Charles H. Acton

Ancillary data services of NASA's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility

Abstract JPLs Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) has primary responsibility for design and implementation of the SPICE ancillary information system, supporting a wide range of space science mission design, observation planning and data analysis functions. NAIF also serves as the ancillary data node of the Planetary Data System (PDS). As part of the PDS, NAIF archives SPICE and other ancillary data produced by flight projects. NAIF then distributes these data, and associated data access software and high-level tools, free of charge, to researchers funded by NASAs Office of Space Science, and to the broader space science community to the extent NAIF resources and NASA and JPL policy permit. This paper describes the SPICE system, identifies current and future SPICE applications, and summarizes customer support offered by NAIF. This information is current as of Spring 1995.

Rocky 7 prototype Mars rover field geology experiments 1. Lavic Lake and sunshine volcanic field, California

Experiments with the Rocky 7 rover were performed in the Mojave Desert to better understand how to conduct rover-based, long-distance (kilometers) geological traverses on Mars. The rover was equipped with stereo imaging systems for remote sensing science and hazard avoidance and 57Fe Mossbauer and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers for in situ determination of mineralogy of unprepared rock and soil surfaces. Laboratory data were also obtained using the spectrometers and an X ray diffraction (XRD)/XRF instrument for unprepared samples collected from the rover sites. Simulated orbital and descent image data assembled for the test sites were found to be critical for assessing the geologic setting, formulating hypotheses to be tested with rover observations, planning traverses, locating the rover, and providing a regional context for interpretation of rover-based observations. Analyses of remote sensing and in situ observations acquired by the rover confirmed inferences made from orbital and simulated descent images that the Sunshine Volcanic Field is composed of basalt flows. Rover data confirmed the idea that Lavic Lake is a recharge playa and that an alluvial fan composed of sediments with felsic compositions has prograded onto the playa. Rover-based discoveries include the inference that the basalt flows are mantled with aeolian sediment and covered with a dense pavement of varnished basalt cobbles. Results demonstrate that the combination of rover remote sensing and in situ analytical observations will significantly increase our understanding of Mars and provide key connecting links between orbital and descent data and analyses of returned samples.

Planning and processing space science observations using NASA's SPICE system

The Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) team, acting under the directions of NASAs Office of Space Science, has built a data system-named SPICE-to assist scientists in planning and interpreting scientific observations from space-borne instruments. The principal objective of this data system is that it will provide geometric and other ancillary data used to plan space science missions and subsequently recover the full value of science instrument data returned from these missions, including correlation of individual instrument data sets with data from other instruments on the same or other spacecraft. SPICE is also used to support a host of mission engineering functions, such as telecommunications system analysis and operation of NASAs Deep Space Network antennas. This paper describes the SPICE system, including where and how it is used. It also touches on possibilities for further development and invites participation it this endeavor.

C-smithing of Voyager 2 non-imaging instrument pointing information at Uranus

The development of a family of techniques, collectively called C-smithing, for improving spacecraft nonimaging instrument pointing knowledge is discussed. C-smithing studies using data from the Voyager 2 Uranus Encounter show that significant improvements in pointing knowledge for nonimaging instruments can be achieved with these techniques. This improved pointing information can be used to regenerate instrument viewing geometry parameters for the encounter, which can then be made available to science investigators.

NASA's SPICE System Models the Solar System

The Navigation Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, acting under the directions of NASA’s Office of Space Science, has built a data system-named SPICE-to assist scientists in planning and interpreting scientific observations. SPICE provides geometric and some other ancillary information needed to recover the full value of science instrument data, including correlation of individual instrument data sets with data from other instruments on the same or other spacecraft.