Automated Scheduling for Operating the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation Instrument on the International Space Station

This paper describes the development and use in operations of automated scheduling software for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument on the Interna- tional Space Station. EMIT is a visible to short wavelength in- frared imaging spectrometer whose mission is to map the sur- face mineralogy of arid dust source regions. For scheduling the activities of the instrument, the mission uses an adaptation of the Compressed Large-scale Activity Scheduling and Plan- ning (CLASP) that incorporates mission-specific geometric, temporal and non-temporal constraints to produce schedules that ensure instrument safety and a high science return.