Designing Tomorrow Today

The processes, procedures and tools for future space operations are being developed today in labs, workshops and offices across United Space Alliance as engineers, technicians and developers leverage their experience and expertise to help set the stage for exploration beyond Shuttle.

Whether preparing a vehicle for flight on the ground or conducting operations on the moon or some other destination, the methods and equipment used in the next era of human space flight will be significantly different from those used currently for the Shuttle Program, said USA’s Constellation Program Manager Anne Martt.

“Operations in the future will have to be more efficient and streamlined than in the past,” Martt said. “NASA is getting into a new paradigm of always having an operational program in progress while they are beginning to define and develop the next one. In order to meet the new paradigm, your operations have to be very streamlined, very cost effective and take advantage of as much new technology as possible.”

The basic architecture of the Constellation Program is driving the need for change. Constellation vehicles will be less complex and require less processing support. The challenges of working complex long range missions will require crews to be more self-sufficient and vehicles to operate more autonomously.

“To develop new technologies and new techniques takes time,” Martt said. “You can’t wait until you need the technology to begin its development. Not all our attempts at creating new technology will work out, so we need to get started early so we can determine what technology is really going to address our issues for the future.”

One of the biggest challenges in developing the right technology for the job is gaining exposure to what is already available and can be adapted or leveraged for human space flight.

“Our workforce has the right ideas and the right concepts,” Martt said, “but we don’t have a broad experience base in all of the newest types of technologies that are available. That’s why some of the Independent Research and Development (IRAD) projects we are doing are so important.

“At USA, we’ve made a commitment as part of the Orion team to put up some additional IRAD money. That’s been a great investment to allow us to focus on things that will be of benefit to Constellation.”

In one of those IRAD projects, USA has employed advanced modeling and simulation techniques to provide Orion spacecraft designers with a better way to visualize the actions required to assemble and process a new vehicle.

In the Human Engineering Modeling and Performance (HEMAP) lab, cameras track workers wearing special suits to record data that can later be analyzed to determine how processing operations can be safer and more efficient.

“One of the key operations lessons that USA learned in processing the Shuttle Orbiter was the difficulty to install or remove large or heavy components from the vehicle,” said Jeffrey Osterlund, USA’s Chief Engineer for the Constellation Program Office.

Such tasks, Osterlund said, typically have been performed by two or three people.

“By using a modeling tool that addresses human ergonomics while still retaining the human interface in the simulation, USA can provide the designers insight into the vehicle’s access and human factor constraints prior to any hardware mockup having to be built, thus providing a cost-effective risk reduction in the design and development phase,” he said.

“The HEMAP lab will provide not just risk reduction on Orion – as the crew module is a very good proof of concept for the modeling tool – but will also provide ergonomic assessments on ground processing of the launch vehicle integrated stack between Ares I CLV and Orion CEV with the ground systems and infrastructure. The resulting analysis will provide initial guidance on modifications required in the VAB and on the pad. In addition, other aerospace and non-aerospace deployments are being evaluated for potential applicability.”

(For more on HEMAP, see the story on Page 5.)

Training flight controllers will be a continuing requirement for Inter-national Space Station (ISS) operations and eventually Constellation operations. A new simulator called the ISS Systems Integrated Simulation (ISIS) designed by USA employees in Flight Operations Engineering will help fill that need in a highly cost-effective manner.

ISIS runs the actual unmodified ISS flight software, system models and the astronaut command and control interface in an open system design that is easy for programmers to access and adapt for their present needs. It also allows programmers to rapidly integrate software models from other varied sources. Originally developed to allow usage of ISS flight software and models for the creation and validation of crew and ground controller procedures, ISIS uses commercial off-the-shelf technology, which reduces cost and scheduling issues associated with using standalone simulators.

“The SSTF (Space Station Training Facility) is very complex,” said Roger Luty, USA’s lead developer. “ISIS, in comparison, does not require a lot of expensive equipment or proprietary hardware yet provides the users with familiar SSTF ISS models and user interfaces. You can run it on almost any modern computer.”

Since it was originally envisioned, the ISIS’ usage has evolved to include ground operator system and display training, flight software modification testing and a realistic test bed for exploration automation technology research and development.

“ISIS enables increased training opportunities,” Luty said. “It gives us additional flexibility for part-task training.”

