[CMC] Re: [CESG] International Interplanetary Networking Succeeds

[Peter Shames]

This is excellent and it is great to see news of our success spread 
in a wider forum.

Now, if we could just get them, even once, to mention that they used 
CCSDS protocols in the process, and the role that this organization 
played in making it all possible, I would be a happy man.

Peter


At 9:24 AM -0800 2/12/04, Adrian J. Hooke wrote:
>Donald Savage
>Headquarters, Washington                     February 12, 2004
>(Phone: 202/358-1547)
>
>Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin
>ESA/EASOC Communication Office
>(Intl. Phone: 49/ 6151 90 26 96)
>
>Guy Webster
>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
>(Phone: 818/354-5011)
>
>RELEASE: 04-060
>
>INTERNATIONAL INTERPLANETARY NETWORKING SUCCEEDS
>
>      A pioneering demonstration of communications between
>NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and the European Space
>Agency (ESA) Mars Express orbiter succeeded.
>
>On February 6, while Mars Express was flying over the area
>Spirit was examining, the orbiter transferred commands from
>Earth to the rover and relayed data from the robotic explorer
>back to Earth.
>
>"This is the first time we have had an in-orbit communication
>between ESA and NASA spacecraft, and also the first working
>international communications network around another planet,"
>said Rudolf Schmidt, ESA's project manager for Mars Express.
>"Both are significant achievements, two more 'firsts' for Mars
>Express and the Mars Exploration Rovers."
>
>Jennifer Trosper, Spirit mission manager at NASA's Jet
>Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., said, "We have
>an international interplanetary communications network
>established at Mars."
>
>ESA and NASA planned this demonstration as part of continuing
>efforts to cooperate in space and to enable plans to use joint
>communications assets to support future missions to the surface
>of Mars.
>
>The commands for the rover were transferred from Spirit's
>operations team at JPL to ESA's European Space Operations
>Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, where they were translated into
>commands for Mars Express.
>
>The translated commands were transmitted to Mars Express, which
>used them to successfully command Spirit. Spirit used its
>ultra-high frequency antenna to transmit telemetry information
>to Mars Express. The orbiter relayed the data back to JPL, via
>the European Space Operations Centre.
>
>"This is excellent news," said JPL's Richard Horttor, project
>manager for NASA's role in Mars Express. "The communication
>sessions between Mars Express and Spirit were pristine. Not a
>single bit of data was missing or added, and there were no
>duplications."
>
>This exercise demonstrated the increased flexibility and
>capabilities of interagency cooperation and highlighted the
>spirit of close support essential in undertaking international
>space exploration.
>
>Spirit and its twin Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity,
>frequently use two NASA orbiters, Mars Odyssey and Mars Global
>Surveyor, for relaying communications. The rovers also can
>communicate directly with the Earth-based antennas of NASA's
>Deep Space Network in California, Spain and Australia, another
>layer of international cooperation.
>
>JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
>Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project and NASA
>participation in Mars Express for NASA's Office of Space
>Science, Washington.
>
>For information about NASA and Mars programs on the Internet,
>visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov
>
>For images and information about the Mars Exploration Rover
>project on the Internet, visit:
>http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov
>http://athena.cornell.edu
>
>For images and information about Mars Express on the Internet,
>visit:
>http://www.esa.int/science/marsexpress
>http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/express
>-end-
>
>_______________________________________________
>CESG mailing list
>CESG@mailman.ccsds.org
>http://mailman.ccsds.org/mailman/listinfo/cesg


-- 
___________________________________________________________

Peter Shames
Manager - JPL Information Systems Standards Program
InterPlanetary Network and Information Systems Directorate
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, MS 301-265
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91109 USA

Telephone: +1 818 354-5740,  Fax: +1 818 393-1333

Internet:  Peter.Shames@jpl.nasa.gov
___________________________________________________________
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive at where we started, and know the place for the first time"

 
T.S. Eliot