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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Certification of COTS Software in NASA Human Rated Flight Systems

Adoption of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products in safety critical systems has been seen as a promising acquisition strategy to improve mission affordability and, yet, has come with significant barriers and challenges. Attempts to integrate COTS software components into NASA human rated flight systems have been, for the most part, complicated by verification and validation (V&V) requirements necessary for flight certification per NASA s own standards. For software that is from COTS sources, and, in general from 3rd party sources, either commercial, government, modified or open source, the expectation is that it meets the same certification criteria as those used for in-house and that it does so as if it were built in-house. The latter is a critical and hidden issue. This paper examines the longstanding barriers and challenges in the use of 3rd party software in safety critical systems and cover recent efforts to use COTS software in NASA s Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) project. It identifies some core artifacts that without them, the use of COTS and 3rd party software is, for all practical purposes, a nonstarter for affordable and timely insertion into flight critical systems. The paper covers the first use in a flight critical system by NASA of COTS software that has prior FAA certification heritage, which was shown to meet the RTCA-DO-178B standard, and how this certification may, in some cases, be leveraged to allow the use of analysis in lieu of testing. Finally, the paper proposes the establishment of an open source forum for development of safety critical 3rd party software.

Goforth, Andre↗
NASA NTRS2021

Systems Engineering and Assurance Modeling (SEAM): A Web-Based Solution for Integrated Mission Assurance

We present an overview of the Systems Engineering and Assurance Modeling (SEAM) platform, a web-browser-based tool which is designed to help engineers evaluate the radiation vulnerabilities and develop an assurance approach for electronic parts in space systems. The SEAM framework consists of three interconnected modeling tools, a SysML compatible system description tool, a Goal Structuring Notation (GSN) visual argument tool, and Bayesian Net and Fault Tree extraction and export tools. The SysML and GSN sections also have a coverage check application that ensures that every radiation fault identified on the SysML side is also addressed in the assurance case in GSN. The SEAM platform works on space systems of any degree of radiation hardness but is especially helpful for assessing radiation performance in systems with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic components.

SEAM↗
NASA NTRS1994

Knowledge-based commodity distribution planning

This paper presents an overview of a Decision Support System (DSS) that incorporates Knowledge-Based (KB) and commercial off the shelf (COTS) technology components. The Knowledge-Based Logistics Planning Shell (KBLPS) is a state-of-the-art DSS with an interactive map-oriented graphics user interface and powerful underlying planning algorithms. KBLPS was designed and implemented to support skilled Army logisticians to prepare and evaluate logistics plans rapidly, in order to support corps-level battle scenarios. KBLPS represents a substantial advance in graphical interactive planning tools, with the inclusion of intelligent planning algorithms that provide a powerful adjunct to the planning skills of commodity distribution planners.

Saks, Victor↗
NASA NTRS2017

Feasibility of Powerline Communications (PLC) on Future Spacecraft: EMI/EMC Test Results on COTS PLC Technology

Cable harnessing mass continues to be a problem for spacecraft development, particularly with increasingly complex payloads and constraints to their mass and costs. As a strategic initiative to reduce cable harnessing on flight missions, NASA JPL’s Powerline Communications (PLC) research and technology development (R&TD) effort investigates the ability to combine power and data onto the same cable conductors. Research and development of PLC technology, including testing of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) modules and design of custom PLC unit, aim to articulate the opportunity to infuse this technology into NASA flight projects. This paper illustrates the feasibility of Powerline Communications on future spacecraft through Electromagnetic Interference/Compatibility (EMI/EMC) testing on COTS PLC components including conducted emissions and susceptibility as well as radiated emissions and susceptibility.

