Software for Monitoring and Controlling DSN Operations

Network Monitor and Control (NMC) Automation Assembly (AA) is a component of the NMC software system, which is used for controlling an antenna connection in the Deep Space Network. NMC AA could also be adapted to commercial applications (e.g., chemical processing), in which human operators must monitor and control multiple equipment subsystems simultaneously in real time. NMC AA is designed to reduce costs and increase efficiency and capacity by relieving human operators of labor-intensive and error-prone routine spacecraft-tracking activities. NMC AA includes software engines that communicate between automation scripts and DSN subsystems. The automation scripts are developed in the Automation Language for Managing Operations (ALMO), which is a programming language that includes specialized constructs for interacting with the subsystems. The contents of the scripts represent knowledge of operations gathered from DSN operators and engineers. The ALMO scripts are organized in a temporal-dependency network and managed via a graphical user interface that enables a human operator to monitor and control the automation at any time.