Project Name: WAPS Image Extraction Software

Customer: ESA; subcontractor to Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (CIRiS Norway)

Objective: Design and development of the live Biolab telemetry processing SW to extract images collected during the experiment execution.

Description: 

Water Across Plants is a space biology experiment which will investigate plant growth under reduced gravity conditions and in particular the water movement in, across and out of the plant. The Water Across Plant experiment will consist of two runs of 14 and 17 days. Each experiment run shall start with the insertion of four WAPS ECs inside the ESA Biolab facility in the Columbus module of the International Space Station. The WAPS experiment requires several images to be taken for short periods of time during the experiment execution. The WAPS images need to the extracted from telemetry during realtime operations and checked for any missing packets. Ground operators need to send commands for retrieval of missing packets before the pictures are overwritten by the system. This operation requires an automated SW due to time constrains. Objective of the contract between CIRiS and Kayser Space is to deliver the WAPS Image Extraction Software, consisting of the components for telemetry data processing, image extraction, lost packet identification (due to communication link losses) and retransmission request notification to the operator. The WAPS IES receives a stream of CCSDS packets using TCP protocol by connecting Yamcs TCP reverse link or any other comparable TCP server. The software has to be integrated in the Biolab Ground Station operated by the MUSC centre at DRL in Cologne.