Electronics & Software

A software system for planning and execution of actions by an autonomous spacecraft engaged in scientific exploration has been developed to satisfy requirements to (1) maintain positive resource margins and avoid short-sighted decisions in order to achieve long-term scientific and...

A test procedure has been devised to increase the accuracy with which lightning currents on a protective wire can be determined from raw current measurements. The procedure was conceived specifically for determining lightning currents on a steel cable used to protect the space shuttle...

A computer program provides for automated generation of maps from data acquired via C-band interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (IFSAR). The program reads in height, radar-brightness, and correlation data generated by IFSAR processors and computes a series of image features to be used in classifying...

A paper presents the concept of a system for autonomous communication among multiple satellites and other spacecraft. The design of the system would be based on an evolvable architecture of multiple intelligent agents (that is, artificial-intelligence constructs implemented in software and...

Sensor webs are developmental collections of sensor pods that could be scattered over land or water areas or other regions of interest to gather data on spatial and temporal patterns of relatively slowly changing physical, chemical, or biological phenomena in those regions. Each sensor pod would be a node in a data-gathering/...

The process of anodizing, or controlled oxidation, of aluminum and aluminum alloys is more than seven decades old. The primary intent of anodizing aluminum and aluminum-alloy parts is to protect the highly reactive surface against corrosion in aqueous environments, such as humid...

Millimeter-Wave Optics Design Tool (MOD Tool) is a computer program for analyzing and designing multiple-reflector antenna systems that operate at microwave and millimeter wavelengths. MOD Tool is intended for use in conjunction with a computer-aided-design (CAD) program along with other...

Automation Language for Managing Operations (ALMO) is a computer program that assists a human operator at a central control station in monitoring and controlling a complex equipment system that includes multiple subsystems connected in a digital communication network. Still undergoing development, ALMO is...

A report describes a continuing program of development of flight software for the attitude-control system (ACS) and the command-and-data-handling (C&DH) system of a prototype standard spacecraft of the Small Explorer (SMEX)-Lite class. Both the C&DH and ACS parts of the software...

Version 1.4 of the Launch Vehicle Loads Analysis for Preliminary Design (VLOADS 1.4) computer program calculates in-flight launch-vehicle structural loads (that is, spacecraft-launching rockets) for preliminary design. The program can also be used to calculate structural loads in upper stages and...

The Automated Test Monitor computer program provides for continuous monitoring of the operations of a complex system (e.g., a spacecraft). This program implements a rigorous analytic (instead of an ad hoc) technique that prescribes exactly how to express requirements for the operation of...

The Mission Planning Graphical Tool (MPGT) computer program provides a mouse-driven graphical representation of data on a spacecraft and its environment, for use in planning a space flight. MPGT is designed to be a generic software tool that can be configured to analyze any specified...