Lessions learned in WISE image quality

Martha Kendall; Valerie G. Duval; Mark F. Larsen; Ingolf H. Heinrichsen; Roy W. Esplin; Mark Shannon; Edward L. Wright

doi:10.1117/12.864356

7 September 2010 Lessions learned in WISE image quality

Martha Kendall, Valerie G. Duval, Mark F. Larsen, Ingolf H. Heinrichsen, Roy W. Esplin, Mark Shannon, Edward L. Wright

Proceedings Volume 7796, An Optical Believe It or Not: Key Lessons Learned II; 779607 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.864356
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission launched in December of 2009 is a true success story. The mission is performing beyond expectations on-orbit and maintained cost and schedule throughout. How does such a thing happen? A team constantly focused on mission success is a key factor. Mission success is more than a program meeting its ultimate science goals; it is also meeting schedule and cost goals to avoid cancellation. The WISE program can attribute some of its success in achieving the image quality needed to meet science goals to lessons learned along the way. A requirement was missed in early decomposition, the absence of which would have adversely affected end-to-end system image quality. Fortunately, the ability of the cross-organizational team to focus on fixing the problem without pointing fingers or waiting for paperwork was crucial in achieving a timely solution. Asking layman questions early in the program could have revealed requirement flowdown misunderstandings between spacecraft control stability and image processing needs. Such is the lesson learned with the WISE spacecraft Attitude Determination & Control Subsystem (ADCS) jitter control and the image data reductions needs. Spacecraft motion can affect image quality in numerous ways. Something as seemingly benign as different terminology being used by teammates in separate groups working on data reduction, spacecraft ADCS, the instrument, mission operations, and the science proved to be a risk to system image quality. While the spacecraft was meeting the allocated jitter requirement , the drift rate variation need was not being met. This missing need was noticed about a year before launch and with a dedicated team effort, an adjustment was made to the spacecraft ADCS control. WISE is meeting all image quality requirements on-orbit thanks to a diligent team noticing something was missing before it was too late and applying their best effort to find a solution.

Citation Download Citation

Martha Kendall, Valerie G. Duval, Mark F. Larsen, Ingolf H. Heinrichsen, Roy W. Esplin, Mark Shannon, and Edward L. Wright "Lessions learned in WISE image quality", Proc. SPIE 7796, An Optical Believe It or Not: Key Lessons Learned II, 779607 (7 September 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.864356

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available