Avionics

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Exploration Systems Projects Avionics Team has extensive experience with development, test and flight operation activities.  The Avionics team is able to draw on personnel and resources of GSFC's extensive laboratory and test facilities that have been used in the development of avionics for a variety spacecraft.  In addition, the team has extensive experience with other NASA Field Centers, Industry and Academia. For example, the ESP Avionics Team partnered with JSC Team members to perform the avionic trades for the Integrated Design Optimization Team (iDOT) that resulted in changes to the Orion vehicle that produced significant mass and power savings. The team, working with JSC, has implemented the same systematic approach used by the iDOT to identify the required avionics functional timeline for Altair and then drive that design toward an architecture that addresses those requirements. This is being done while constraining the system's size, mass, power, and reliability to the levels appropriate for the system. This same system approach used by the IDOT team has been used to identify avionic requirements for other Exploration Systems.  The Avionics team brings forward their knowledge of Byzantine Resilient Architectures in developing fault tolerant computing systems and network topologies.  ESP leverages the team's experience with Integrated Modular Avionics concepts including common hardware, software design for reuse, and distributed software implementations to improve subsystem availability, testability and lower development costs. Team members participate in international standards development working groups providing input to developing flexible command and data architectures. The goal of these architectures is to provide a uniform command and control system that will adapt to available communication paths and provide a consistent interface to applications in a multi node system, reducing the cost of system operations.

Communications

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Explorations Systems Project leverages Goddard's long history and unique experience in communications system technology development and operational support of both manned and unmanned missions in order to develop innovative communications solutions for future Exploration missions.  GSFC personnel have developed communications and tracking architectures, requirements, and operational concepts to support communications and navigation in near Earth and deep space. GSFC personnel have also developed physical radio frequency (RF), data link layer, and network layer requirements for future communications based on internet protocol (IP) and have focused on interoperable solutions for NASA missions.  We have leveraged our experience with IP and disruption tolerant networks (DTN) to lead the development of a "gold standard" for command, control and communications interoperability.  As NASA goes forward with a revised Exploration Program, we are in a unique position to help develop the future communications and tracking architecture.  Goddard's in-house expertise in developing S-Band, L-Band, X-Band, and Ka-Band communication systems has been successfully demonstrated on many recent unmanned missions including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).  This experience positions GSFC as a valuable partner for communications development and operational support of future robotic and manned missions within the Exploration Program.  Our understanding of advanced communication concepts including adaptive aperture combining, conventional phased arrays, and software defined radios positions GSFC to assist in the transition of these technologies to future operational missions.  GSFC can perform engineering trade studies of RF systems, including conventional long haul microwave, wireless networks, and surface communications.  GSFC also has the capability to perform RF versus optical communications engineering trades, by leveraging the expertise in the Goddard Optical Project Office; currently Goddard is leading NASA's only in-space optical communications demonstration.  As a NASA communications system solutions provider and partner, GSFC can leverage existing simulation and analysis facilities and tools such as the; Communications Standards and Technology Laboratory (CSTL), Goddard Electromagnetic Anechoic Chamber (GEMAC), High-Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS), General Reflector and Antenna Far Field Analysis Software (GRASP), and Communications Link Analysis and Simulation System (CLASS) as well as personnel with significant analysis and spaceflight hardware development experience in order to assist flight missions with solutions to meet critical mission objectives. 

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