Command and control displays for space vehicle operations

This paper shall examine several command and control facility display architectures supporting space vehicle operations, to include TacSat 2, TacSat 3, STPSat 2, and Communications Navigation Outage Forecasting System (CNOFS), located within the Research Development Test & Evaluation Support Complex (RSC) Satellite Operations Center 97 (SOC-97) at Kirtland Air Force Base. A principal focus is to provide an understanding for the general design class of displays currently supporting space vehicle command and control, e. g., custom, commercial-off-the-shelf, or ruggedized commercial-off-the-shelf, and more specifically, what manner of display performance capabilities, e. g., active area, resolution, luminance, contrast ratio, frame/refresh rate, temperature range, shock/vibration, etc., are needed for particular aspects of space vehicle command and control. Another focus shall be to address the types of command and control functions performed for each of these systems, to include how operators interact with the displays, e. g., joystick, trackball, keyboard/mouse, as well as the kinds of information needed or displayed for each function. [Comparison with other known command and control facilities, such as Cheyenne Mountain and NORAD Operations Center, shall be made.] Future, anticipated display systems shall be discussed.