Application of state analysis and goal-based operations to a MER mission scenario

†‡ § ** State Ana lysis is a model -based systems engineering methodology employing a rigorous discovery process which articulates operations concepts and operability needs as an integrated part of system design. The process produces requirements on system and software desi gn in the form of explicit models which describe the system behavior in terms of state variables and the re lationships among them 1 . By applying State Analysis to an actual MER flight mission scenario, this study addresses the specific real world challenge s of complex space operations and explores technologies that can be brought to bear on future missions. The paper first describes the tools currently used on a daily basis for MER operations planning and provides an in -depth description of the planning pr ocess, in the context of a Martian day’s worth of rover engineering activities, resource modeling, flight rules, science observations, and more. It then describes how State Analysis allows for the specification of a corresponding goal -based sequence that accomplishes the same objectives, with several important additional bene fits.