Integrating Standard Operating Procedures with Spacecraft Automation

Spacecraft automation can be used to greatly reduce the demands on crew member and flight controllers time and attention. Automation can monitor critical resources, perform routine tasks, respond to unexpected events, and manage the overall operation of on-board systems. Crew members and flight controllers also use standard operating procedures to manage the tasks necessary to operate complex space missions. These procedures document both manual, non-automatable tasks and the interaction with automated space systems. In current NASA operations, however, automation systems and procedures are completely divorced from each other. Thus, procedures cannot start automation processes, monitor automation systems, or respond to state changes in automated systems. TRACLabs has developed an integrated development environment for electronic procedures called PRIDE. Our subcontractor, The Hammers Company, has developed an automation system called Galaxy and its Spacecraft Test and Operations Language (STOL) interpreter. In Phase I of this research, TRACLabs and The Hammers Company integrated PRIDE with Galaxy as a proof-of-concept example of the capabilities provided by a link between standard operating procedures and automation systems. Phase II of this research will focus on a much tighter interaction between PRIDE and Galaxy and application to NASA?s Resource Prospector mission.