ESD
Contributes to INSIGHT issue on Space
Systems
January
30, 2009
The
December 2008 issue of INSIGHT
(Vol. 11 Issue 5), “Space Systems:
Navigating Complexity to Explore the
Unknown,” is dedicated to space
systems as a particularly important
and challenging class of engineering
systems. Space systems deliver enormous
value to society by providing services
such as navigation, telecommunications,
Earth observation and space exploration.
However, they are also exceptionally
challenging to design, build and operate
due to the needs for escaping from
Earth's gravity, poor accessibility
while in space, harsh operating conditions
and complex stakeholder interactions
during all lifecycle phases.
A
number of individuals associated with
MIT and ESD made important contributions
to this publication, including:
- Pat
Hale, current president of INCOSE
and director of the MIT System Design
and Management Program, provided
an introduction and brief summary
from MIT's recent conference on
Systems Thinking and Contemporary
Challenges.
- Olivier
de Weck, associate director
of ESD and associate professor of
Engineering Systems and Aeronautics
and Astronautics, co-authored a
paper on the increasing role of
Model Based Systems Engineering
(MBSE) in space systems design,
summarizing the MBSE work of the
Space Systems Working Group. This
included contributions from MIT
graduate students (16.89/ESD.352)
who developed an end-to-end model
of a space-based fire detection
and monitoring system.
- Matthew
Richards,
a doctoral student in ESD and member
of the Systems Engineering Research
Initiative (SEARI), contributed
an interesting article on survivability
of space systems. The article gives
an insightful discussion on the
increasing number of threats facing
space systems and how to mitigate
them.
- Ricardo
Valerdi, a research associate in
the Lean Advancement Initiative
(LAI), co-authored an article on
cost estimation for systems engineering
in space systems design. Traditionally,
the costs of space systems engineering
have been bundled with other program
management, test, and integration
costs, an approach that causes problems.
The proposed cost-estimation method
presented in this article gives
more realistic and useful estimates.
- Elizabeth
Deems, an alumna of MIT Aero Astro,
now at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), discusses Technical Performance
Measures (TPMs) as systems engineering
tools that measure attributes of
a project in terms of how well it
is meeting the technical requirements
or goals. She describes how NASA
is utilizing TPMs in the Constellation
Program to ensure that future crews
return safely to Earth.
A
printed version of INSIGHT is available
to members of INCOSE. A PDF of this
special issue is available on the
ESD website
(9.1mb), courtesy INCOSE.
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