INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

What is an Information System?

An Information System is defined as:

- the means in which people and organizations utilize technology to gather, process, store, and disseminate information.

- a combination of hardware, software, infrastructure, and trained personnel organized to facilitate planning, control, coordination, and decision making in an organization.

- a system consisting of the network of all communication channels used within an organization.

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF AN INFORMATION SYSTEM:

THE POLICE DEPARTMENT-

The police use a combination of people and technology working in unison to perform tasks.

For Instance: An officer pulls over a suspect, then contacts the station with the suspects information, the information is run through the station database, then depending on the results, the officer either will or will not make an arrest.

A More Specific Example of an Information System in Action:

• The International Space Station’s Ability to Communicate, Coordinate, and Share Information With Ground Control 220 miles below.

(look at how far away

that is! How do they

get information way

up there!?) Let me

tell you.

3 SEGMENT NETWORK FOR COMMUNICATION

• Ground Segment

• Space Segment

• User Segment

- The three together form a network for communications and a highly complex information system called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)

GROUND SEGMENT• Ground control consisting of 3 stations, or NASA control terminals,

are placed strategically near the equator and on opposing sides of the planet (New Mexico, Maryland, and Guam). The spread out nature of the terminals helps with signal reception on the space station during its orbit around the Earth.

• Ground control sends signals with 60 foot microwaves to the Space Segment via 3 separate types of frequencies, each having its own purpose ( S-band, Ku-band, and UHF)

• Ground Segment is manned by people using technology to send and receive data/information. It is a part of an information system.

3 Frequencies’ Uses:

• S-band = Strictly long distance voice communications.

• UHF (ultra high frequency) = short wave close distance voice communications used during spacewalks and by approaching shuttles. However, amateur radio owners can connect and talk with the crew for roughly 10 minutes a day while the station passes overhead.

• Ku-band = High bandwidth, carries video and voice communications as well as 2-way file transfer capability at speeds of 50 Mbps – 150 Mbps

SPACE SEGMENT• Consists of 9 relay satellites, of which 3 are primary.

• At least 2 satellites must be fully operational and orbiting at 22,300

miles above the Earth at all times in order to maintain a constant line of sight with at least one ground terminal and the ISS at all times. (the curvature of the planet would create blind spots otherwise)

• Satellites are in what is called a geostationary orbit, that is, an orbit that is equal to the rotation of the planet.

• Satellites of the Space Segment receive signals sent from the ground segment and relay them to the user segment.

USER SEGMENT

• User segment is the space station itself.• Signals relayed from the space segment

are received. Signals can then be sent back from the ISS to the space segment to be relayed back to the ground.

What this means:

• NASA has teams of scientists and mathematicians working around the clock to ensure the safety of the ISS’s crew members. Any data received by NASA from the ISS (via signal satellite relay) is carefully analyzed to see if any adjustments need to be made or new experiments conducted. The newly formed data by NASA is then sent back to the ISS so that the crew members can act according to decisions made by ground control.

• NASA is constantly crunching numbers received from the ISS (input) and comparing data within their databases to determine a plan of action (output)

• The International Space Station flies as a living example of the pinnacle of human-technology interaction and is signifying a new age in the way information is gathered, organized, stored, and distributed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY• 1. NASA; NASA tracking and data relay satellite mission passes major review (2009).

NewsRx. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.oswego.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/199624516?accountid=13025

• 2. Mathias, C. (1997). Satellite services: Broadband-ready...eventually United Business Media LLC. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.oswego.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/224976933?accountid=13025

• 3. Lindquist, R. (2002). ISS gets two new amateur radio antennas American Radio Relay League, Inc. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.oswego.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/228539129?accountid=13025

• 4. http://www.boeing.com/defensespace/space/spacestation/systems/communications_tracking.html

• 5. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/