SCIENCE

NEEDHAM, MA -- The Object Management Group(TM)'s Space Domain Task Force (DTF) announces its continued growth with the addition of new members NASA Goddard Flight Center and the European Space Agency, along with the existing liaison relationship with the Consultative Committee for Space Data Standards (CCSDS). The OMG(TM)'s Space DTF is building on the momentum first created by its inception in September 2000, and after it drew over 60 attendees at the December Space Information Day at OMG's Technical Committee Meeting in Orlando, FLA, USA. "The work underway within the Space DTF is very significant, and will help to build interoperability standards for NASA and our contractors," commented Mike Rackley, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The group's most recent work includes issuance of a Request for Information (RFI) for CORBA-based Space Communications and a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Telemetry and Commanding Data Specification. The Telemetry and Commanding Data Specification is focused on defining a standard software description of the data necessary to command the spacecraft and to provide telemetry to the ground systems or onboard systems. Work in progress is focusing on the development of a RFI on the Space DTF Reference Architecture and an RFP on Telemetry and Command Data Access Service. The T&C Data Access Service provides mission control applications with a standard interface for receiving telemetry parameters and sending commands. "The European Space Agency is glad to be part of the OMG's Space DTF, and we look forward to further standardization activities within the space domain," said Carlo Mazza, Head of the Ground System Engineering Department of ESOC (European Space Operation Center), in Darmstadt, Germany. The next meeting of the Space Domain Task Force will be at the OMG Technical Committee meeting, scheduled for September 10-14 in Toronto, Canada. New participants are encouraged to attend. More information on the Space Domain DTF may be obtained from its location on the OMG web site, at http://www.omg.org/space/