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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Production of Flight Instruments for Multi-Satellite Constellations

Recent National Academy of Science Decadal Surveys in space and Earth-science have called for simultaneous, distributed multi-point measurements in and from space, requiring constellations of small spacecraft. Small satellites have demonstrated their utility for enabling high-quality science measurements and observations. NASA missions have leveraged advances in sensor miniaturization, technology innovations, and new small satellite mission architectures to enable meaningful measurement-based scientific investigations that operate on small satellites and that are responsive to science objectives described in National Academy of Science Decadal Surveys. The advent of high capability small spacecraft enables consideration of science missions involving multiple small spacecraft, constellations of a few or many for simultaneous distributed in situ observations or remote observations from a variety of viewpoints. The central challenge for fielding instrumented space-flight constellations is to provide the required multiple sets of fully verified and calibrated instrument hardware, software, and operational processes from within a one-off project-based scientific space flight culture. Although there are numerous commercial entities providing “off-the shelf” spacecraft and avionics, the challenge lies in the multi-unit production of the uniquely targeted instrumentation necessary to perform the specific measurements required for a particular science investigation. Traditionally, the cost of such instrumentation has represented a significant portion of the hardware cost for a mission and posed the highest risk area for implementation. A shift in paradigm from large science platforms to constellations of smaller satellites drives the challenge to build instruments in a quasi-production environment. This paper describes key aspects of, and challenges encountered in the development program for the successful production of instruments for the Fast-Plasma Investigation (FPI) instrument suite of 64 flight plasma spectrometers and supporting electronics on the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) 4 satellite constellation mission. Although the MMS mission was not composed of small satellites, there are key aspects of the instrument production that apply directly to constellations of small satellites.

Arthur D Jacques↗

NASA NTRS2015

RUMS - Realtime Visualization and Evaluation of Live, Virtual, Constructive Simulation Data

This paper describes the tools and display capabilities being developed to visualize aircraft flight and trajectory information that is produced during a distributed Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) simulation events involving a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft. This paper discusses the design approach and general software architecture of the Remote User Monitor Service (RUMS) application. The simulations and flight tests are conducted over a nationwide network with components communicating via software gateways that translate the messages and provide a location to access and collect data. The data collected is not only archived for post-processing and analysis, but also processed in real-time by RUMS, which allows dynamic viewing of the information via a web browser. This real-time dynamic viewing of the data allows test conductors and researchers to monitor the health of the distributed system and of the data being collected not only in situ where tests are conducted but also at remote locations.

distributed simulation↗

NASA NTRS1998

Atmospheric Depolarization Lidar Experimental Receiver: A Space Shuttle Hitchhiker Payload

Development work is underway at the Goddard Space Flight Center to construct a depolarization measuring atmospheric lidar receiver. The Atmospheric Lidar (AL) is tentatively scheduled to fly on the Space Shuttle in a late-1999 time frame. The AL will fly in conjunction with the Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA) and the Infrared Spectral Imaging Radiometer (ISIR) to provide a comprehensive package of atmospheric aerosol and cloud information. The AL operates in conjunction with the SLA laser transmitter and measures profiles of atmospheric backscatter at 532 nm. The receiver system discriminates between the parallel and perpendicular polarizations of the backscattered signal, thus providing depolarization ratios for scattering from clouds. The lidar receiver also provides cloud height and thickness measurements to complement the brightness temperature measurements generated by the ISIR thermal imager. The function of the AL is twofold. The primary function is to provide range-resolved measurements of atmospheric aerosol backscatter and depolarization ratio at 532 nm with 75 m vertical resolution. The scientific purpose of these measurements is to determine composition of clouds based on the depolarization ratio (i.e cloud content is water or ice), to determine cloud height and thickness, and to gain further understanding of the global distribution of aerosols. This information, when coupled with the cloud brightness measured by the ISIR thermal imager will provide a significant amount of information on cloud composition and radiative effects, particularly for cirrus and sub-visual cirrus clouds. A secondary function of the AL is to serve as an in-space test bed for lidar technology advancements, including a fully fiber-coupled receiver and photon counting from space. In addition, the data obtained by the AL will be used to develop software for the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) flight mission.

