Overview

The Director of GSFC established the Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) Project, Code 444, on August 1, 1999. SSMO is responsible for the maintenance and operations of GSFC Space Science Enterprise (SSE) missions which have transitioned to full operations. The goal of SSMO is to enhance mission operations at the Goddard Space Flight Center by:

• Obtaining high quality, high quantity science data at minimal cost and risk
• Providing a significant emphasis on increased avoidance of on-orbit problems by applying pro-actively the execution of mission risk assessment principles
• Minimizing cost of defining, implementing and sustaining operational environment enhancements by providing access to expert guidance
• Providing a central repository for lessons-learned information to be used to anticipate possible operational problems or to be able to respond to them quickly if they occur
• Minimizing the costs of operation by coordinating, defining, and overseeing operational support contracts for GSFC missions
• Facilitating the resolution of resource problems.

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Current SSMO Managed Missions

1 ACE	Advanced Composition Explorer	11 RXTE	Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)
2 AIM	Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere	12 SAMPEX	Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer
3 CLUSTER II	ESA's four-spacecraft Cluster Mission	13 SOHO	Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
4 C/NOFS	Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System	14 STEREO	Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory
5 FAST	Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer	15 Swift	The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission
6 FGST	Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope	16 THEMIS	Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms
7 GALEX	Galaxy Evolution Explorer	17 TIMED	Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics & Dynamics Mission
8 GEOTAIL	Geomagnetic Tail Laboratory.	18 TRACE	Transition Region and Coronal Explorer
9 INTEGRAL	The INTernational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory	19. WIND	Interplanetary Physics Laboratory
10 RHESSI	Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager	20 WMAP	Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
		21 XMM	The XMM-Newton Observatory

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Mission Responsibilities

The SSMO Project has the Project Management responsibility for operations and maintenance of current GSFC operational space science missions previously under the jurisdiction of the Orbiting Satellite Project and the Networks and Mission Services Project. The SSMO Project is responsible for future GSFC space science missions usually after orbital verification is complete and routine operations are underway. However, the SSMO Project is involved in the mission development phases of new missions to assure safe and effective missions operability. Details of these missions can be found in the GSFC Mission Model maintained by Code 450.

The SSMO Project plays a significant role during the various phases of the mission life cycle from the formulation and approval phases through the implementation and evaluation phases and eventual deactivation. The complexity and cost of operations are dramatically affected by decisions which occur early in the development cycle. There are many trades, which are performed that create options for cost reduction by reducing the operational complexity of the mission. A major objective of the SSMO Project is, in conjunction with the science community, to transfer lessons learned from operations and operations requirements to the developing missions.

The Director of Flight Projects and the Director of Space Sciences, after consultation with and approval by the Center Director, will officially transfer management of operating spacecraft to SSMO. Responsibility includes overall business and technical management of orbital operations, contract maintenance and closeout scientific and technological experimentation, data processing and dissemination, project-wide planning and evaluation, monitoring and analyzing the status of spacecraft and experiment hardware, maintaining liaison with the data user community, and developing alternate modes of operation to maximize the scientific return of the mission.

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Contacts & Links

EMails and Reports...

Check an Anomaly Report's email distribution (Type "Who ssmo-AnomalyNotification" in the message body)  

Email an Anomaly Report to the Science Core list  (If your mission also has a custom list, add a CC to the message [e.g., ssmo-map@listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov]

Email the SSMO Staff (You need to be on the SSMO Staff list to use this feature)

Useful Links...

SSMO Directives Requirements List
SSMO Metrics
SSMO Organization
SSMO Information Technology Web
SSMO Risk Management System
SSMO Best Practices Web Page
SSMO Safety Plan
SSMO Customer Survey
Code 444 ISO Leads

SSMO User Groups...

Swift ARB 2007
User Group 1
User Group 2
User Group 3

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