Spacecraft And Payload Data Handling

The success of a scientific mission is determined by the quality of the scientific results. The prompt delivery of instrument and ancillary raw data to the instrument teams and of reduced and calibrated data to the scientific community is therefore a key element in the mission design. This chapter describes the flow of data from the spacecraft through the ground segment via the instrument teams to the final scientific archive. Several software tools and standards are used to support data dissemination. The functionality of the individual tools is explained, the interfaces to the individual groups are discussed, and examples of the graphical user interfaces are shown. Finally, the chapter provides a brief introduction to each of the currently available datasets.