Understand how space organizations use concepts of operations and system integration plan to ensure the success of their program Space Concept of Operations

Lesson Overview Exploration: Moon Exploration: Mars Exploration: Mercury Discovery: Earth CONOPS/System Components

Exploration: Moon The GRAIL mission will place two independent spacecraft into the same synchronous orbit GRAIL's engineering objectives are to enable the science objectives of mapping lunar gravity and using that information to increase understanding of the Moon's interior and thermal history e orbit around the Moon.

/ns/technology_and_science/ Exploration: Moon

Exploration: Mars Mars Science Laboratory is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Launched on Nov. 26, 2011, 7:02 a.m. PST (10:02 a.m. EST). Mars Science Laboratory is a rover that will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet's "habitability."

Current Countdown to landing:

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, scheduled for launch in late 2013, will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. MAVEN will determine how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to allow extrapolation backward in time. Exploration: Mars

MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) mission is designed to further study the mysterious nature of Mercury August 3, MESSENGER Launch August Earth flyby October Venus flyby June Venus flyby January Mercury flyby October Mercury flyby September Mercury flyby March Yearlong science orbit of Mercury begins Exploration: Mercury

Discovery: Earth The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM 8), a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, will provide moderate-resolution (15 m–100 m, depending on spectral frequency) measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and polar regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave infrared, and thermal infrared. Launch Date: Dec 12 The LDCM spacecraft is being built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. The spacecraft has a design life of 5 years, but carries sufficient fuel for 10 years of operations

Discovery: Earth The joint U.S./Argentinian (SAC)-D Aquarius mission is mapping the salinity—the concentration of dissolved salt—at the ocean surface This information is critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation Launch Date: June 2011

CONOPS/System Component Assignment Suspense Dates: CONOPS Fact Sheet: 30 Mar 2012 CONOPS Class Presentation: 2/3 April 2012 Subsystem Fact Sheet: 30 Mar 2012

Understand how space organizations use concepts of operations and system integration plan to ensure the success of their program Space Concept of Operations