed high amounts of automation and minimal intervention from the ground. The specifics, techniques, and key challenges to obtaining the 172,209 usable science images from EPOCh are discussed in detail.

Keywords

astronomical instruments; extrasolar planets; space research; stellar spectra; AD 2005 08; AD 2007 09 25; AD 2008 01 21 to 08 31; Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft; EPOXI; extrasolar planetary observation; luminosity; transiting hot Jupiters; Automation; Downlink; Earth; Extraterrestrial measurements; Focusing; Planets; Space vehicles; Spine; Strategic planning; Timing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace conference, 2009 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2621-8

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-2622-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2009.4839704

Filename

4839704