Mars 2020 Mission Safety and Risk Assessment
NASA Kennedy Space Center
This project is in support of the upcoming NASA robotic mission to Mars in 2020. It has the objective of developing the framework and executing the risk assessment for the launch vehicle and spacecraft segments in support of the nuclear launch approval process for the Mars 2020 mission. In this project, ASCA interacts with organizations that have responsibility for various aspects of the overall risk assessment process. This team included the Department of Energy, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other NASA contractors. Into these activities ASCA brings its expertise and databases in the areas of launch and space vehicle reliability, safety and mission assurance analysis.
Integrated Model-based Fault-Management System Design
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This is an ongoing three-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project (1-year Phase I and 2-year Phase 2). The long-term goals of this project are to develop Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) techniques for Fault Management (FM) system design, implementation, and validation-and-verification (V&V), and to implement these techniques in an Integrated Model-based Fault Management System Design (IMFSD) environment and associated software multi-tool platform. This software is being implemented in the Vitech GENESYS environment. It will enable an overall design assurance case model hosted in the Vitech GENESYS MBSE environment to actively link to analytical models developed with a selected set of tools. This software will be a “one-stop” solution to problems of integration of FM system development efforts that have been identified by the technical experts as a deficiency to be overcome in future space systems FM developments.
Development of Framework for the Validation and Verification of Model-Based and Adaptive Control Systems
NASA Ames Research Center
This was a three-year project initiated in 2014 and completed in 2017. It had the objective to develop a comprehensive framework for the validation and verification (V&V) of model-based control systems (MBCSs) and adaptive control systems (ACSs), two important and emerging classes of software-intensive aeronautic control systems for which the application of traditional V&V method presents serious challenges. The main focus of this work was in the V&V of flight executive and control software used in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs).
Commercial Crew Program Risk Assessment
United Launch Alliance
This project was initiated in 2011 and the first Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) phase was completed in August 2012 and the second Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) phase was completed in December 2013. The objective and scope of the project was to support the risk assessment of the crew vehicle, the launch vehicle, and the ground support equipment in relation to crew safety before launch and during the ascent phase. The first Commercial Crew Program mission to transport human to Low-Earth Orbit was expected in 2017 but has been delayed.
Update of NASA Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedure Guide
NASA Headquarters
This project sponsored by NASA Headquarters Code-Q is in cooperation with a team of other organizations. It has the objective of updating the Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedures Guide for NASA Managers and Practitioners to incorporate latest developments and applications of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) techniques within the entire NASA enterprise and contractor community. The second edition of the PRA Procedures Guide was published by NASA Headquarters in December 2011.
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Safety and Risk Assessment
NASA Kennedy Space Center
This project was initiated in 2003 and completed in 2010. It has the objective of developing the framework and executing the risk assessment for the launch vehicle and spacecraft segments in support of the nuclear launch approval process for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. In this project, ASCA interacted and cooperated regularly with various organizations that have responsibility for various aspects of the overall risk assessment process. This team included the Department of Energy, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other NASA contractors. Into these activities ASCA brings its expertise and databases in the areas of launch and space vehicle reliability, safety and mission assurance analysis. The Curiosity Rover is currently active on the Martian surface fulfilling its mission objectives.
Pluto New Horizons Mission Safety and Risk Assessment
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / NASA
This project was initiated in 2001 and completed in 2006, under contract to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. It is similar in objective and scope to the project carried out under NASA Kennedy Space Center for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is described above. The New Horizons spacecraft has recently completed a fly-by of Pluto and Charon in 2015. The spacecraft is currently en route to investigate other celestial objects of interest in the Kuiper belt.
Development of NASA Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedure Guide and Training Courses
NASA Headquarters
This project sponsored by NASA Headquarters Code-Q is in cooperation with a team of other organizations. It has the objective of compiling a state-of-art guideline document for the application of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) procedures and techniques within the entire NASA enterprise and contractor community. Along with the Guide, training course materials are also being developed to assist NASA Centers and Contractors in the use of the Guide.
Mars Exploration Missions Safety and Risk Assessment
Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA
This project was initiated in 1998 and continues under contract to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has the objective of developing and applying risk assessment methodology for the launch vehicle and spacecraft segments of various solar system exploratory missions. Included in the larger scope of the project, which covers a span of several years, is methodology development and refinement, software tool development and actual execution of the safety and risk analysis. In this project ASCA is interacting and cooperating regularly with various organizations that have responsibility for interfacing aspects of the overall risk assessment process, within a team which includes Department of Energy and NASA contractors. Into these activities ASCA brings its expertise and databases in the areas of launch and space vehicle reliability, safety and mission assurance analysis.
New Horizons Pluto and Kuiper Belt Mission Safety and Risk Assessment
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / NASA
This project was initiated in 2001 and presently is in progress, under contract to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. It is similar in objective and scope to the project carried out for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in relation to the nuclear safety of the Mars Exploration Program missions, which is described above. This project is expected to continue for one or two additional years, depending on the final launch date decisions made by NASA jointly with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, its prime contractor for the Pluto mission.
Automated FMECA and Diagnostic / Prognostic Optimization Analysis
Patuxent River Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division / U.S. Navy
This project explored the development of diagnostic/prognostic techniques for rotorcraft turbine engines and gearboxes. The developments achieved in this projects are based on a combination of model-based, multi-state diagnostic / logic framework and statistical inference models, which implement optimization principles based on maximization of risk reduction and minimization of life-cycle cost. Full development of the modeling framework and associated software tools will follow at a later stage.
Aircraft Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methodology (APRAM)
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
This project identified tailored Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) techniques to address airplane design and air-transportation risk issues brought about by the rapid advancement of technology in the airplane industry. Tools and techniques that can be used by safety analysts to evaluate the operational and safety risk impacts of specific scenarios or technology conditions, and by designers to understand the risk-benefit trade-offs that technological innovations or conditions may produce, were identified and preliminarily demonstrated. This work has laid out the path for the development of a risk assessment software tool package that could be used by aircraft manufacturers and major airlines to demonstrate the safety of existing aircraft and/or the safety of new systems proposed in new designs or design upgrades. This tool would also be used to evaluate concept and design alternatives in a risk-reduction worth versus cost basis.
Application of Dynamic Flowgraph Techniques for Safety Analysis and Testing of Space Systems Software
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Glenn (formerly Lewis) Research Center
This project applied the analytical assurance procedures of the Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology (DFM) and the associated software tools to a system which is representative of software-controlled systems of interest to NASA for its satellite, spacecraft or ground-support systems applications. Executed tasks include 1) demonstration of the applicability of DFM analysis to NASA space systems, 2) refinement and optimization of DFM procedures for NASA space systems software applications and 3) integration and demonstration of the extended and optimized DFM technique on a NASA space system case study. The case study used was space experiment apparatus and associated controls which was part of a Space Shuttle mission. The project included the development of techniques to define specific software test vectors that can be used to verify whether various types of software faults are present in an integrated system.
Development of Tools for Software Safety Analysis in Space Systems Applications
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center
This project developed procedures and software that can be used to model and analyze software-based control systems for the purpose of verifying and/or assessing its reliability and safety. The use of dynamic, multi-valued-logic system reliability and safety models to support and execute software and system verification and testing tasks represents a significant technical advancement in system safety and reliability analysis. A demonstration of these new techniques and application tools was executed using the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) controller software and system as a test case.