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The Dawn Spacecraft

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Abstract

The Dawn spacecraft is designed to travel to and operate in orbit around the two largest main belt asteroids, Vesta and Ceres. Developed to meet a ten-year life and fully redundant, the spacecraft accommodates an ion propulsion system, including three ion engines and xenon propellant tank, utilizes large solar arrays to power the engines, carries the science instrument payload, and hosts the hardware and software required to successfully collect and transmit the scientific data back to Earth. The launch of the Dawn spacecraft in September 2007 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was the culmination of nearly five years of design, development, integration and testing of this unique system, one of the very few scientific spacecraft to rely on ion propulsion. The Dawn spacecraft arrived at its first destination, Vesta, in July 2011, where it will conduct science operations for twelve months before departing for Ceres.

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Notes

  1. Frame error rate is used instead of bit error rate because turbo-coding failures result in the loss of the entire code block or data frame.

Abbreviations

AA:

Active Analog

AC:

Attitude Control

ACE:

Attitude Control Electronics

ACS:

Attitude Control Subsystem

AMBI:

Advanced Spaceborne Computer Module Bus Interface

APE:

Attitude and Power Electronics

ARM:

Autonomous Redundancy Management

ATLO:

Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations

BL:

Bi-Level

BSP:

Board Support Package

CADU:

Channel Access Data Units

CBE:

Current Best Estimate

CCD:

Charge-Coupled Device

CCSDS:

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems

CDHS:

Command and Data Handling Subsystem

CEU:

Central Electronics Unit

CPT:

Comprehensive Performance Test

CPU:

Central Processing Unit

CTT:

Compatibility Test Trailer

CS:

Checksum

CSS:

Coarse Sun Sensor

DAS:

Data Acquisition System

DCIU:

Digital Command Interface Unit

DI:

Diagnostic

DL:

DownLink

DOD:

Depth of Discharge

DOR:

Differential One-way Ranging

DRAM:

Dynamic Random Access Memory

DS:

Data Storage

DS1:

Deep Space 1

DSN:

Deep Space Network

EEPROM:

Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

EMC:

ElectroMagnetic Compatibility

EMI:

ElectroMagnetic Interference

EPS:

Electrical Power Subsystem

FEM:

Finite Element Model

FOV:

Field of View

FPA:

Fuse Protect Assembly

FS:

Flight System

FSW:

Flight SoftWare

GALEX:

Galaxy Explorer

GRaND:

Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector

GSFC:

Goddard Space Flight Center

HAMO:

High Altitude Mapping Orbit

HDRM:

Hold-Down Release Mechanisms

HGA:

High Gain Antenna

HLP:

Hardware Logic Pulse

HS:

Health and Safety

HVCE:

High Voltage Control Electronics

HVDC:

High Voltage Down Converter

HVEA:

High Voltage Electronics Assembly

HVRA:

High Voltage Relay Assembly

IPS:

Ion Propulsion System

IRU:

Inertial Reference Unit

ISR:

Interrupt Service Routine

JPL:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

LGA:

Low Gain Antennas

LILT:

Low Intensity/Low Temperature

LPT:

Limited Performance Tests

LVPS:

Low Voltage Power Supply

KSC:

Kennedy Space Center

LAMO:

Low Altitude Mapping Orbit

MBAR:

Main Belt Asteroid Rendezvous

MLI:

Multi-Layer Insulation

MUC:

Mission-Unique Card

NASA:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

OBC:

On-Board Processor

OIP:

Optional Internal Processor

OS:

Operating System

OV4:

OrbView-4

PA:

Passive Analog

PAF:

Payload Attach Fitting

PCE:

Power Control Electronics

PDU:

Power Distribution Unit

PPU:

Power Processing Unit

PSP:

Priority Status Packet

P/T:

Pressure/Temperature

PVCDU:

Partial Virtual Channel Data Units

RAM:

Random Access Memory

RCS:

Reaction Control Subsystem

RDF:

Radiation Design Factor

REA:

Reaction Engine Assembly

ROM:

Read-Only Memory

RTS:

Relative Time Sequence

RWA:

Reaction Wheel Assembly

S/A:

Solar Array

SAD:

Solar Array Drive

SADA:

Solar Array Drive Assemblies

SADE:

Solar Array Drive Electronics

SAS:

Solar Array Simulator

SB:

Software Bus

SC:

Stored Command

S/C:

Spacecraft

SDST:

Small Deep Space Transponder

SEFI:

Single Event Functional Interrupt

SEU:

Single Event Upset

SM:

Software Manager

SMF:

Satellite Manufacturing Facility

SORCE:

Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment

SRAM:

Static RAM

STs:

Star Trackers

STM:

Structural Test Model

SUROM:

Start-Up ROM

TA:

Telemetry Agent

TARA:

Two-Axis Rate Assembly (inertial reference unit)

TC:

Time Code

TCXO:

Temperature-Controlled Crystal Oscillator

TEC:

Thermal Electric Cooler

TG:

Telemetry Gatherer

TGA:

Thruster Gimbal Assembly

TMON:

Telemetry Monitor

TO:

Telemetry Output

TP:

Thermal Processor

TQCM:

Temperature Controlled Quartz Crystal Microbalance

TS:

Telemetry and Statistics

TVAC:

Thermal Vacuum

TVC:

Thrust Vector Control

TWTA:

Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers

UL:

Uplink

VCDU:

Virtual Channel Data Units

VCID:

Virtual Channel Identifiers

VIR:

Visible and InfraRed mapping spectrometer

VM:

Virtual Machine

VML:

Virtual Machine Language

VR:

Virtual Recorder

V/T:

Voltage/Temperature

WDT:

Watch Dog Timer

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their appreciation all the individuals at JPL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and their many subcontractors, whose hard work and dedication contributed to getting the Dawn spacecraft off the ground and on its voyage. The work described in this paper was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    Valerie C. Thomas, G. Mark Brown & Betina E. Pavri

  2. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA, 20166, USA

    Joseph M. Makowski, John F. McCarthy, Dominick Bruno, J. Christopher Cardoso, W. Michael Chiville, Thomas F. Meyer, Kenneth E. Nelson, David A. Termohlen, Michael D. Violet & Jeffrey B. Williams

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  1. Valerie C. Thomas
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  2. Joseph M. Makowski
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  3. G. Mark Brown
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  4. John F. McCarthy
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  5. Dominick Bruno
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  6. J. Christopher Cardoso
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  7. W. Michael Chiville
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  8. Thomas F. Meyer
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  9. Kenneth E. Nelson
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  10. Betina E. Pavri
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  11. David A. Termohlen
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  12. Michael D. Violet
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  13. Jeffrey B. Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valerie C. Thomas.

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Thomas, V.C., Makowski, J.M., Brown, G.M. et al. The Dawn Spacecraft. Space Sci Rev 163, 175–249 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-011-9852-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-011-9852-2

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