A new Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) methodology could lead to shorter, but more frequent missions at NASA. Mike Xapsos, a research physicist in the Radiation Effects and Analysis Group and member of the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, has developed an improved method for evaluating the performance of a microelectronic device in space, which closes the gap between design specifications and on-orbit performance.

“At NASA, we should allow computers to do what computers are good at, so people can do what people are good at.”

This perspective, explained by MBSE Pathfinder Study Co-Lead Jessica Knizhnik, is the main motive behind a Pathfinder study, sponsored by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, to investigate how Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Model-Based Engineering (MBE) techniques can be applied by NASA projects. 

Multi-disciplinary physics-of-failure testing and simulations conducted on Printed Circuit Boards at Goddard Space Flight Center recently resulted in an industry standard update, which will lead to cost savings not only for NASA but for the electronics industry in general.

One of the most important aspects of Reliability and Maintainability is understanding how things fail. Engineers can only make systems reliable if they understand what makes them unreliable.

Johnson Space Center’s Reliability and Maintainability program is working on a new system that helps engineers and mission managers make better risk-informed decisions.

Johnson Space Center developed the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Data Integration (EDI) system, which allows seamless search and data correlations, integration and analysis across multiple data sources and assurance systems for the International Space Station (ISS) Program.

On Feb. 17-18, Goddard Space Flight Center hosted its second Model-Based Engineering (MBE) workshop, which included an overview of MBE’s mission assurance counterpart, Model-Based Mission Assurance.

As the agency looks at opportunities to use CubeSats in science and exploration missions, NASA’s Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) community is working to address some of the SMA challenges associated with these small spacecraft.

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance is looking at a new way of assuring complex missions that use Model-Based Systems Engineering.