Replacement of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Telemetry Front-End Using Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI)-Based Components

Abstract

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Observatory Management System (HSTOMS), located at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), provides telemetry, command, analysis and mission planning functions in support of the HST spacecraft. The Telemetry and Command System (TAC) is an aging system that performs National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Communications (Nascom) block and telemetry processing functions. Future maintainability is of concern because of the criticality of this system element. HSTOMS has embarked on replacing the TAC by using functional elements developed by the Microelectronics Systems Branch of the GSFC. This project, known as the Transportable TAC (TTAC) because of its inherent flexibility, is addressing challenges that have resulted from applying recent technological advances into an existing operational environment. Besides presenting a brief overview of the original TAC and the new TTAC, this paper also describes the challenges faced and the approach to overcoming them.