Payload interoperability testing for the Mars ´01 landed mission

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory´s Mars Surveyor Operations Project (MSOP) is sending its next pair of spacecraft, an orbiter and a lander, to Mars in 2001. Success of the Mars ´01 lander´s primary mission objectives relies heavily on the interaction of the various payloads. The Payload Interoperability Testbed (PIT) is being developed at JPL to serve as a key verification facility for the Mars ´01 project. The PIT provides a facility for testing payload interoperability functionality and sequences as well as an environment to train personnel for landed surface operations. This paper defines and describes the rationale for the PIT, its architecture, and the current test plan that has been developed for the PIT activities in support of the Mars ´01 landed mission