Preparing for LPF operations meant developing the analysis, building the tools and training the team.
Given the relatively short duration planned for mission operations (90 days), the data analysis team had to be extremely well prepared. This meant that not only did the in-orbit experiments have to be defined well in advance, but the analysis routines and the associated tools also had to be prepared and tested.
Using the LTPDA Toolbox framework, analysis pipelines had been being developed to analyse the extensive menu of possible experiments which formed the mission time-line during operations. These pipelines, and the component tools, were then tested on simulated data sets which were generated using a variety of LPF simulators. From linear state-space models to non-linear simulators running the flight software, the data analysis team leveraged all available simulators to test the tools and procedures on as wide a range of data sets as possible.
In addition to the development and testing of the experiment procedures and associated analysis pipelines, the data analysis team had to prepare itself for the intense period of operations, during which the data needed to be analysed essentially in real-time so that the subsequent investigations could be first properly selected, and second appropriately configured. The output of each investigation also yielded information with which the operations team configured the spacecraft and the LTP to best achieve the mission goals.
Part of this preparation involved exposing the team to mission-like scenarios in which simulated data sets were delivered to the team as if they had just been downloaded from the spacecraft. The teams on duty then analysed the data, drew conclusions, fully documented the activity, and worked with the operations engineers to ensure the correct configuration of the mission timeline at all times. These operations training simulations typically lasted for about 1 week, with the team being split into sub-teams to take shifts at ESA’s Astronomy Center (ESAC) near Madrid. An additional set of teams was deployed to the Complementary Data Center located at the APC in Paris.