Ground Enterprise Management System

Spacecraft ground systems are on the cusp of achieving "plug-and-play" capability, i.e., they are approaching the state in which the various components can be quickly integrated with near-automatic interoperability. When properly architected, such systems offer advantages over their traditional counterparts, such as improved upgradeability and extensibility. They can also be more easily automated and can provide better fault tolerance. These characteristics are important for all NASA spacecraft, from Exploration to Science. However, plug-and-play systems also pose some interesting challenges that can undermine their effectiveness. For example, they can be more complex in terms of information management and system administration. This is especially true when automation is used to reduce the workload of the operators. In fact, as the number of components increases, as much "situational awareness" of the ground system is needed the spacecraft. A software framework that supports plug-and-play integration, while also providing information management and system coordination, is required. Emergent Space Technologies Inc. therefore proposes to research and develop an Enterprise Management System for spacecraft ground systems. Called GEMS, it will provide spacecraft controllers and crew members with "situational awareness" of the current state of the ground system as well as understanding of how events and automated actions are affecting the system in real-time. The innovation lies in the development of algorithms and software adapters that gather data from the various components of the ground system to construct a data model that captures the system state and displays it to the controllers.