A Spacecraft Position Optimal Tracking (SPOT) program was developed to process Global Positioning System (GPS) data, sent via telemetry from a spacecraft, to generate accurate navigation estimates of the vehicle position and velocity (state vector) using a Kalman filter. This program uses the GPS onboard receiver measurements to sequentially calculate the vehicle state vectors and provide this information to ground flight controllers. It is the first real-time ground-based shuttle navigation application using onboard sensors. The program is compact, portable, self-contained, and can run on a variety of UNIX or Linux computers. The program has a modular objec-toriented design that supports application-specific plugins such as data corruption remediation pre-processing and remote graphics display. The Kalman filter is extensible to additional sensor types or force models. The Kalman filter design is also strong against data dropouts because it uses physical models from state and covariance propagation in the absence of data. The design of this program separates the functionalities of SPOT into six different executable processes. This allows for the individual processes to be connected in an a la carte manner, making the feature set and executable complexity of SPOT adaptable to the needs of the user. Also, these processes need not be executed on the same workstation. This allows for communications between SPOT processes executing on the same Local Area Network (LAN). Thus, SPOT can be executed in a distributed sense with the capability for a team of flight controllers to efficiently share the same trajectory information currently being computed by the program. SPOT is used in the Mission Control Center (MCC) for Space Shuttle Program (SSP) and International Space Station Program (ISSP) operations, and can also be used as a post -flight analysis tool. It is primarily used for situational awareness, and for contingency situations.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    SPOT Program




    Publication date :

    2010-05-01


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    SPOT GUIDANCE SYSTEM, SPOT GUIDANCE TERMINAL, AND SPOT GUIDANCE PROGRAM

    TAKAHARA MASATOSHI | European Patent Office | 2018

    Free access

    DEFORMED SPOT DETECTION DEVICE, DEFORMED SPOT DETECTION PROGRAM AND DEFORMED SPOT DETECTION METHOD

    OHIRO TOMONORI / SAKURABA TAKUYA / SATAKE AKIRA | European Patent Office | 2019

    Free access

    DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION PROGRAM, DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION METHOD, AND DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION DEVICE

    SUZUKI HIROKO / SAITO TAKAHIRO / WATANABE ISAMU | European Patent Office | 2024

    Free access

    DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION PROGRAM, DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION METHOD, AND DANGEROUS SPOT CALCULATION DEVICE

    SUZUKI HIROKO / SAITO TAKAHIRO / WATANABE ISAMU | European Patent Office | 2018

    Free access

    DANGER SPOT IDENTIFICATION DEVICE, DANGER SPOT IDENTIFICATION METHOD AND PROGRAM

    SHIMIZU AKIRA / MATSUMARU MAKOTO / NOGUCHI RYOJI et al. | European Patent Office | 2024

    Free access