McGill, Matthew J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Designing Autonomy into Interfaces for Long-Duration Missions

As NASA develops technologies for long-duration crewed missions, we must understand how communication between ground control teams and astronauts differs from the current dynamic to adapt new concepts for long-duration mission operations. Today, ground control teams support astronauts with immediate availability to answer questions, resolve issues, and manage activities. In the near future, however, extended communication delays during long-duration missions will require astronauts to become more autonomous. As many of the responsibilities shift from the ground control teams to the astronauts on-board, the concept of operations must also change from how it functions today. With increased astronaut autonomy, software tools must be developed that enable efficient completion of mission tasks without increased mental workload. Designing software tools to facilitate crew autonomy requires development teams to know which data will enhance quick decision making while providing necessary context for situational awareness of systems being managed on-board. NASA's Autonomous Systems and Operations (ASO) team is presently developing a software interface tool, EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments for Space Station) 2.5 to enable a long-duration crew to schedule activities for and operate autonomous systems. This paper describes details of the integrated human factors approach that drove the design of the elements of the software tool, including self-managed scheduling, constraint-driven planning, autonomous system fault recovery, and recommended troubleshooting actions. Additionally, this paper will chronicle ASO modifications of the user interface after the team's first flight demonstration, how it was based on lessons learned during software development, as well as from crew feedback in order to develop the current version which will be demonstrated on ISS in 2021. In the upcoming ISS demonstration, the astronaut crew will be given scenarios for scheduling and operating autonomous system activities, including off-nominal scenarios and autonomous system recoveries. The demonstration of the EXPRESS 2.5 tool is a step towards improved levels of autonomy as our new journeys take us farther into space.

autonomy↗

NASA NTRS2007

NASA's Core Trajectory Sub-System Project: Using JBoss Enterprise Middleware for Building Software Systems Used to Support Spacecraft Trajectory Operations

NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) / Flight Design and Dynamics Division (DM) has prototyped the use of Open Source middleware technology for building its next generation spacecraft mission support system. This is part of a larger initiative to use open standards and open source software as building blocks for future mission and safety critical systems. JSC is hoping to leverage standardized enterprise architectures, such as Java EE, so that its internal software development efforts can be focused on the core aspects of their problem domain. This presentation will outline the design and implementation of the Trajectory system and the lessons learned during the exercise.

Stensrud, Kjell C.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Using SFOC to fly the Magellan Venus mapping mission

Traditionally, spacecraft flight operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been performed by teams of spacecraft experts utilizing ground software designed specifically for the current mission. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory set out to reduce the cost of spacecraft mission operations by designing ground data processing software that could be used by multiple spacecraft missions, either sequentially or concurrently. The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) System was developed to provide the ground data system capabilities needed to monitor several spacecraft simultaneously and provide enough flexibility to meet the specific needs of individual projects. The Magellan Spacecraft Team utilizes the SFOC hardware and software designed for engineering telemetry analysis, both real-time and non-real-time. The flexibility of the SFOC System has allowed the spacecraft team to integrate their own tools with SFOC tools to perform the tasks required to operate a spacecraft mission. This paper describes how the Magellan Spacecraft Team is utilizing the SFOC System in conjunction with their own software tools to perform the required tasks of spacecraft event monitoring as well as engineering data analysis and trending.

Bucher, Allen W.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Ethernet for Space Flight Applications

