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Experimentation Plan

PURPOSE

The purpose of the experimentation plan is to lay out a series of steps to follow in order to confirm that the ICSat experimental communications payload is functioning properly and performance of the system meets the previously determined requirements.

EXECUTION

To ensure that all components within the ICSat system are fully operational, several test scenarios will be run in the USNA workshop prior to final assembly and loading onto the MidSTAR structure. Once at Cape Canaveral, a few of the test scenarios will be run again to ensure no damage occurred during transit between USNA and CCAFS. Finally, after deployment and power up, time will be set aside to run some of the scenarios once again to ensure all components still function properly after launch.

DESIRED END STATE

After the final check out in orbit, ground station operators will declare ICSat a functioning/not functioning. If ICSat continues to function properly, it will be used first as a back-up communications system for MidSTAR. Over time, as confidence in the system rises, ICSat will replace the SpaceQuest communications system as the primary communications link between MidSTAR and the USNA ground station.

TEST SCENARIOS

  1. Transmit/Receive small series of bits down RF link to ensure software is indeed transmitting/receiving using TCP/IP.
  2. Transmit/Receive increasingly large amounts of data (sample telemetry, sample text, etc) across the RF link to ensure that no ComBlock component experiences trouble with data movement.
  3. Transmit/Receive large files (greater than 3MB) to ensure that the system can move data at 1 Mbps.