Mitchell, Andrew W.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Writing Good Risk Statements and Critical Thinking in Risk

The term risk is used ubiquitously in the space community, but more often than not it is used in a counterproductive way. Furthermore, risks are often written to convey some type of concern, but the risk statements are often more emotional in nature than technically substantive. In this talk, we will provide a rigorous view and definition of risk, along with some structured guidelines for writing risk statements centered on critical thinking, which will combine to provide effective risk management tools when dealing with complex space systems.

risk↗
NASA NTRS2018

Evaluation of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Electronics for Extreme Cold Environments

Deep space and Icy Moon missions (Titan, Enceladus, Ceres, Europa, & Ganymede) will need qualified extreme environment capable components for electronic systems located in extremities of their rovers and spacecraft. Commercial off the shelf (COTS) components would be advantageous to use for some aspects of such projects, given that they are easier to procure and offer a broad range of functionalities. Furthermore, theoretical and experimental data suggest that many COTS parts are capable of operation, and not just storage, at temperatures well beyond the manufacturer specified temperature limits. To help address the challenges presented at near cryogenic temperatures, a COTS selection knowledge base is being developed to estimate the performance of COTS components within cold environments. The knowledge base captures queries from a range of information sources such as cold functionality test results for part types and families, theoretical and experimental literature reviews and key findings are summarized here. In addition, a selection of components are planned to be examined for their performance to near cryogenic temperatures to generate a methodology for identification and verification of the COTS candidates. As the qualification of COTS parts for extreme environments can be very costly, this knowledge base can serve to reduce qualification time and cost by pre-selecting and limiting candidates.

Mojarradi, Mohammad↗
NASA NTRS2002

Novel Advancements in Internet-Based Real Time Data Technologies

AZ Technology has been working with MSFC Ground Systems Department to find ways to make it easier for remote experimenters (RPI's) to monitor their International Space Station (ISS) payloads in real-time from anywhere using standard/familiar devices. AZ Technology was awarded an SBIR Phase I grant to research the technologies behind and advancements of distributing live ISS data across the Internet. That research resulted in a product called "EZStream" which is in use on several ISS-related projects. Although the initial implementation is geared toward ISS, the architecture and lessons learned are applicable to other space-related programs. This paper presents the high-level architecture and components that make up EZStream. A combination of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and custom components were used and their interaction will be discussed. The server is powered by Apache's Jakarta-Tomcat web server/servlet engine. User accounts are maintained in a My SQL database. Both Tomcat and MySQL are Open Source products. When used for ISS, EZStream pulls the live data directly from NASA's Telescience Resource Kit (TReK) API. TReK parses the ISS data stream into individual measurement parameters and performs on-the- fly engineering unit conversion and range checking before passing the data to EZStream for distribution. TReK is provided by NASA at no charge to ISS experimenters. By using a combination of well established Open Source, NASA-supplied. and AZ Technology-developed components, operations using EZStream are robust and economical. Security over the Internet is a major concern on most space programs. This paper describes how EZStream provides for secure connection to and transmission of space- related data over the public Internet. Display pages that show sensitive data can be placed under access control by EZStream. Users are required to login before being allowed to pull up those web pages. To enhance security, the EZStream client/server data transmissions can be encrypted to preclude interception. EZStream was developed to make use of a host of standard platforms and protocols. Each are discussed in detail in this paper. The I3ZStream server is written as Java Servlets. This allows different platforms (i.e. Windows, Unix, Linux . Mac) to host the server portion. The EZStream client component is written in two different flavors: JavaBean and ActiveX. The JavaBean component is used to develop Java Applet displays. The ActiveX component is used for developing ActiveX-based displays. Remote user devices will be covered including web browsers on PC#s and scaled-down displays for PDA's and smart cell phones. As mentioned. the interaction between EZStream (web/data server) and TReK (data source) will be covered as related to ISS. EZStream is being enhanced to receive and parse binary data stream directly. This makes EZStream beneficial to both the ISS International Partners and non-NASA applications (i.e. factory floor monitoring). The options for developing client-side display web pages will be addressed along with the development of tools to allow creation of display web pages by non-programmers.

