Planetary Users Support and Operation Centre

1. Planetary Users Support and Operation Centre C.Muller, B.USOC, Belgium

2. Offer: a network of operation centres and user home bases. • Purpose: facilitate the access of scientists to space planetary operations. • Model: present network of USOC’s supporting scientists on the ISS. Microgravity scientists traditionally have much less operational experience than scientists originating from astronomy but even astronomers are often new to remote operations.

4. The ESA IGS: ESOC facility that manages the communications with the ISS, it is highly securised and thus difficultly accessible to teams, it is also highly specific in terms of hardware.

6. Advantages to scientists, ESA and EU • Putting space closer to the scientists. • Separating spacecraft operations from science operations can simplify procedures (industrial responsibilities). • User Home Bases in countries with weak national space agencies makes much easier the implications of these scientists in the planetary programmes. • The operation infrastructure is a networking support tool in itself. An other model, the JPL MER operation centre, at the time of the first STEREO image.

7. Does this TNA require new infrastructure? • The USOC network already exists with hardware and trained personnel. Each new activity requires a careful feasibility study in terms of facility sharing. • A new activity will thus be incremental in terms of resources. EU likes to be a tenant of infrastructures, it has not yet the means to become a landlord in FP-7. • User Home Bases can be designed on the base of commercially available hardware and communication lines (INTERNET, commercial teleconferencing). • Personnel and training will be the main costs to EU and national agencies.