In Service Training

A Day In the Life of a Mission Control Specialist

Hartbeeshoek

A day in the life of a mission control specialist

Gladys Magagula, a University of Stellenbosch graduate, is the first female South African mission control specialist in training. She facilitated the overpass of South Africa's second satellite, the SumbandialSat, over SANSA's Hartebeeshoek receiving station on 22 February 2010.

Gladys joined the SANSA team at Hartebeeshoek in December 2009 and took the SumbanidlaSat event in her stride.
"It was another day at work, which required my focused attention," she says. "I was responsible for taking the pass and keeping the Minister informed about what was happening.

"She is no stranger to the South African space scene. Her postgraduate diploma in engineering and Master's degree in engineering made her an obvious choice for the small group of candidates (nine in total) selected for the SumbandilaSat internship training programme sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Magagula shares some details of the countdown to the overpass on 22 February 2010. "I arrived at Hartebeeshoek in time for a dry run," she says. "It was very important to know that everything would be working." The overpass was scheduled for 08:19. The signal received by the VHF/UHF (very high frequency/ultra high frequency) communications unit indicated that the satellite was in a healthy state.

Magagula explains that each overpass is scheduled at varying times of the day (between three and four each day, morning and afternoon) and has either a mission control specialist or an operator assigned to the job. A pass may not be usable if the elevation angle of the satellite is too small to allow a useful period of contact with the satellite. Geographic features such as high mountains may also 'hide' the satellite as it passes over and reduce time of contact.

On a normal day, Magagula would also need to download event logs, telemetry (remote measurement and reporting of information) and data for processing, such as images and files to be checked for housekeeping purposes.

Next steps are always to analyse the data downloaded and take action. "As a mission control specialist, I also have support from the team of engineers at SunSpace, who built the satellite," she says."Faults may need to be reported to the software team or to the ground station equipment team.

"In future, the mission control specialists will be tasked to arrange for images of particular places. Magagula says, "The prospect of delivering a service of this nature is very exciting." SumbandilaSat's payloads are the imager (the main payload), the experimental payloads and the AMSAT payload. The latter is used by the amateur radio community; Magagula and her fellow mission control specialists relay signals and upload activities to activate the AMSAT payload.


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IN SERVICE TRAINING Earth Observation Space Engineering Space Operations Garnet-E Introduction Workshop Programme Presentations Training Centre Space Science Human Capital Development In Service Training Science Adv. and Public Engagement	A Day In the Life of a Mission Control Specialist *A day in the life of a mission control specialist* Gladys Magagula, a University of Stellenbosch graduate, is the first female South African mission control specialist in training. She facilitated the overpass of South Africa's second satellite, the SumbandialSat, over SANSA's Hartebeeshoek receiving station on 22 February 2010. Gladys joined the SANSA team at Hartebeeshoek in December 2009 and took the SumbanidlaSat event in her stride. "It was another day at work, which required my focused attention," she says. "I was responsible for taking the pass and keeping the Minister informed about what was happening. "She is no stranger to the South African space scene. Her postgraduate diploma in engineering and Master's degree in engineering made her an obvious choice for the small group of candidates (nine in total) selected for the SumbandilaSat internship training programme sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Magagula shares some details of the countdown to the overpass on 22 February 2010. "I arrived at Hartebeeshoek in time for a dry run," she says. "It was very important to know that everything would be working." The overpass was scheduled for 08:19. The signal received by the VHF/UHF (very high frequency/ultra high frequency) communications unit indicated that the satellite was in a healthy state. Magagula explains that each overpass is scheduled at varying times of the day (between three and four each day, morning and afternoon) and has either a mission control specialist or an operator assigned to the job. A pass may not be usable if the elevation angle of the satellite is too small to allow a useful period of contact with the satellite. Geographic features such as high mountains may also 'hide' the satellite as it passes over and reduce time of contact. On a normal day, Magagula would also need to download event logs, telemetry (remote measurement and reporting of information) and data for processing, such as images and files to be checked for housekeeping purposes. Next steps are always to analyse the data downloaded and take action. "As a mission control specialist, I also have support from the team of engineers at SunSpace, who built the satellite," she says."Faults may need to be reported to the software team or to the ground station equipment team. "In future, the mission control specialists will be tasked to arrange for images of particular places. Magagula says, "The prospect of delivering a service of this nature is very exciting." SumbandilaSat's payloads are the imager (the main payload), the experimental payloads and the AMSAT payload. The latter is used by the amateur radio community; Magagula and her fellow mission control specialists relay signals and upload activities to activate the AMSAT payload.
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