Automating Mission Scheduling for Space Based Observatories

In this paper we describe the use of our planning and scheduling framework hsts to reduce the complexity of science mission planning This work is part of an overall project to enable a small team of scientists to control the operations of a spacecraft The present process is highly labor intensive Users scientists and operators rely on a non codi ed un derstanding of the di erent spacecraft subsystems and of their operating constraints They use a variety of software tools to support their decision making process This paper considers the types of decision making that need to be supported automated the nature of the domain constraints and the capabilities needed to address them successfully and the nature of external software systems with which the core planning scheduling en gine needs to interact hsts has been applied to science scheduling for euve and Cassini and is being adapted to support autonomous spacecraft operations in the New Millennium initiative Published in Robotic Telescopes Current Capabilities Present Developments and Future Prospects for Automated Astronomy G W Henry and J A Eaton eds Astronomical Society of the Paci c Provo UT