Telescience testbed examination aboard Japanese Experiment Module (JEM): Life and material science experiments

Abstract A telescience ground testbed experiment was conducted by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) at the Tsukuba Space Center in March 1991. The objectives of the ground testbed experiment were to extract scientists' requirements for a communication method, to evaluate the influence of transmission delay and capacity on experiment operations, and to evaluate performance and functions of the system for the testbed experiment. The microscopic operations experiment, the image furnace experiment and the onboard training experiment were selected as typical ground testbed experiments. In these experiments, motion video transmission at 320 kbps was acceptable for observing the experiments and communicating between the principal investigator and the payload specialist. In the microscopic operations experiment, motion video transmission at 1.5 Mops or more was required for detailed observation. A 4-second transmission delay (roundtrip) was allowable for mutual communication.