Myers, Gerry↗
NASA NTRS2019

Radiation Hardness Assurance: Evolving for NewSpace

During the past decade, government agencies, private companies and academic institutions, have launched hundreds of small satellites into space, with dramatically expanded dependence on advanced commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies and systems required for mission success. While the radiation effects vulnerabilities of components within small satellites are the same as those of their larger, traditional relatives, revised approaches are needed for risk management because of differences in technical requirements and programmatic resources. While moving to COTS components and systems may reduce direct costs and procurement lead times, it undermines many cost-reduction strategies used for conventional radiation hardness assurance (RHA). Limited resources are accompanied by a lack of radiation testing and analysis, which can pose significant risks. Small satellites have benefited from short mission durations in low Earth orbits with respect to their radiation response, but as mission objectives grow and become reliant on advanced technologies operating for longer and in harsher environments, requirements need to reflect the changing scope without hindering developers that provide new capabilities. In this course we suggest RHA strategies that engineers and scientists can apply to a wide range of aerospace systems, including constellations, with a focus on how to manage aggressive system scaling for smaller platforms.

Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA)↗
NASA NTRS2005

Validation of Commercial Fiber Optic Components for Aerospace Environments

Full qualification for commercial photonic parts as defined by the Military specification system in the past, is not feasible. Due to changes in the photonic components industry and the Military specification system that NASA had relied upon so heavily in the past, an approach to technology validation of commercial off the shelf parts had to be devised. This approach involves knowledge of system requirements, environmental requirements and failure modes of the particular components under consideration. Synthesizing the criteria together with the major known failure modes to formulate a test plan is an effective way of establishing knowledge based "qualification". Although this does not provide the type of reliability assurance that the Military specification system did in the past, it is an approach that allows for increased risk mitigation. The information presented will introduce the audience to the technology validation approach that is currently applied at NASA for the usage of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) fiber optic components for space flight environments. The focus will be on how to establish technology validation criteria for commercial fiber products such that continued reliable performance is assured under the harsh environmental conditions of typical missions. The goal of this presentation is to provide the audience with an approach to formulating a COTS qualification test plan for these devices. Examples from past NASA missions will be discussed.

Ott, Melanie N.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Cost Optimization and Technology Enablement COTSAT-1

Cost Optimized Test of Spacecraft Avionics and Technologies (COTSAT-1) is an ongoing spacecraft research and development project at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). The space industry was a hot bed of innovation and development at its birth. Many new technologies were developed for and first demonstrated in space. In the recent past this trend has reversed with most of the new technology funding and research being driven by the private industry. Most of the recent advances in spaceflight hardware have come from the cell phone industry with a lag of about 10 to 15 years from lab demonstration to in space usage. NASA has started a project designed to address this problem. The prototype spacecraft known as Cost Optimized Test of Spacecraft Avionics and Technologies (COTSAT-1) and CheapSat work to reduce these issues. This paper highlights the approach taken by NASA Ames Research center to achieve significant subsystem cost reductions. The COSTAT-1 research system design incorporates use of COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf), MOTS (Modified Off The Shelf), and GOTS (Government Off The Shelf) hardware for a remote sensing spacecraft. The COTSAT-1 team demonstrated building a fully functional spacecraft for $500K parts and $2.0M labor. The COTSAT-1 system, including a selected science payload, is described within this paper. Many of the advancements identified in the process of cost reduction can be attributed to the use of a one-atmosphere pressurized structure to house the spacecraft components. By using COTS hardware, the spacecraft program can utilize investments already made by commercial vendors. This ambitious project development philosophy/cycle has yielded the COTSAT-1 flight hardware. This paper highlights the advancements of the COTSAT-1 spacecraft leading to the delivery of the current flight hardware that is now located at NASA Ames Research Center. This paper also addresses the plans for COTSAT-2.

