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The BRITE-Constellation currently consists of two nano-satellites: BRITEAUSTRIA and Uni-BRITE. Both are in principle of identical build with one exception, the respective telescopes will be designed for two different bandpasses one constrained to RED (555-690nm) and the other to BLUE (400450nm) wavelengths. In general both satellites will collect data from the same stars during any particular observing run. A proposal to build and launch an additional pair of spacecrafts to complement the constellation is currently under review. This article describes the organization structure, the main operations tasks and the software tools to conduct the mission. BRITE-Constellation Management The BRITE-Constellation mission will be governed by essentially three main entities working in concert. The Science Consortium is the deciding body for the instalment of observing plans by proposals from local Science Teams. Mission Control is responsible for evaluating the Observing Plan, detailed scheduling, instruments setups, daily data quality assessment, data reformatting, first-look science analysis, internal data release and data archiving. Satellite Control will aid the verification process of the observing plan, operate the satellites, control the ground stations, asses the health of the spacecrafts and their subsystems. Figure 1 depicts the organizational chart. In baseline configuration the BRITE-Constellation will operate two satellites: BRITE-AUSTRIA and Uni-BRITE. Both shall, simultaneously, be in low earth orbit (in the same or different orbits is yet to be decided) for the main mission phase. It is possible that two more satellites will join the mission funded in Canada. In such a scenario it is planned that the BRITE-Constellation management will still rely on a single Science Consortium with full program authority but will have likely establish two collaborating Mission Control and Satellite Control teams located in the respective countries. |
