Cassini CAPS: Distributed operations from an instrument perspective

Due to budget restrictions, the responsibility for operation of the science payload on the Cassini-Huygens mission is distributed across the science instrument teams. Under this distributed operations model, each instrument site is responsible for uplink operations instead of the large, centrally located operations facilities that are typical of spacecraft missions. Additionally, instrument teams are responsible for the standard downlink operations, science, and archiving. As long as requirements and deadlines are met, the Cassini project does not dictate how the requirements are met. Each instrument team was left on its own to come up with how they would respond to this challenge. This paper will chronicle the specifics of how distributed operations are coordinated and run within the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) operations team. By critically examining how operations have evolved over the 10 year period from late 1998 through the end of 2008, this paper will discuss lessons learned in operating this complex instrument. Additionally, current management techniques will be examined to determine if the efficiency of distributed operations can be improved.