Spremo, Stevan↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Proven Ground System Architecture for Promoting Collaboration and Common Solutions at NASA

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's "GMSEC" ground system architecture was presented at GSAW2003 as a concept being studied. GMSEC would utilize a publish/subscribe middleware framework and standardized interfaces to allow custom and COTS ground system components to plug-and-play. This capability, in turn, would reduce integration costs, allow for technology infusion over time, and encourage the development and sharing of common components across missions and organizations. At GSAW2004, GMSEC was presented at a breakout session as a system working well in the NASA lab and being applied as an integral piece of reengineering efforts for several GSFC missions. Today, GMSEC is supporting five satellites at GSFC and has been selected by several future missions. Over 30 plug-and-play components are now available to missions using the GMSEC approach. Other organizations, including Marshall Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physic Lab, and the Institute for Scientific Research are each developing GMSEC-compatible components. Based on the success of GMSEC and efforts at other NASA Centers, the message bus approach is now being evaluated as a NASA Agency-wide approach for many future missions involving multiple NASA Centers as we move towards the goals of NASA s new Exploration Initiative. The presentation will explain the basic technical concepts of using a publish/subscribe framework for mission operations support (and its applicability to flight systems as well). Lessons learned on NASA's GMSEC program will allow the audience to better understand the significant benefits of this architecture approach over the traditional "one-off" solution approach. The point of the presentation is to show the long-term benefits of using a ground system architecture which incorporates many of the successful GMSEC concepts - message bus, mix of COTS and custom software, standard interfaces, plug-and-play, etc. The implications for the development process will also be discussed.

Smith, Danford↗
NASA NTRS2007

Reducing Development and Operations Costs using NASA's "GMSEC" Systems Architecture

This viewgraph presentation reviews the role of Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) in reducing development and operation costs in handling the massive data from NASA missions. The goals of GMSEC systems architecture development are to (1) Simplify integration and development, (2)Facilitate technology infusion over time, (3) Support evolving operational concepts, and (4) All for mix of heritage, COTS and new components. First 3 missions (i.e., Tropical Rainforest Measuring Mission (TRMM), Small Explorer (SMEX) missions - SWAS, TRACE, SAMPEX, and ST5 3-Satellite Constellation System) each selected a different telemetry and command system. These results show that GMSEC's message-bus component-based framework architecture is well proven and provides significant benefits over traditional flight and ground data system designs. The missions benefit through increased set of product options, enhanced automation, lower cost and new mission-enabling operations concept options .

Smith, Dan↗
NASA NTRS2007

Radiation-Tolerant Dual Data Bus

An architecture, and a method of utilizing the architecture, have been proposed to enable error-free operation of a data bus that includes, and is connected to, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) circuits and components that are inherently susceptible to singleevent upsets [SEUs (bit flips caused by impinging high-energy particles and photons)]. The architecture and method are applicable, more specifically, to data-bus circuitry based on the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394b standard for a high-speed serial bus.

Kinstler, Gary A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

JSC Wireless Sensor Network Update

Sensor nodes composed of three basic components... radio module: COTS radio module implementing standardized WSN protocol; treated as WSN modem by main board main board: contains application processor (TI MSP430 microcontroller), memory, power supply; responsible for sensor data acquisition, pre-processing, and task scheduling; re-used in every application with growing library of embedded C code sensor card: contains application-specific sensors, data conditioning hardware, and any advanced hardware not built into main board (DSPs, faster A/D, etc.); requires (re-) development for each application.

Wagner, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2002

Novel Advancements in Internet-Based Real-Time Data Technologies

AZ Technology has been working with NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) to find ways to make it easier for remote experimenters (RPI's) to monitor their International Space Station (ISS) payloads in real-time from anywhere using standard/familiar devices. That effort resulted in a product called 'EZStream' which is in use on several ISS-related projects. Although the initial implementation is geared toward ISS, the architecture and lessons learned are applicable to other space-related programs. This paper begins with a brief history on why Internet-based real-time data is important and where EZStream or products like it fit in the flow of data from orbit to experimenter/researcher. A high-level architecture is then presented along with explanations of the components used. A combination of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), Open Source, and custom components are discussed. The use of standard protocols is shown along with some details on how data flows between server and client. Some examples are presented to illustrate how a system like EZStream can be used in real world applications and how care was taken to make the end-user experience as painless as possible. A system such as EZStream has potential in the commercial (non-ISS) arena and some possibilities are presented. During the development and fielding of EZStream, a lot was learned. Good and not so good decisions were made. Some of the major lessons learned will be shared. The development of EZStream is continuing and the future of EZStream will be discussed to shed some light over the technological horizon.

