Abstract for Sciops 2013 introduction session

MSL: A close collaboration between scientists and engineers for CHEMCAM  instrument operations

Main author : Eric Lorigny - co-authors : Olivier Gasnault,IRAP, Vivian Lafaille, Charles Yana both from CNES

The successful landing of the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, on August 5th, 2012 was a high point of the most ambitious mission ever attempted on Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory Project was designed to take significant steps forward in both engineering and scientific capabilities. This rover includes a set of ten sophisticated scientific instruments that investigate the geological context of the landing site and analyse samples to understand the chemical & organic composition of rocks & soils found there. These instruments are now searching for signs that Mars once possessed habitable environments. 

CNES, the French Space Agency, with the collaboration of scientific laboratories (IRAP, LATMOS), has contributed to two major instruments on board Curiosity: the laser spectrometer ChemCam (Chemistry Camera), and the analytical suite SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars). After three months of operations from the main Rover Operations control centre at JPL, these two instruments are now operated in remote since November 2012 from the FIMOC (French Instruments Mars Operation centre) based in Toulouse.

This paper will focus mainly on CHEMCAM operations on Mars from the FIMOC and the very efficient collaboration between engineers and scientists. 

Each night, scientists choose instrument activities to perform on board the next rover plan  and the  laser activities with CHEMCAM are handled by the scientists and engineers from FIMOC.  At the CHEMCAM data reception, scientists and engineers both look first through the data, and then, work together to  validate the scheduled activity plan  and deliver the associated command sequences for the instrument.

In this paper, after a first description of the FIMOC control centre and how the operations work with CHEMCAM, we will show in detail how we share each role between scientists and engineers in order to avoid task overlapping between both and to be as efficient as possible to ensure, each night, the  instrument operations in remote.