High Performance Spacecraft Computing (HPSC) Middleware Update

High Performance Spacecraft Computing (HPSC) is a joint project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to develop a high-performance multi-core radiation hardened flight processor. HPSC offers a new flight computing architecture to meet the needs of NASA missions through 2030 and beyond. Providing on the order of 100X the computational capacity of current flight processors for the same amount of power, the multicore architecture of the HPSC processor, or "Chiplet" provides unprecedented flexibility in a flight computing system by enabling the operating point to be set dynamically, trading among needs for computational performance, energy management and fault tolerance. The HPSC Chiplet is being developed by Boeing under contract to NASA, and is expected to provide prototypes, an evaluation board, system emulators, comprehensive system software, and a software development kit. In addition to the vendor deliverables, the AFRL is funding the development of a flexible Middleware to be developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The HPSC Middleware provides a suite of thirteen high level services to manage the compute, memory and I/O resources of this complex device.This presentation will provide an HPSC project update, an overview of the latest HPSC System Software release, an overview of HPSC Middleware Release 2, and a preview of the third HPSC Middleware release. The presentation will begin with a project update that will provide a look at the high-level changes since the project was introduced at the Flight Software Workshop last year. Next, the presentation will provide an overview of the current suite of HPSC System Software which includes the vendor provided bootloaders, operating systems, emulator, and development tools. Next, the HPSC Middleware progress will be presented, which includes an overview of the features and capabilities of HPSC Middleware Release 2, followed by a look at the reference flight software applications which utilize the Middleware. Finally, the presentation will give a preview of the HPSC Middleware Release 3

Current and Future Flight Operating Systems

This viewgraph presentation reviews the current real time operating system (RTOS) type in use with current flight systems. A new RTOS model is described, i.e. the process model. Included is a review of the challenges of migrating from the classic RTOS to the Process Model type

The Core Flight System (cFS) Community: Providing Low Cost Solutions for Small Spacecraft

In February 2015 the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) completed the open source release of the entire Core Flight Software (cFS) suite. After the open source release a multi-NASA center Configuration Control Board (CCB) was established that has managed multiple cFS product releases. The cFS was developed and is being maintained in compliance with the NASA Class B software development process requirements and the open source release includes all Class B artifacts. The cFS is currently running on three operational science spacecraft and is being used on multiple spacecraft and instrument development efforts. While the cFS itself is a viable flight software (FSW) solution, we have discovered that the cFS community is a continuous source of innovation and growth that provides products and tools that serve the entire FSW lifecycle and future mission needs. This paper summarizes the current state of the cFS community, the key FSW technologies being pursued, the development/verification tools and opportunities for the small satellite community to become engaged. The cFS is a proven high quality and cost-effective solution for small satellites with constrained budgets

High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) Middleware Overview

High Performance Spacecraft Computing (HPSC) is a joint project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to develop a high-performance multi-core radiation hardened flight processor. HPSC offers a new flight computing architecture to meet the needs of NASA missions through 2030 and beyond. Providing on the order of 100X the computational capacity of current flight processors for the same amount of power, the multicore architecture of the HPSC processor, or "Chiplet" provides unprecedented flexibility in a flight computing system by enabling the operating point to be set dynamically, trading among needs for computational performance, energy management and fault tolerance. The HPSC Chiplet is being developed by Boeing under contract to NASA, and is expected to provide prototypes in 2021. The HPSC Chiplet prototypes will be delivered with an evaluation board, system emulators, comprehensive system software, and a software development kit. In addition to the vendor deliverables, the AFRL is funding the development of a flexible Middleware to be developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The HPSC Middleware provides a suite of thirteen high level services to manage the compute, memory and I/O resources of this complex device.This presentation will provide an overview of the HPSC project, including a hardware overview, system software overview, Middleware overview, and mission use cases. The hardware overview will provide a look at the 8 core High Performance Processing Subsystem (HPPS), the Real Time Processing Subsystem (RTPS), the Chiplet Configuration Management Subsystem, on chip peripherals, and high speed I/O. The system software overview will introduce the boot loaders, operating systems, device drivers, and software development environment. The Middleware overview will provide insight into the high-level services that will be provided to help mission developers manage the many resources and configurations made possible with the Chiplet. Finally, the presentation will provide a brief look at the mission use cases that can be enabled with this next generation architecture

Pi-Sat: A Low Cost Small Satellite and Distributed Spacecraft Mission System Test Platform