Myers, Gerry↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dust Solution Testing Initiative (DuSTI): Infusing Commercial Off the Shelf Dust Mitigation Technologies with NASA Practices

Dust is one of the most significant hazards to human lunar exploration. However, since the Apollo program concluded, limited research has been performed on lunar dust mitigation technologies. The safety of the crew members and sustainability of habitats, science, and supporting hardware depend on effective dust mitigation techniques and technologies. As NASA pursues a new generation of lunar missions with the Artemis program, the project team will pursue dust mitigation solutions with the Dust Solution Testing Initiative (DuSTI). DuSTI is a lunar dust mitigation effort that involves performing tests on commercial off the shelf (COTS) technologies over FY21. DuSTI will preform component and subsystem tests in dusty environments for up to five technologies with high potential. The specific technologies identified for study were selected based on several factors, including a market analysis of current terrestrial dust mitigation applications, availability of the technology, accessibility of various testing facilities, and cost of procurement. These technologies support the active and passive dust mitigation requirements of filtration systems, electro-mechanical systems, electro-static systems, surface coatings, textiles, and silicone polymers. Technology Readiness Level (TRL) will be increased by validating components in relevant environments. For example, if the COTS technology is at a TRL 9 for terrestrial use but at a 4-5 TRL for use in the lunar environment, we will test that technology in a lunar dust environment to increase the TRL for use on the Moon.

lunar dust↗
NASA NTRS1994

Generic trending and analysis system

The Generic Trending and Analysis System (GTAS) is a generic spacecraft performance monitoring tool developed by NASA Code 511 and Loral Aerosys. It is designed to facilitate quick anomaly resolution and trend analysis. Traditionally, the job of off-line analysis has been performed using hardware and software systems developed for real-time spacecraft contacts; then, the systems were supplemented with a collection of tools developed by Flight Operations Team (FOT) members. Since the number of upcoming missions is increasing, NASA can no longer afford to operate in this manner. GTAS improves control center productivity and effectiveness because it provides a generic solution across multiple missions. Thus, GTAS eliminates the need for each individual mission to develop duplicate capabilities. It also allows for more sophisticated tools to be developed because it draws resources from several projects. In addition, the GTAS software system incorporates commercial off-the-shelf tools software (COTS) packages and reuses components of other NASA-developed systems wherever possible. GTAS has incorporated lessons learned from previous missions by involving the users early in the development process. GTAS users took a proactive role in requirements analysis, design, development, and testing. Because of user involvement, several special tools were designed and are now being developed. GTAS users expressed considerable interest in facilitating data collection for long term trending and analysis. As a result, GTAS provides easy access to large volumes of processed telemetry data directly in the control center. The GTAS archival and retrieval capabilities are supported by the integration of optical disk technology and a COTS relational database management system.

Keehan, Lori↗
NASA NTRS1993

Customizing graphical user interface technology for spacecraft control centers

The Transportable Payload Operations Control Center (TPOCC) project is applying the latest in graphical user interface technology to the spacecraft control center environment. This project of the Mission Operations Division's (MOD) Control Center Systems Branch (CCSB) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed an architecture for control centers which makes use of a distributed processing approach and the latest in Unix workstation technology. The TPOCC project is committed to following industry standards and using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components wherever possible to reduce development costs and to improve operational support. TPOCC's most successful use of commercial software products and standards has been in the development of its graphical user interface. This paper describes TPOCC's successful use and customization of four separate layers of commercial software products to create a flexible and powerful user interface that is uniquely suited to spacecraft monitoring and control.

Beach, Edward↗