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is adapting current data networking technologies to fly on future spaceflight missions. The benefits of using commercially based networking standards and protocols have been widely discussed and are expected to include reduction in overall mission cost, shortened integration and test (I&T) schedules, increased operations flexibility, and hardware and software upgradeability/scalability with developments ongoing in the commercial world. The networking effort is a comprehensive one encompassing missions ranging from small University Explorer (UNEX) class spacecraft to large observatories such as the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST). Mission aspects such as flight hardware and software, ground station hardware and software, operations, RF communications, and security (physical and electronic) are all being addressed to ensure a complete end-to-end system solution. One of the current networking development efforts at GSFC is the SpaceLAN (Spacecraft Local Area Network) project, development of a space-qualifiable Ethernet network. To this end we have purchased an IEEE 802.3-compatible 10/100/1000 Media Access Control (MAC) layer Intellectual Property (IP) core and are designing a network node interface (NNI) and associated network components such as a switch. These systems will ultimately allow the replacement of the typical MIL-STD-1553/1773 and custom interfaces that inhabit most spacecraft. In this paper we will describe our current Ethernet NNI development along with a novel new space qualified physical layer that will be used in place of the standard interfaces. We will outline our plans for development of space qualified network components that will allow future spacecraft to operate in significant radiation environments while using a single onboard network for reliable commanding and data transfer. There will be a brief discussion of some issues surrounding system implications of a flight Ethernet. Finally, we will show an onboard network architecture for a proposed new mission using Ethernet for science data transport.

Webb, Evan↗

NASA NTRS1999

Further Development, Support and Enhancement of CONDUIT

From the first airplanes steered by handles, wheels, and pedals to today's advanced aircraft, there has been a century of revolutionary inventions, all of them contributing to flight quality. The stability and controllability of aircraft as they appear to a pilot are called flying or handling qualities. Many years after the first airplanes flew, flying qualities were identified and ranked from desirable to unsatisfactory. Later on engineers developed design methods to satisfy these practical criteria. CONDUIT, which stands for Control Designer's Unified Interface, is a modern software package that provides a methodology for optimization of flight control systems in order to improve the flying qualities. CONDUIT is dependent on an the optimization engine called CONSOL-OPTCAD (C-O). C-O performs multicriterion parametric optimization. C-O was successfully tested on a variety of control problems. The optimization-based computational system, C-O, requires a particular control system description as a MATLAB file and possesses the ability to modify the vector of design parameters in an attempt to satisfy performance objectives and constraints specified by the designer, in a C-type file. After the first optimization attempts on the UH-60A control system, an early interface system, named GIFCORCODE (Graphical Interface for CONSOL-OPTCAD for Rotorcraft Controller Design) was created.

Veronica, Moldoveanu↗

NASA NTRS2004

Transitioning to Intel-based Linux Servers in the Payload Operations Integration Center

The MSFC Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) is the focal point for International Space Station (ISS) payload operations. The POIC contains the facilities, hardware, software and communication interface necessary to support payload operations. ISS ground system support for processing and display of real-time spacecraft and telemetry and command data has been operational for several years. The hardware components were reaching end of life and vendor costs were increasing while ISS budgets were becoming severely constrained. Therefore it has been necessary to migrate the Unix portions of our ground systems to commodity priced Intel-based Linux servers. hardware architecture including networks, data storage, and highly available resources. This paper will concentrate on the Linux migration implementation for the software portion of our ground system. The migration began with 3.5 million lines of code running on Unix platforms with separate servers for telemetry, command, Payload information management systems, web, system control, remote server interface and databases. The Intel-based system is scheduled to be available for initial operational use by August 2004 The overall migration to Intel-based Linux servers in the control center involves changes to the This paper will address the Linux migration study approach including the proof of concept, criticality of customer buy-in and importance of beginning with POSlX compliant code. It will focus on the development approach explaining the software lifecycle. Other aspects of development will be covered including phased implementation, interim milestones and metrics measurements and reporting mechanisms. This paper will also address the testing approach covering all levels of testing including development, development integration, IV&V, user beta testing and acceptance testing. Test results including performance numbers compared with Unix servers will be included. need for a smooth transition while maintaining real-time support. An important aspect of the paper will involve challenges and lessons learned. product compatibility, implications of phasing decisions and tracking of dependencies, particularly non- software dependencies. The paper will also discuss scheduling challenges providing real-time flight support during the migration and the requirement to incorporate in the migration changes being made simultaneously for flight support. This paper will also address the deployment approach including user involvement in testing and the , This includes COTS product compatibility, implications of phasing decisions and tracking of dependencies, particularly non- software dependencies. The paper will also discuss scheduling challenges providing real-time flight support during the migration and the requirement to incorporate in the migration changes being made simultaneously for flight support.

