Optical communications can provide high-data-rate telemetry from deep-space probes with subsystems that have lower mass, consume less power, and are smaller than their radio frequency (RF) counterparts. However, because optical communication is more affected by weather than is RF communication, it requires groundstation site diversity to mitigate the adverse effects of inclement weather on the ...

The Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) program, developed by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, began operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2006. SPHERES was designed as a research facility to demonstrate metrology, control, and autonomy algorithms for distributed satellite systems. By operating in the risktolerant environment of...

Satellite telemetry data is a special case of multivariate time series characterized by large volumes (in terms both the number and samples), varying sampling rates (including gaps), redundant sensors, many interconnections between series. Special tools are needed to handle visualization, analysis, and, most importantly, annotation such data. Manually prepared annotations crucial when designing...

Prognostic technology uses a series of algorithms, combined forms a prognostic-based inference engine (PBIE) for the identification of deterministic behavior embedded in completely normal appearing telemetry from fully functional equipment. The algorithms used to define normal behavior in the PBIE from which deterministic behavior is identified can be adapted to quantify normal spacecraft telem...