Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has successfully completed a comprehensive review of improved flight software designed to provide highly reliable command and control of the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO) spacecraft.
SBIRS is designed to provide early warning of missile launches, and simultaneously support other missions including missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace characterization.
Nearly 80 representatives from the U.S. Air Force, the Aerospace Corporation and the Department of Defense (DoD) participated in a detailed Integrated Design Review (IDR) at Lockheed Martin's facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Under contract to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., Lockheed Martin Space Systems, the SBIRS prime contractor, enhanced SBIRS flight software to enable more robust command and data handling, fault management and safe-hold capabilities on the GEO satellite system. An integral component of the spacecraft's command and data handling subsystem, the fault management system responds when an anomaly is detected in normal operations, putting the satellite into a safe state while operators on the ground analyze the situation and take corrective action.
Successful completion of the IDR allows the team to proceed with final development and delivery of flight software blocks necessary to support pre-launch spacecraft testing, including thermal vacuum testing which will validate spacecraft performance at temperature extremes greater than those expected during on-orbit operations. After the extensive environmental and final integrated test phase, the spacecraft will be shipped to the Air Force in late 2009 in preparation for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla.
By using an automatic system to advise rail traffic managers, it is possible to limit the consequences of disruptions on the railways. That is the claim by Andrea D’Ariano, who is today - Monday 7 April – obtaining his PhD on the subject at TU Delft.
Netherlands Railways (NS) is looking for ways to improve the punctuality of its trains. One possibility is to streamline the sequence of events during breakdowns and delays. A single delayed train can lead to many others being delayed too. At present, when there is a disruption or breakdown, it is rail managers who decide which trains are given priority and which are diverted, for example. There is no particular strategy for this – the managers take their decisions on an ad hoc basis.
Students on Erie High Team II braved pouring rain and fierce competition from around the world to win the high school division of NASA's 15th annual Great