Guillebeau, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Software reuse environment user's guide

This document describes the services provided by the prototype Software Reuse Environment, which was developed by CTA for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 520. This is one of three guides delivered by CTA as part of the environment. The other two guides are: Software Generation and Installation Guide; and SEMANTX--Defining the Schema. The Software Generation and Installation Guide describes the software source modules that make up the Reuse Environment, with instructions on how to generate and install an executable system from the source code. SEMANTX--Defining the Schema describes how a reuse database is created. Actually this guide is more general than the reuse database, as it describes how to generate a SEMANTX database. SEMANTX is an off-the-shelf tool that we have used to implement the reuse database. It is a product of Semantyk Systems, Inc. The Software Reuse Environment is built upon SEMANTX as well as on the IDE Structured Analysis Integrated Environment. (IDE is Interactive Development Environments, Inc.) SEMANTX itself is built on top of the Unify Database Management System. To use the Software Reuse Environment you should have the User's Manuals for SEMANTX, for Unify, and for the IDE software. CTA has provided all of these with the environment.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1991

[STS-43 Post Flight Press Conference]

The flight crew (Blaha, Baker, Low, Adamson, and Lucid) present and discuss their STS-43 Space Shuttle Mission in this press conference video. This mission was the first flight to deploy the Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS), the primary payload. A large number of secondary payload experiments were performed. The included: several cell tissue growth and enzyme analysis experiments; a Lower Body Negative Pressure Experiment; optic coupling and flame front propagation/combustion physics experiments; The Space Station Heat Pipe Advanced Radiator Experiment (SHARE) for the Space Station; a crystal control device evaluation; a software and hardware systems checkout for the Shuttle; some flight tests of the new orbiter auto-pilot system; some materials tests on polymer membranes; the Zero Gravity physics experiments; and the Space Shuttle Backscatter Ultraviolet Experiment. Earth views included: the Kuwait oil fires; cloud cover; and B/W lightning footage.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1984

Applying optimization software libraries to engineering problems

Nonlinear programming, preliminary design problems, performance simulation problems trajectory optimization, flight computer optimization, and linear least squares problems are among the topics covered. The nonlinear programming applications encountered in a large aerospace company are a real challenge to those who provide mathematical software libraries and consultation services. Typical applications include preliminary design studies, data fitting and filtering, jet engine simulations, control system analysis, and trajectory optimization and optimal control. Problem sizes range from single-variable unconstrained minimization to constrained problems with highly nonlinear functions and hundreds of variables. Most of the applications can be posed as nonlinearly constrained minimization problems. Highly complex optimization problems with many variables were formulated in the early days of computing. At the time, many problems had to be reformulated or bypassed entirely, and solution methods often relied on problem-specific strategies. Problems with more than ten variables usually went unsolved.

Healy, M. J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Clinical Decision Support Software: Modeling and Capabilities

With its distance from Earth and communication delays, exploration space flight will place new demands for crew autonomy. Crewmembers operating during such missions require a dedicated Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) that enhances their earth independence by augmenting their knowledge, skills, and abilities in different medical scenarios. A CDSS is a software application that must function optimally in diverse and varied scenarios (while interfacing with and providing actionable information to appropriate vehicle systems) to augment crew performance by enhancing or adding knowledge, skills, and abilities that preserve health and wellness and ultimately helping to ensure mission success. In addition, the software tool should provide various functions and computational models to meet the demands of astronauts beyond low earth orbit.

B Russell↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dragonfly Rotor Optimization using Machine Learning Applied to an OVERFLOW Generated Airfoil Database

