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Auxiliary Data Handling Support for Science Operations SPICE
2015-05-21 18:05:49| Space-careers.com Jobs RSS
Aurora is an established supplier of skilled manpower to ESA and in particular at ESTEC and ESAC. Aurora has the opportunity to expand our support into the Cross Mission Support Office within the Science and Robotic Exploration Directorate DSRE. Aurora currently has a team of over 20 engineers and scientists at ESAC, expanding to 25 in the coming months. Overview ESA has a number of science missions under development and in operation that are dedicated to the study of our Solar System i.e. MEX, Rosetta, ExoMars, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter and JUICE. The Science Operations Centres for these missions, located at the European Space Astronomy Centre ESAC in Spain, are responsible for all science operations planning, data processing and archiving tasks, being the essential interface between the science instruments and the spacecraft, and with the scientific community. From the concept study phase to the daytoday science operations, these missions produce and use auxiliary data spacecraft orbital state information, attitude, event information and relevant spacecraft housekeeping data to assist science planning, data processing, analysis and archiving. Within the Solar System scientific community, the SPICE information system is the de facto standard for auxiliary data handling and geometry computations, and has been adopted and is extensively used in ESA missions. SPICE is developed and maintained by the Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility NAIF of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL. The SPICE format includes definitions for orbit, attitude and event information, and the data files describing these categories are called SPICE kernels. These kernels contain sufficient information to compute derived geometrical or positional values using the existing NAIF SPICE toolkit. For ESA missions, there are three different sources of SPICE kernels The spacecraft orbit SPK, attitude CK and clock correlation SCLK kernels, produced regularly for each mission from Mission Analysis and Flight Dynamics products and spacecraft telemetry Generic kernels, such as planetary constants PCK, leap seconds LSK and ephemerides SPK, mostly provided by NAIF Instrument kernels IK and the frames specification kernel FK, created in collaboration with the Instruments Teams In collaboration with the NAIF team, ESA has implemented the Auxiliary Data Conversion System ADCS to automate the conversion of ESOC ancillary data spacecraft orbit, attitude and clock correlation data into the corresponding SPICE format. Preoperational and operational SPICE kernels are made available through an ESA SPICE FTP. In addition, SPICE archives are generated and made available in the ESAs Planetary Science Archive PSA, following the Planetary Data System PDS standards. To streamline the efforts needed to design, produce, distribute and archive auxiliary data for all operational and future Solar System missions, and to centralise and standardise all services and interfaces related to auxiliary data handling, ESA is building up expertise in this area in a team of crossmission support experts. The work packages covered by this service encompass functions related to auxiliary data handling preparation, analysis, distribution and exploitation for Solar System missions, including any dedicated missionspecific support and consultancy required during their lifetime. Interfacing with the ESA Mission Analysis and Flight Dynamics groups and with the NASAs NAIF group is also expected as part of this service. Specific Service Tasks For missions with already established set ups i.e. MEX, VEX, Rosetta, minimal effort is expected to maintain the existing services. However, for missions under development i.e. ExoMars, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter and JUICE, significant effort is required to set up the required auxiliary data handling services. As part of the service the following work packages will have to be carried out WP01 Missionspecific SPICE Kernels Preparation This work package covers the preparation and maintenance of a complete set of SPICE kernels for each mission. This requires a solid understanding of spacecraft and instrument design, and its operations. Close communication with the instrument designers and science operations planners is required to define the necessary kernels. Expected outputs Instrument Kernels IK for each of the instruments Instrument Kernels IK for other spacecraft related parts, e.g. the solar panels, highgain antenna Frame Kernels FK for spacecraft structures, payload and additional generic frames as needed Spacecraft Kernels SPK for relative positions of specific spacecraft structures and components Spacecraft Clock Kernel SCLK, see also WP02 Planetary Constant Kernels PCK Attitude Kernels CK based on a set of simple geometric descriptions mostly for science operations analysis purposes Dedicated area on SPICE FTP site for kernel distribution, including maintenance of all supporting documentation for the SPICE data set and associated web pages Test software to validate and visualise the correctness of the SPICE Kernels This work package is applicable to BepiColombo already partially completed, Solar Orbiter and JUICE. Maintenance of the SPICE kernels and associated services is applicable to all missions. WP02 Auxiliary Data Conversion System Development and Maintenance Missions in operations are currently using the ADCS to automatically convert Flight Dynamics products and spacecraft telemetry into SPICE kernels. In addition, as part of a short external contract, the ADCS is being updated to cope with the requirements of the missions under development. These updates are Conversion of the new CCSDS format orbit and attitude products from ESOC Updates of the Spacecraft Clock Kernel based on received Time Correlation Packets Improved software documentation This work package covers all activities related to taking over the development and maintenance of the ADCS once the external contract is completed. Activities in this work package also include Coordination and development of any future functionalities required by the missions in operations and under development on an asneeded basis. Adaptation for conversion of Mission Analysis products to SPICE kernels Adaptation and support for the integration of this service in SOC systems Operations and maintenance of the existing ADCS services for missions in operations Expected outputs Orbit kernels SPK Attitude kernels CK Event kernels EK Spacecraft Clock kernels SCLK Orbit Number files ORBNUM Updated ADCS software and associated documentationreports on conversion and validation process CCB and status minutes of meeting This work package is applicable to all missions minimum effort required for missions in operation. WP03 