NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 19900009128: SHARP: A multi-mission artificial intelligence system for spacecraft telemetry monitoring and diagnosis

The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 20, 1977. The technology to track and monitor such probes was designed and developed in the early 1970's. This now-antiquated technology, coupled with the efforts of bright, resourceful scientists, has carried Voyager 2 through near-fatal catastrophic events to three of our solar system’s outer planets (to four by August, 1989). Despite the spacecraft's failed radio receiver, sunlight damage to the photopolarimeter scientific instrument, and partially paralyzed scan platform (which houses Voyager's imaging system), these scientists have kept Voyager operational, enabling the capture and transmission of vast amounts of invaluable information and images of the Jovian, Saturnian, and Uranian systems. During critical periods of the mission, up to 40 real-time operators are required to monitor the spacecraft’s 10 subsystems on a 24-hour, 7-day-per-week schedule. This does not include the numerous subsystem and scientific instrument specialists who must constantly be available on call to handle emergencies. As more and more solar system explorations are undertaken, it will become increasingly difficult to staff a large enough effort to support these expensive missions. Currently there is one Mission Control Team and one Spacecraft Team for each flight project. JPL has initiated an effort to coordinate all missions through a central Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) whose goal is to transition from single-project dedicated flight teams to one multi-mission teem that flies all spacecraft. Within SFOC, the Voyager spacecraft will continue to be monitored throughout their extended mission of discovering the solar system heliopause (the boundary between the Sun's magnetic influence and interstellar space); the Magellan spacecraft, launched in May, 1989, is being tracked throughout its flight to Venus; the Galileo mission to Jupiter will be monitored; and other new flight projects will be observed throughout their operation by this single multi-mission flight team. The Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP) is an effort to apply artificial intelligence (Al) techniques to the task of multi-mission monitoring of spacecraft and diagnosis of anomalies. Ultimately, SHARP will ease the burden that multiple missions would inevitably place upon subsystem, scientific instrument, and Deep Space Network (antenna) experts. SHARP will automate many of the mundane analysis tasks, and reduce the number of operators required to perform real-time monitoring activities. The system will enhance the reliability of monitoring operations, and may prevent those types of errors that cause spacecraft, such as the Soviet Phobos, to be lost. The Voyager 2 spacecraft was targeted for the SHARP effort since, at the time of selection, it was the only spacecraft in flight that had yet to complete its primary mission. The prototype effort was further focused to one subsystem so that specific concepts could be developed and then demonstrated in a vigorous operational setting: the spacecraft's encounter of the planet Neptune in August, 1989. The Telecommunications (Telecom) subsystem was chosen for the initial demonstration since anomalies occur on a frequent basis in this area, and the Telecom expert, Boyd Madsen, demonstrated enthusiastic support. The Telecommunications area also ( presents the challenge of coordinating monitoring and diagnosis efforts of both the spacecraft and ground data systems (GDS).

Republished by Liber Copia LLC for convenient study and reference on any device.