Mission Planning – Read the F***** Manual By Kristian von Bengtson Email Author March 7, 2012 | 9:03 am | Categories: Rocket Shop, Science Blogs
In 86 days our launch window will open and we can fire at will for a couple of months.
Building your own private space rocket is a (fun) challenge, and most of the time all your focus and effort goes into the hardware. But there is a dark and ugly beast waiting to snap your neck if you do not tame it in good time or if you do not include it in the project as your friend.
No, I do not mean my mother in law, but:
Mission planning!
Final mission document for launch campaign 2011 We have learned it the hard way a couple of times. Hours of delays or dangerous scenarios when we made the rookie mistake of believing you can find a way to operate your gear on-the-spot. We have always had mission planning, but sometimes it was not taken very seriously and we lost. That is all in the past.
For me the success of a campaign is measured on the operation rather than the scientific outcome. A perfect flight done during a messy operation is a failure. A less perfect flight with a smoothly run operation is a success! We had such a success last year when our rocket flew. The rocket reached only a fraction of the desired apogee but 3 months of intensive mission planning on the side made the operation a thrill to be a part of. I am still proud when I think of all the participants and all members of Copenhagen Suborbitals last year.
Operationally, it was military precision. And there is no other way!
I have undertaken the job as Flight Director many years back. That means that I am in charge of the operation and it is my duty to make sure that there are nothing missing or misunderstood during an operation as well as creating the mission planning in good time.
As flight I have these rules:
Respect the chain of command. Never disobey your Flight Director or the second in command (Pad Leader, Vessel Captain etc). Never leave the mission plan unless ordered to or forced to with approval. Never be in doubt (ask). Never believe you can reuse old mission plans.A previous campaign is history. Never underestimate the effort it takes to plan and rehearse a campaign. Your hardware is useless and dangerous without a sound and rehearsed mission plan. Good mission planning does not do it alone. It is just as important to have the right crew. People you can trust with your lives and who you know will follow the plan as it is laid out or have the ability to improvise requested solutions during stressful and tough times. Copenhagen Suborbitals are such people. And when we perform static engine tests it is not only to validate engines but to tighten the crew and we are getting really good at it.
Each crew member is given a dog tag to wear around the neck providing information on that persons radio call sign, where to be during special event, and what to do. Any changes from this plan must be cleared with Flight.
Creating the plan is the major part of the work and is based on factors such as:
General mission requirements (apogee, abort systems etc) Detailed mission operations (turning knobs and fiddle valves etc) Range safety issues (traffic air control and sea control) Marine vessels active and available and replacements Personnel available and replacements for certain leading roles Contingencies Safety! Weather constraints Rules of engagement and chain of command Access to test range A final mission plans for our sea campaigns holds the following:
Crew list and crew roles including backup personnel PAX plan. Details about who is where and when on what boat. This plan also insures that we do not go beyond the legal requirements of personnel on a particular vessel at sea at any time. PAX: travel industry slang for passenger(s) Flight Plan. The actual master plan from mission start to end described in either key-events or minute by minute steps or even in seconds. Mission Rules. A reference list that gives you the best pre-made choices during special events or contingencies for all steps in the flight plan. The mission rules are made to avoid wrong and potentially dangerous decision making if we have to leave the flight plan. This summer we have five campaigns. The LES test with space capsule Tycho Deep Space, two Sapphire active guided rockets and two Smaragd 2-stage rockets. Even though some rockets are the same each of the campaign will required unique mission planning because you come back with more experience than before and there must always be room for improvement and changes. There is no easy way around this.
Very soon, the general planning will begin and during the coming months the details will be added and later rehearsed like it was done last year in the harbor of Copenhagen as seen in the image below.
Campaign HEAT1X rehearsal 2011. Image: Jesper Jev Olsen Mission planning is the last parameter for success. We take it no less seriously than anyone else. We must allow rockets and capsule to fail because this is all about a learning process. But the campaign must be performed in an orderly fashion. Not only are rockets dangerous but it is a shame to waste so much work because you did not read the manual for once.
The 2011 Mission Document can be found here
Ad Astra Kristian von Bengtson
Kristian von Bengtson is a space-architect, former contractor for NASA and co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals. He is only satisfied if a challenge is close to impossible. Follow @KvonBengtson on Twitter.
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