NASA’s 4th New Frontiers Mission is the Titan Dragonfly relocatable lander. This coaxial quadrotor vehicle will be launched on a rocket to Titan in 2028. Following a gravity assisted Earth flyby and an approximate 6-year transit, Dragonfly will enter the Titan atmosphere around 2034 with the goal of exploring Titan’s pre-biotic chemistry and habitability. The multirotor design for this unique application has continually evolved since 2016 with constraints such as Titan’s cryogenic atmosphere at 95 Kelvin (-288 F), gravity 14% that of Earth’s, atmospheric density 440% of standard sea-level air, and the inability to test the entire system together under all these conditions until the first flight on Titan. This paper focuses on rotor design aspects of the Dragonfly lander and introduces a novel framework for multirotor design optimization considering multiple flight conditions. The methodology leverages machine learning methods and is demonstrated in the context of Dragonfly. A new OVERFLOW Machine Learning Airfoil Performance (PALMO) database is first presented. PALMO is then wrapped inside a Bayesian optimization framework and applied to a 4-rotor system (one side of the Dragonfly lander). Training data is generated on each iteration of the optimization using the CAMRAD-II comprehensive analysis software to evaluate successive rotor designs in multiple relevant flight conditions. An optimal design for the 4-rotor system was found with approximately 900 rotor designs analyzed in CAMRAD-II, which required 9 million queries of the PALMO surrogate models. This demonstration case evaluated 10,000,000 potential candidate rotor designs in 5.5 hours on 114 CPU cores using uniform inflow, and in 27.8 hours using the prescribed wake model. This work thus enables mid-fidelity rotor design optimization without requiring access to high-performance computing.

Dragonfly↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supporting Exploration Missions by Enabling Exploration Mission System Software

Future exploration missions will consist of a multitude of data sources, systems, and operators collaborating to complete mission objectives. Presently, NASA is instantiating the contractual mechanisms, such as the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) and Human Landing System (HLS) contracts, to produce these mission assets. Architectural planning is also underway to establish the networking protocols and infrastructure to digitally create and connect mission elements, such as LunaNET. However, without new horizontally integrated data systems, these advancements will be limited in their ability to get mission data appropriately integrated into the plan, train, fly, explore workflow of the flight operations workforce. Here we describe several mission system software development efforts underway that are designed to support human spaceflight missions. This paper describes the current iterations of a suite of tools to support EVA procedure authoring and execution, and mission context creation for both International Space Station (ISS) and Artemis missions. These tools have been developed iteratively and continue to be used in present-day ISS operations on orbit and in several NASA facilities such as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) and Artemis field testing. These solutions demonstrate how software development can be aligned with ongoing operations development activities to discover the features that best support both current and future human spaceflight missions.

Matthew J. Miller↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supporting Exploration Missions by Enabling Exploration Mission System Software

Matthew Miller↗

NASA NTRS2012

Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines

Heinz Erzberger never thought the sky was falling, but he knew it could benefit from enhanced traffic control. Throughout the 1990s, Erzberger led a team at Ames Research Center to develop a suite of automated tools to reduce restrictions and improve the efficiency of air traffic control operations. Called CTAS, or Center-TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) Automation System, the software won NASA s Software of the Year award in 1998, and one of the tools in the suite - the traffic management advisor - was adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration and implemented at traffic control centers across the United States. Another one of the tools, Direct-To, has followed a different path. The idea behind Direct-To, explains Erzberger, a senior scientist at Ames, was that airlines could save fuel and money by shortening the routes they flew between take-off and landing. Aircraft are often limited to following established airways comprised of inefficient route segments. The routes are not easily adjusted because neither the pilot nor the aircraft controller can anticipate the constantly changing air traffic situation. To make the routes more direct while in flight, Erzberger came up with an idea for a software algorithm that could automatically examine air traffic in real-time, check to see if a shortcut was available, and then check for conflicts. If there were no conflicts and the shortcut saved more than 1 minute of flight time, the controller could be notified. "I was trying to figure out what goes on in the pilot and controller s minds when they decide to guide the aircraft in a certain way. That resulted in a different kind analysis," Erzberger says. As the engineer s idea went from theory to practice, in 2001, NASA demonstrated Direct-To in the airspace of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Estimations based on the demonstration found the technology was capable of saving 900 flying minutes per day for the aircraft in the test area.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1992

Software Management Environment (SME) release 9.4 user reference material

This document contains user reference material for the Software Management Environment (SME) prototype, developed for the Systems Development Branch (Code 552) of the Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The SME provides an integrated set of management tools that can be used by software development managers in their day-to-day management and planning activities. This document provides an overview of the SME, a description of all functions, and detailed instructions concerning the software's installation and use.

Hendrick, R.↗