The architectural design process for ISIS focused on user needs, operations, flexibility, cost and maintenance. These key aspects of the system’s design are what make ISIS a valuable tool for the Constellation Program.

“ISIS provides a commonality we haven’t previously had,” Luty said. “For the Constellation Program, reuse is keen. Reusing the SSTF components along with the open system design of ISIS, we will not need a huge amount of technology to tap into the CEV software for training purposes.”

In the ground processing arena, USA aligned its expertise in preparing vehicles for flight with its logistics know-how to develop an innovative paperless program for Constellation that manages products and processes at KSC relating to human space flight.

The Collaborative Integrated Processing Solutions (CIPS) is a fully integrated supply chain management system, skill certification program and detailed material and labor planning tool that can quickly react to changes in supply and demand for labor, materials, equipment and facilities. The primary objective of the computer-based system is to identify and implement innovations to help reduce risks, eliminate waste and minimize life-cycle costs.

CIPS also uses off-the-shelf technology to create the collaborative, mobile and integrated solution.

“In CIPS, we’ve applied industry best practices to process control solutions that are not unique to space operations so that the human space flight program can benefit from other’s experiences and standards-based solutions,” said USA’s Deputy Director Intergrated Data Systems Larry Carr.

Carr also said that new electronic tools provide additional checks and balances that enable improvement in three performance indicators – safety, quality and efficiency.

“CIPS is a tool we need for future operations,” he said. “Driving down costs is key for future operations, and CIPS helps us reduce life-cycle costs, such as development, maintenance and upgrade costs, for launch operations.”

The Questus™ suite of software tools is another example of USA putting its experience and expertise to work with an eye on the future.

Questus leverages USA’s knowledge of end-to-end space operations into a set of software applications and tools that uniquely interacts across all phases of operations. The current Questus tools include the following:

• ATTENTUS™ – A visual search and retrieval tool for spacecraft design, development and processing, plus operational data and archival content.

• ASCENSIO™ – An advanced system for the design and analysis spacecraft mission trajectories that includes Earth orbit, lunar/planetary translation, descent and landing, ascent and rendezvous with an orbiting module, a return trajectory to Earth and Earth entry.

• TEMPORIS™ – USA’s intelligent space flight mission management and planning tool designed to enable CEV and Exploration astronauts to take control of their own missions.

• INSTRU™ – An immersive, multidimensional training and procedures tool designed such that operations, training and documentation are owned by the individuals executing the mission (including the crew).

• ACQUIRO™ – An application that provides continuous, full insight of onboard inventory and locations as well as instant and accurate Center of Gravity determination.

• ILIADS™ (Integrated Lunar Information Architecture for Decision Support) – The product of an Innovative Partnership Program between USA and Goddard Spaceflight Center, which combines lunar data from unmanned precursors with the experience of human space flight operations to create a new approach to science data access.

Martt said early conceptual studies sponsored by NASA regarding the types of architectures that might be used for the exploration missions have helped define those technologies that need to be developed.

Through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) program, NASA funds conceptual studies on specific, focused topics. USA has previously completed a BAA on ground processing and was recently awarded two study contracts for lunar habitats and “Alternative Software Architecture Development Approaches for Lunar Surface Systems.”

“BAAs challenge the technical community to get very creative with ideas,” Martt said. “NASA then often brings various participants together to collaborate and determine what’s the ‘best of the best’ to go forward.

“Various companies are spending IRAD money to develop technologies, but most companies don’t have as much R&D money as you want. That’s why it’s important that NASA has taken a role by providing some trade study contracts.”

With its broad spectrum of experience and expertise, Martt said USA is uniquely positioned to help define the operations concepts and technologies of the future.

“We clearly know space operations better than anyone else on Earth,” she said. “From designing hardware to be operable; designing ground support equipment; knowing how to retrieve spacecraft from the water and the issues that come along with that; knowing the types of problems that you encounter when you’re in a mission and knowing what you have to be prepared to bring to the table to solve those problems; and knowing what’s involved in getting a crew member ready to fly. That spectrum, no one else has.

“We call ourselves an operations company, but we do development work as well. We bring an incredible amount of knowledge to the table, and we have a lot of people who are out there chomping at the bit ready to get out there to do some design and contribute to the new program.”

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