Ground Segment

 

The LADEE ground segment builds upon experience and existing infrastructure from previous successful missions. The Mission Operations Center is located at Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, California that communicates with all other centers involved in the mission to coordinate activities. The MOC receives telemetry and science data from the White Sands Ground Station, the Deep Space Network and NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

The Science Operations Center is located at the Goddard Spaceflight Center, Maryland. The SOC provides science data and systems telemetry to the three Instrument Operations Centers that process science data and provide the Mission Operations Center with commands and other requests concerning the appropriate instruments. The UVS IOC is located at Ames, the NMS IOC at Goddard and the LDEX IOC is located at LSAP, University of Colorado. The individual Science Teams work together to create science data products that are submitted to the Planetary Data System for the science community.

The Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration has its own ground segment featuring the main receiving station set up at White Sands, the Lunar Laser Operations Center at Goddard and the additional receiving stations at the Lunar Lasercom OCTL Terminal and the ESA Station in Spain. Time of flight measurement data is being submitted to MOC and SOC via the Lunar Laser Ops Center and real time commands could be sent via the lasercom system, but that option will likely not be exercised.

LADEE – Ground Segment Responsibilities