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GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

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This software added considerable efficiency to the MP workflow, but its real win was in the flexibility it gave us.Experience shows that timeline changes occurred often and late in the load design process, as operators andmanagers reacted to late-breaking spacecraft changes and results. By removing hours of planning and replanningfrom this picture, the Timeline Automation software allowed us to incorporate bigger changes muchlater in the day than we could during the IOC or Science mission phases.4.2.4 Critical Factor: Error-FreeThe third factor critical to Mission Planning’s success was delivering products that were completely error-free,and that met the intentions and operational objectives of the mission. To this end, Mission Planning set out agoal and a key mechanism to achieve it. Our goal was “no data loss”, and our quality assurance mechanism was“timeline verification.” This section discusses these elements.4.2.4.1 No Data Loss!Our customers in the Science Group cared most about one thing: getting their data. And in this area, the goal ofthe Mission Planning team was simple: “Do everything we possibly could to ensure that no data loss occurredfrom anything we could control.” And, throughout the IOC and Science phases of the mission, we weresuccessful! No data loss resulted from our scheduling and load generation products. This achievement was theresult of solid processes that minimized the possibility for human error by employing direct human oversightand double-checking every step of the way.The volume of the task was substantial. Consider:Table 4-8. Mission Planning workload volume—IOC & ScienceWorkload Volume over the Course of IOC and ScienceMonths On-Orbit 17.3 (April 20, 2004 – September 29, 2005)Space Network Passes 9,000Ground Network Passes 2,100Templates Executed during IOC 34,8561,891 templates per week (average)Templates Executed during Science 89,2071,774 templates per week (average)Total Number of Loads 4324.2.4.2 Timeline VerificationDuring IOC, each spacecraft load was custom-built from the library of tasks and blocks of tasks MissionPlanning created. This was a departure from our planned process of working from a constant, controlledbaseline, and this meant that risk was injected into the load development process.106 March 2007 Chapter 4 — <strong>GP</strong>-B On Orbit

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