The Deep Space Network (DSN) (designed and operated by the Jet Propulsion Lab(cid:173) oratory (JPL) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)) is unique in terms of providing end-to-end telecommunication capabilities between earth and various interplanetary spacecraft throughout the solar system. The ground component of the DSN consists of three ground station complexes located in California, Spain and Australia, giving full 24-hour coverage for deep space com(cid:173) munications.

NASA's tiny CAPSTONE spacecraft has run into trouble on its way to the moon and is currently tumbling out of control. The US space agency's $30 million probe, which is around the size of a microwave oven and weighs just 55 pounds, has also been experiencing temperature issues and had problems generating power from its solar panels. Toward the end of a major engine burn last Thursday (September 9), CAPSTONE experienced an anomaly that put the probe in a protective'safe mode', mission team members said. In an update issued this week, Advanced Space – the company that is managing the project for NASA – described it as a'dynamic operational situation'. It is not the first time CAPSTONE has hit a snag.

This article originally appeared in the July 3, 2017 issue of SpaceNews magazine. Mars 2020 is an ambitious mission. NASA plans to gather 20 rock cores and soil samples within 1.25 Mars years, or about 28 Earth months -- a task that would be impossible without artificial intelligence because the rover would waste too much time waiting for instructions. It currently takes the Mars Science Laboratory team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory eight hours to plan daily activities for the Curiosity rover before sending instructions through NASA's over-subscribed Deep Space Network. Program managers tell the rover when to wake up, how long to warm up its instruments and how to steer clear of rocks that damage its already beat-up wheels.

This article describes the DSN scheduling wngine (DSE) component of a new scheduling system being deployed for NASA's deep space network. The DSE provides core automation functionality for scheduling the network, including the interpretation of scheduling requirements expressed by users, their elaboration into tracking passes, and the resolution of conflicts and constraint violations. It has been integrated with a web application which provides DSE functionality to all DSN users through a standard web browser, as part of a peer-to-peer schedule negotiation process for the entire network. The system has been deployed operationally and is in routine use, and is in the process of being extended to support long-range planning and forecasting, and near-real-time scheduling.

This article describes the DSN scheduling wngine (DSE) component of a new scheduling system being deployed for NASA's deep space network. The DSE provides core automation functionality for scheduling the network, including the interpretation of scheduling requirements expressed by users, their elaboration into tracking passes, and the resolution of conflicts and constraint violations. The DSE incorporates both systematic search and repair-based algorithms, used for different phases and purposes in the overall system. It has been integrated with a web application which provides DSE functionality to all DSN users through a standard web browser, as part of a peer-to-peer schedule negotiation process for the entire network. The system has been deployed operationally and is in routine use, and is in the process of being extended to support long-range planning and forecasting, and near-real-time scheduling.