Supported Projects
The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI)
The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) instrument will host five observing telescopes (an Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI), two Coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), and two Heliospheric Imager (HI-1 and HI-2) telescopes) and one Guide Telescope (GT). With SECCHI, solar scientists will be able to determine the causes and characteristics of the explosive coronal mass ejections from the sun and observe their travel through the heliosphere toward the Earth. There will be two SECCHI instruments developed. They are the primary payload of two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft to be launched mid 2006. The pair of STEREO spacecraft will be in solar orbits with one spacecraft advancing ahead of the Earth and the other lagging behind the Earth. Observing schedules on the two spacecraft will be synchronized to produce three-dimensional images of solar activity after images are combined by ground processing capabilities. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research is responsible for developing the SECCHI flight and ground software. The flight software development will utilize heritage software design and/or code from the Large Angle Solar COronagraph (LASCO) instrument, the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), and Triana wherever possible.
SECCHI Flight Software Description
The SECCHI flight software is being developed using object-oriented design and implementation in C++. It is built on heritage core Command and Data Handling (C&DH) capabilities from the Triana mission. In addition to developing FSW, tHC support has included requirements development, FSW design, and development and integration testing. Major capabilities developed by tHC in the flight software include:
- SpaceWire communication driver
- camera programming and control
- image-taking control
- autonomy rule operation and response
- instrument thermal control
- Guide Telescope data acquisition and processing
- command and telemetry interface with spacecraft via 1553
- packetization and downlinking of science and engineering files
- processor and bulk memory scrubbing control
- instrument time maintenance
