[sarex] New NASA Software Monitors Space Station Gyroscopes

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

Aug. 13, 2007
> Katherine Trinidad
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-3749
> katherine.trinidad at nasa.gov
>
> John Bluck
> Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
> 650-604-5026
> jbluck at mail.arc.nasa.gov
>
> Lynnette B. Madison
> Johnson Space Center, Houston
> 281-483-5111
> lmadison at ems.jsc.nasa.gov
>
>
> NEW NASA SOFTWARE MONITORS SPACE STATION GYROSCOPES
>
> HOUSTON - NASA has added a new computer program to help monitor the 
> four gyroscopes that keep the International Space Station properly 
> oriented without the use of rocket fuel. During a spacewalk on 
> Monday, two astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour removed and 
> replaced a gyroscope that failed in late 2006.
>
> Computer scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, 
> Calif., designed the new software for the space station. The 
> Inductive Monitoring System will be added to a group of existing 
> tools to identify and track problems related to the gyroscopes. 
>
> "If the system does something unexpected, the software alerts ground 
> controllers that something is different, an anomaly, and that allows 
> them to analyze the situation and take preventive measures as 
> necessary," said David Iverson, the computer scientist at Ames who 
> spearheaded the five year-effort to develop the software.
>
> During its development, researchers used the software to analyze 
> several months of normal space station gyroscope data collected by 
> the International Space Station Mission Control Center at NASA's 
> Johnson Space Center, Houston. In these tests, problems with the 
> gyroscopes were noticed long before the previous system flagged 
> glitches. NASA started using the software earlier this year. 
>
> The software program also has been used in F-18 fighter planes and by 
> the space shuttle's leading edge impact detection system, as well as 
> for electric power plant and water quality monitoring. 
>
> For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/station
>
> 	
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