SPICE Archive Generation Each mission has the responsibility to produce auxiliary data sets for longterm archiving. A service is already in place for missions in operations, where a PDSformatted SPICE data set including all required documentation is regularly produced and delivered to the Planetary Science Archive PSA for ingestion in the archive. Missions under development will also need this service in the near future. The following tasks shall be performed as part of this work package Preparation of a data pipeline to produce SPICE data sets for longterm archiving in PDS4 format Maintenance and operation of the pipeline to produce SPICE data sets for longterm archiving Updates required resulting from the peerreview of any generated PDS SPICE data sets Expected output Regular deliveries frequency to be agreed typically 36 months of PDSformatted SPICE data sets suited for longterm archiving following PSA requirements This work package is applicable to all missions minimum effort required for missions in operation. WP04 Auxiliary Data Handling Technical Support and Consultancy This work package covers activities related to technical support and consultancy to the Science Operations Centres, Instrument Teams and the scientific community on all aspects related to SPICE and auxiliary data handling. This includes Advice on auxiliary data handling aspects, including auxiliary data systems design and development support Support and consultancy to instrument teams and the scientific community on the usage of the SPICE kernels and any associated tools and services Expected output Technical support and consultancy to the Science Operations Centres, Instrument Teams and scientific community in any aspects related to auxiliary data handling and use of SPICE WP05 SPICE Training and Community Capacity Building This work package includes activities related to community capacity building to help in establishing a forum for addressing SPICE issues. Assistance from the NAIF team at JPL on SPICE training is envisaged. Coordinate, arrange and conduct SPICE training courses for interested team members from ESAs Solar System missions. Preparation of tutorials and programming exercises and material to train the Science Operations Centres and Instrument Teams in producing and using SPICE in the most efficient way. Expected output 1 training courseworkshop per year Dedicated SPICE training material as needed Contributions to online community for SPICE support WP06 Scientific Geometry Data Analysis and Exploitation Services This work package covers research into and development of dedicated geometry handling, visualisation and analysis software using SPICE, GIS, and other relevant technologies, for its use in mission concept studies, science operations analysis, science operations planning and scheduling, trajectory and observation geometry visualisation 3D, scientific data processing, analysis and archiving. Expected output Software, either in the form of application programming interfaces or software systems tools Studies of technology solutions applied to specific problems The selected contractor should be comfortable in an international working environment, as they are expected to interact freely with any member of the any member of the following institutions involved in development and operations work Science Operations Centre at ESAC main interface Operations Ground Segments at ESOC including Mission Analysis and Flight Dynamics Instrument Teams of ESA missions in operations and under development Planetary Science Archive PSA team at ESAC NASA NAIF team SPICE Scientific community Specific qualification requirements Applicants should possess A university education PhD or MSc in a scientific or technical subject Relevant professional experience of at least 4 years Excellent communications skills A high level of written and spoken English is essential In addition A background in Computer Engineering, Physics or Mathematics, with a high level of expertise in Solar System geometry and ancillary information data and systems including SPICE is advantageous. Experience in providing support and interacting with instrument scientists and engineers and with the scientific community is mandatory. Strong computer programming skills, and a good knowledge of web applications programming would be an asset. Knowledge of the following would be beneficial Knowledge of science operations planning is an advantage Programming languages C, Perl, Python, IDL, Java, Matlab, Javascript, Fortran Development of Web Applications, experience with Apache Tomcat technologies Knowledge of XMLJSON technologies Experience with configuration and version control tools SVN, Git ECSS standards for software development Legal and Security Requirements All applicants must be legally allowed to work in Spain without the need to obtain a work visa. Only European Union citizens can be employed by Aurora in Spain. Applicants must be eligible to travel and work in the USA see details in location below for up to 90 days without the need to obtain a work visa. Applicants are required to provide a copy of their passport and degree certificate. Aurora will validate the Degree with the issuing University and provide evidence to ESA. In line with ESAs security requirements, prior to issuing a letter of employment the applicant shall provide to Aurora a recent official document declaring that they are of good conduct from the country where currently resident, and Aurora will validate your employment history. Location It is expected that the work will be performed predominantly at the ESAC, the European Space Astronomy Centre, at Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid, Spain. In addition, travel to JPL California, USA for training is expected and at least once for a long period up to 3 months. Travel to other locations within Europe to attend e.g. SWT, SOWG and DHAWG meetings, or to visit Instrument Team Institutes will be also required. Travel to attend conferences and present papers is also likely. Contract You will be registered for both social security and tax in Spain. The standard working hours are 40 per week. There are 12 public holidays and an additional 30 annual days holiday. In addition to public health services Aurora provides private medical insurance in Spain. Training to improve efficiency and provide strength for future career are of course included. Aurora can assist financially and provide recent experience information for relocation. To be considered for this Position Provide prior to 5 June 2015 a summary of why you are a good candidate for the position together with a complete and detailed Recruitment Form to Mr. Alex Jeanes, at email alexjeanesaurora.nl quoting reference SRE111. Aurora will agree conditional employment terms and conditions with candidates before presenting their detailed technical proposal and candidates to ESA by 12 June 2015.
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