Inside the International Space Station (ISS): NASA Command and Data Handling (CDH) Astronaut Training Manual

Learn about the International Space Station (ISS) from the textbooks used by the astronauts! These astronaut and flight controller training manuals, produced by the Mission Operations Directorate (Space Flight Training Division branch) at NASA's Johnson Space Center, represent a major part of the formal flight crew training process. The manuals and workbooks are extremely detailed and comprehensive, and are designed for self-study. A full listing of all acronyms and abbreviations used in the text is included. They provide a superb way to learn about Station systems, hardware, and operational procedures. Special emphasis on crew interaction with the displays, controls, and hardware is included.

This up-to-date training manual covers the (ISS) Command and Data Handling (CDH) System. It details the fundamentals of CDH including basic architecture, hardware, and software. These topics are covered from the Station level down to the Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) level, with a special emphasis being placed on the Portable Computer System (PCS), and Operations Local Area Network (Ops LAN) including the Station Support Computers (SSCs). The PCS and SSC are the primary crew interfaces onboard the Station. Because this manual is a teaching tool, each subsection provides a list of objectives that should be concentrated on during reading.

The International Space Station (ISS) Command and Data Handling System (CDH) provides the hardware and software primarily used to collect data from onboard systems and payloads; processes that data with various types of software; and distributes commands to the right equipment. This system is primarily composed of computers called Multiplexers/Demultiplexers (MDMs), data buses, and payload network components.

There are a total of 44 MDMs onboard the ISS at Assembly Complete. The MDMs exchange data and commands in a hierarchical structure referred to as tiers, using a U.S. Military Standard 1553B architecture to communicate on the data buses. The CDH-tiered architecture implements this by grouping the MDMs and associated buses into three tiers called Control (Tier 1), Local (Tier 2), and User (Tier 3).

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