Jupiter (Planet) -- Photographs from space; Jupiter probes; Voyager Project
The complex sequence of scientific observations and the associated
engineering functions were executed by the spacecraft under the control
of an updatable program stored in the CCS by ground command. At
appropriate times, the CCS issued commands to the AACS for movement of
the scan platform or spacecraft maneuvers; to the FDS for changes in
instrument configuration or telemetry rate; or to numerous other
subsystems within the spacecraft for specific actions. The two identical
(redundant) 4096-word memories within the CCS contained both fixed
routines (about 2800 words) and a variable section (about 1290 words)
for changing science sequencing functions. A single 1290-word science
sequence load could easily generate 300 000 discrete commands, thus
providing significantly more sequencing capability than would be
possible through ground commands. A 1290-word sequencing load in the CCS
controlled both the science and engineering functions of the spacecraft
for a period lasting for ¾ day at closest approach and for up to 100
days during cruise.
Each 1290-word program (or load) was built from specific science
measurement units called links. Some links were used repeatedly in a
looping cyclic (like a computer DO loop) to perform the same observation
numerous times; other links that involved special measurement geometry
or critical timing occurred only once. About 175 science links were
defined for the Voyager 1 Jupiter encounter. It took almost two years to
convert the desired science objectives and measurements first into
links, then into a minute-by-minute timeline for the 98-day encounter
period, and finally into the specific computer instructions that could
be loaded into the CCS memory for that portion of the encounter time
represented by a particular load. The total Voyager 1 Jupiter encounter
period used eighteen sequence memory loads, supplemented by about 1000
ground commands to modify the sequences because of changing conditions
or calibration requirements.
For the Voyager 2 encounter, concern about the ailing spacecraft
receiver limited the number of loads that could be transmitted,
particularly while the spacecraft was deep within the Jovian
magnetosphere, where radiation effects caused the receiver frequency to
drift unpredictably. However, a careful redesign of the planned
sequences permitted the accomplishment of very nearly the original set
of observations even with these constraints.
All three approaches were required on the Voyager craft, especially
after Pioneer 10 and 11 demonstrated that the radiation at Jupiter was
even more intense than had been assumed in early design studies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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