Current technology and budget trends indicate a shift in satellite architectures from large, expensive single satellite missions, to small, low cost distributed spacecraft missions. At the center of this shift is the SmallSatCubesat architecture. The primary goal of the Pi-Sat project is to create a low cost, and easy to use Distributed Spacecraft Mission (DSM) test bed to facilitate the research and development of next-generation DSM technologies and concepts. This test bed also serves as a realistic software development platform for Small Satellite and Cubesat architectures. The Pi-Sat is based on the popular $35 Raspberry Pi single board computer featuring a 700Mhz ARM processor, 512MB of RAM, a flash memory card, and a wealth of IO options. The Raspberry Pi runs the Linux operating system and can easily run Code 582s Core Flight System flight software architecture. The low cost and high availability of the Raspberry Pi make it an ideal platform for a Distributed Spacecraft Mission and Cubesat software development. The Pi-Sat models currently include a Pi-Sat 1U Cube, a Pi-Sat Wireless Node, and a Pi-Sat Cubesat processor card.The Pi-Sat project takes advantage of many popular trends in the Maker community including low cost electronics, 3d printing, and rapid prototyping in order to provide a realistic platform for flight software testing, training, and technology development. The Pi-Sat has also provided fantastic hands on training opportunities for NASA summer interns and Pathways students

Big Software for SmallSats: Adapting cFS to CubeSat Missions

Expanding capabilities and mission objectives for SmallSats and CubeSats is driving the need for reliable, reusable, and robust flight software. While missions are becoming more complicated and the scientific goals more ambitious, the level of acceptable risk has decreased. Design challenges are further compounded by budget and schedule constraints that have not kept pace. NASA's Core Flight Software System (cFS) is an open source solution which enables teams to build flagship satellite level flight software within a CubeSat schedule and budget. NASA originally developed cFS to reduce mission and schedule risk for flagship satellite missions by increasing code reuse and reliability. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which launched in 2009, was the first of a growing list of Class B rated missions to use cFS. Large parts of cFS are now open source, which has spurred adoption outside of NASA. This paper reports on the experiences of two teams using cFS for current CubeSat missions. The performance overheads of cFS are quantified, and the reusability of code between missions is discussed. The analysis shows that cFS is well suited to use on CubeSats and demonstrates the portability and modularity of cFS code

WMAP C&DH Software

The command-and-data-handling (C&DH) software of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) spacecraft functions as the sole interface between (1) the spacecraft and its instrument subsystem and (2) ground operations equipment. This software includes a command-decoding and -distribution system, a telemetry/data-handling system, and a data-storage-and-playback system. This software performs onboard processing of attitude sensor data and generates commands for attitude-control actuators in a closed-loop fashion. It also processes stored commands and monitors health and safety functions for the spacecraft and its instrument subsystems. The basic functionality of this software is the same of that of the older C&DH software of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spacecraft, the main difference being the addition of the attitude-control functionality. Previously, the C&DH and attitude-control computations were performed by different processors because a single RXTE processor did not have enough processing power. The WMAP spacecraft includes a more-powerful processor capable of performing both computations

Dellingr: Reliability Lessons Learned from On-Orbit

Dellingr, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) first 6U CubeSat, was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on November 20, 2017. The primary objective of the mission was to apply and appropriately tailor GSFC knowledge and capability to design and build a CubeSat that increased resiliency and capability, while containing costs. The Dellingr spacecraft is a mixture of COTS and in-house components and includes two science instruments – an advanced gated time-of-flight ion-neutral mass spectrometer (INMS) and a boom mounted fluxgate. While a traditional GSFC spacecraft approach includes detailed analysis, design, testing, and extensive reviews, the Dellingr team adopted a “build, test, fix” approach to identify and correct potential mission ending issues. Yet, despite extensive testing, Dellingr immediately experienced unexpected major anomalies once on orbit. Using a flatsat and the insight gained from extensive on-orbit engineering data, the team was able to alleviate some of these anomalies and recover some of the lost functionality. The extensive set of lessons-learned is driving changes to our systems architecture, flight software, and testing approaches, and has provided valuable insight into what is required to produce a NASA CubeSat science mission with a moderate assurance of mission success, while containing resource requirements

GTOSat: Radiation Belt Dynamics from the Inside

GTOSat, a 6U SmallSat integrated and tested at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), has a scheduled launch date of July 31st, 2022, on an Atlas V. From a low inclination geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), GTOSat has the primary science goal of advancing our quantitative understanding of acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons in the Earth’s outer radiation belt. It will measure energy spectra and pitch angles of both the seed and the energized electron populations simultaneously using a compact, high-heritage Relativistic Electron Magnetic Spectrometer (REMS) built by The Aerospace Corporation. A boom-mounted Fluxgate Magnetometer (FMAG), developed by NASA GSFC, will provide 3-axis knowledge of the ambient local magnetic field. The spacecraft bus uses a combination of commercial and in-house/custom designed components. Design, integration, and testing of the spacecraft bus was performed by a small, dedicated team at GSFC. Throughout development GTOSat has encountered numerous challenges, expected and unexpected, that we’re ready to share with the community

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701