Space Systems & Mission Analysis / Advanced Capabilities Project Office

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New Systems Analysis Tools Impact Exploration Management

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Each NASA center has various projects that contribute to future exploration missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. NASA centers must be able to efficiently share data and management must be able to easily access it to make decisions regarding projects within the Constellation Program.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center is supporting the Systems Analysis Tools and Concepts Project, which is led by the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Integration Office at NASA Headquarters. The resulting tools and technical assessments (concepts) will be very valuable to project managers as they analyze performance, cost, risk and schedule.

Tools

Advanced systems analysis tools are being developed to assess new architectures and technologies to make the best decisions regarding future exploration missions.

For example, as Glenn works on the engine for the Orion crew exploration vehicle’s service module, another NASA center may suggest a new technology for propulsion. The project managers would greatly benefit from a systems analysis tool that would assess the new proposed technology and how it will impact the vehicle’s performance, cost and schedule (will the vehicle still be finished on time?).

Glenn is supporting the development of a data architecture that will standardize the language expressing the relationships for data residing in different locations. This standardization will make the data easily accessible to all NASA centers and contractors.

Glenn has developed a tool called Global Integrated Design Environment (GLIDE). It is used to perform detailed analyses of vehicle systems and subsystems. If an element of a model or system changes, what else will change in the system? The data architecture will help ensure that data required for the model is easily accessible from the discipline and component experts.

Technical Assessment

Advanced nuclear thermal rocket under study for transporting humans to Mars.

Glenn also supports the Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) team, which consists of technical experts at NASA. They use the systems analysis tools to conduct trade studies on space exploration vehicles. The resulting data must be kept up-to-date and available to other NASA centers for further analysis.

Systems analysis is vital to the success of future exploration missions. Program management and analysts will have access to timely, accurate information that they can use to assess risks and ensure the safety of the vehicle or system in question.

Glenn is playing a vital role in supporting this project by using tools and technical assessments to build a reliable data architecture where valuable data is available to managers, analysts, and engineers at any time.

Contact at NASA Glenn Research Center
Chief, Advanced Capabilities Project Office: Ann P. Over
Space Flight Systems Directorate / Advanced Flight Projects Office
216-433-6535