The IV&V Program tasked one of its young engineers Justin Morris with establishing an adaptable test environment that would enable the dynamic analysis of system software behaviors for multiple NASA missions. Morris, a graduate of WVU, joined NASA as an intern and then was selected to become a CO-OP, a pipeline to becoming a civil servant for successful interns. Morris developed a capability to emulate flight hardware, simulate operational environments, and execute mission software needed across the Agency to reduce the cost associated with verifying system software and the capability needed to be adaptable to be reused on multiple missions efficiently.
Morris effectively reached out across the Agency to understand past approaches, leverage successes, and identify additional needs, then stood up a development team of other young engineers. In one year a reconfigurable environment was created that emulated flight hardware and integrated other simulated systems (e.g., ground system) and environments such that mission flight software could be tested exhaustively without purchasing one piece of hardware or changing one line of code–using virtual environments, plug-n-play architectures, and simulation/emulation environments. The combination of these concepts yielded a testing environment that bridged the gap between static analysis of system software and safety and mission assurance for readiness to launch.
The testing capability led by Mr. Morris is cutting edge and is viewed by the Goddard Space Flight Center’s software systems engineering branch as a “…leading cutting edge FSW development tool that local development teams need to take note of. Lockheed Martin is already using several similar (based on the COTS emulation product) testing capabilities for their product line FSW development.”
The initial task for Mr. Morris was to develop and deliver a proof of concept using a subsystem of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) flight software. He leveraged the engineering network he created and employed engineering solutions where they already existed and provided solutions where they did not. In the end, he surpassed the original goal of providing a proof of concept for a subsystem of GPM by staying within original cost estimates and provided an end-to-end mission simulation for the GPM mission. To date, Mr. Morris has also worked successfully with the International Space Station and James Webb Telescope missions and is actively working with the testing laboratories likely to be used with NASA’s future human space flight endeavors.
