Telemetry, Evidence & Operations

Mission-Based STEM Capstone

Complete a full mission journey from design to telemetry debrief and produce a mission evidence report.

University intro
Time estimate
50–60 min
Complexity
advanced
Maturity
pilot ready
Simulator readiness
partial
Software available now
Available now — guided capstone ties Mission Design + simulator + replay; student integrates evidence manually (no auto grader).

Student path

  1. Choose a mission objective and read all success criteria before examining evidence.
  2. Review each evidence card: read the channel, value, timestamp, and interpretation.
  3. Mark each card PASS, WARN, or FAIL based on whether the evidence meets the criterion threshold.
  4. Read the overall verdict and identify one thing you would change to improve the result.
  5. Write a one-paragraph debrief connecting your evidence to the verdict.
  6. Copy your complete evidence package — this is your Track 6 final evidence artifact.

Learning outcomes

Student can complete a full mission journey and produce an evidence-based report connecting all tracks.

  • State the mission objective and success criteria before the run.
  • Summarise budget flags from Mission Design.
  • Provide telemetry evidence for whether the control objective was met.
  • Write a one-paragraph debrief and identify one improvement for the next mission.

Concept primer

Complete a full mission journey from design to telemetry debrief and produce a mission evidence report.

Run mission_based_stem_capstone experiment; use Mission Design + simulator + replay.

Complete a mission report template covering objective, budget summary, control result, and evidence.

Interactive lab

Teaching-grade software activity slot — not a flight simulator or certified propagator.

Mission evidence debrief lab

Link evidence to success criteria

Choose a mission objective. Review each success criterion and evidence card. Mark each card as PASS, WARN, or FAIL to build your overall mission debrief verdict.

Photograph a target region with pointing error less than 2° and battery SoC above 40 % throughout the capture window.

Success criteria

Pointing accuracyError < 2 deg during capture windowmeasured by: attitude_error channel
Power availabilityBattery SoC ≥ 40 % throughout capturemeasured by: battery_soc channel
Data downlink≥ 90 % of image packets receivedmeasured by: packets_received count

Evidence cards — label each PASS / WARN / FAIL

0/4 cards labeled.

Pointing held

Channel: attitude_error · t = 80–100 s

1.3 deg (average during window)

Error consistently below 2° threshold. Pointing criterion: PASS.

Battery healthy

Channel: battery_soc · t = 80–100 s

68 % (minimum during window)

SoC well above 40 % minimum. Power criterion: PASS.

Partial packet loss

Channel: packets_received · t = 80–100 s

84 % received (100 of 119 expected)

Below 90 % threshold. Downlink criterion: PARTIAL / FAIL.

RSSI weak

Channel: rssi · t = 90 s

−105 dBm

Signal weaker than nominal — explains packet loss. Supporting evidence for partial downlink failure.

Teaching note

A mission debrief connects pre-defined success criteria to measured telemetry evidence. Criteria defined after seeing results risk post-hoc rationalisation. Each PASS/FAIL verdict must be traceable to a specific channel, value, and timestamp in the evidence record.

Teaching-grade model — not a mission-review board process, not certified mission success assessment.

Self-check · Local only

3 questions — 0/3 answered correctly

Local-only. No submission, no grade. Answers revealed here only.

What connects a success criterion to telemetry evidence in a mission debrief?

A mission has three success criteria. Two PASS and one is PARTIAL. What is the correct debrief verdict?

Why should success criteria be written BEFORE a mission run, not after?

Evidence · Local only

Capture your evidence

Local-only — no submission, no upload. Copy the text below or screenshot this panel to share manually.

Evidence prompts

  • Which mission objective and success criteria did you evaluate?
  • Which evidence cards did you select, and what was each card's pass/warn/fail status?
  • Write a one-paragraph mission debrief connecting the evidence to your overall verdict.

Captured values

Mission objective
Record your selected mission and success criteria
Evidence cards labeled
Record PASS/WARN/FAIL for each card
Overall verdict
PASS / PARTIAL / FAIL
One improvement
What would you change for the next mission?
Debrief paragraph
Write your one-paragraph debrief (manual)
Track 6 — Telemetry / Evidence
Activity: telemetry_capstone
Captured: 2026-05-16T07:38:33.611Z
---
Mission objective: Record your selected mission and success criteria
Evidence cards labeled: Record PASS/WARN/FAIL for each card
Overall verdict: PASS / PARTIAL / FAIL
One improvement: What would you change for the next mission?
Debrief paragraph: Write your one-paragraph debrief (manual)
---
Teaching-grade evidence. Local-only — no account, no submission, no official grade.

Evidence capture

Expected outputs learners should be able to show after the lab (Phase 9 evidence engine preview available).

  • Mission report with budget summary + control chart + debrief
  • Explicit pass/partial/fail on student-stated criteria

Reflection

Choose a mission scenario; run the full sequence (design → attitude run → replay debrief); write a mission report.

Responses are not persisted in this preview unless a specific activity component adds storage later.

Assessment / quick check

What single chart would you show a reviewer to prove your spacecraft met its pointing goal?

Teacher notes

Schedule as 2-session block: design + run, debrief + revision.

Teacher use

Require students to write criteria before examining evidence — this prevents post-hoc rationalisation. Ask: "What is one claim you would not make without the specific evidence card that supports it?" Use the partial-success scenario to show that honest PARTIAL verdicts are more useful than rounded-up PASS verdicts. Connect success criteria back to Track 2 (mission objectives).

Next activity

Suggested progression from the mission learning path. Links avoid missing activity routes.

Next: Track 7 — AI / ML Autonomy

Track 6 mini-course complete — continue into the AI / ML Autonomy mini-course (Track 7).