Introduction

NASA’s immense Constellation Program (CxPO) covers a broad range of focused architecture trades and analysis for multiple vehicles and missions.  This presents a major challenge to those tasked to evaluate and convey the big picture view across the broad system of systems.  This challenge falls particularly upon the CxPO Architecture Trades & Analysis team (ATA). For example, there have been many models or tools used to support DAC1. This paper is Vision Integration Systems’ design description for an immersive architecture trades presentation solution, SimConstellation (SimCx). SimCx is currently at a fully functional v1.2g stage.SimCx is a 3D graphics navigation capable executive summary program. It is not intended to compete with any CxPO modeling and simulation tools and does not calculate data or produce independent analysis. It presents and links results imported from a wide selection of analysis sources, including metadata on source and creditability, with 3D graphics and synchronized flash movies along a mission timeline.  This combination of capabilities creates a unique single point of reference to supply, search, correlate and convey complex data, support documentation and visual information.It must be stated at this point that the underlying engine for SimCx is modular and extensible, capable of displaying ANY kind of data, such as scientific or operational data along a mission, development or operational time line, and is not restricted to vehicle trades. This document describes the SimCx performance capability at v1.2 using a fixed data input table. It also describes the subsequent use of assets and game development tools created for Vision Integration Systems’ SimCEV to develop future versions with extended capabilities. The concept utilizes both serious game techniques and sophisticated game development tools for presenting an integrated high level view of a selected set of Constellation architecture trades and support documentation.

SimCx v1.2 provides a familiar baseline mission view integrated with a convincing 3-D navigable virtual mission phase viewer, dynamically linked to a local baseline data set along with a variety of dynamic data sources including the Orion Architecture Description Document (CxP70077) ice/Windchill, CxEEMAP along with a schematic, document tree and risk assessment chart designed to demonstrate future capability. The SimCx engine is extensible and modular so as to incrementally increase data capture fidelity while maintaining a rich presentation capability. SimCx is a dynamic, interactive viewer for sharing and presenting mission trades data and expected propagation of effects across the system of systems architecture. SimCx gives voice and vision to the complex set of existing NASA trades and requirements tools and provides a presentation capability and overall view of the current state of the evolving baseline architecture. SimCx encourages interactive understanding and collaboration at the system of systems level for presentation at the IDAC.  The initial selection of trades have been made in collaboration with the CxPO ATA team, and include the following, tracked across mission phases:

v1.2

SimCx begins by showing the operator a familiar baseline mission view (Bat Chart) with a vehicle elements list and associated trades data, along with a timeline describing major mission milestones from pre-launch to mission completion and recovery. Clicking on the mini viewer in the lower left screen enables the user to step through and select a series of available support documents, including a navigable 3D mission scene, the ADD, ice/Windchill, CxEEMAP, a flash movie and others. Clicking on the timeline displays the selected trades data for that mission phase in the baseline, selects the appropriate mission phase and element in the 3-D virtual mission viewer, and initiates dynamic data searches in the various web-based data sets. The operator can move the camera around in the 3-D scene and observe the vehicle elements from a variety of angles. Selecting an element in the baseline list or clicking on a graphical element in the 3-D virtual mission viewer displays trades data appropriate to that element, such as mass and velocity. The metadata field documents the data credibility, populated with data source (tool chain) and data quality references with the pedigree, heritage and uncertainty estimates relevant to a user selected data field in the upper left column. In this manner many trades can be explored in a relatively simple environment while keeping the viewer uncluttered.