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SCL To Provide On-Board Control For FAME
FAME will use SCL to provide the real-time command and
control system for the Spacecraft Controller. Much of the software design
will be reuse from the Interim Control Module (ICM) mission
that was to provide the booster used to keep the International Space
Station aloft. SCL is a COTS rule-based Expert System developed by ICS and
is used to provide real-time command, control and monitoring for Satellite
Control Centers, Testsets, and on-board satellite control systems. FAME is an Earth orbiting optical telescope that will gather
information on 40 million stars in the Milky Way Galaxy with unprecedented
measurement accuracy. For bright stars, positions will be determined to
the equivalent of the width of a footprint on the Moon as seen from Earth
(50 millionths of a second of arc). This exacting precision is central to
the study of key issues of scientific and general interest including the
existence of other "solar systems," the size and age of the
universe, and an investigation of the mysterious "dark matter"
in our portion of the Galaxy. "FAME will increase by more than 1000-fold the volume of
space in which we can determine the distances to stars. By using the
parallax method, we will directly determine the lower rungs of the 'cosmic
distance ladder,'" says Dr. Robert Reasenberg of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "Further, the star
coordinates determined by FAME will be more than 20 times more accurate
than any available today, opening the way for a rich scientific yield from
the mission and producing a resource for future researchers." In addition to determining the positions, motions, and
distances of the stars, this satellite will measure the brightness of
stars in each of several color bands, repeatedly during the mission, to
achieve millimagnitude accuracy for bright stars. When combined with the
distance measurements, this photometric information will permit a
determination of stellar type and intrinsic brightness, and will
contribute to an understanding of the evolution of stars. FAME will
contribute to the accurate inertial reference frame needed both for
studies of solar-system objects and by Gravity Probe B, which will test
the "frame dragging" predicted by general relativity. For more information on FAME, visit its website at http://aa.usno.navy.mil/FAME.
The NASA press release about this announcement is available at http://spacescience.nasa.gov
as an October 14, 1999, entry. ICS is a Product Development and Engineering Services Company
specializing in the development of real-time, embedded, and autonomous
command and control software systems. Services include software systems
engineering, integration and test, intelligent e-Business solutions, and
project and software life cycle management. ICS is a privately held
company with main offices in Columbia, MD, and Melbourne, FL. - end - Contact information:
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Columbia, Md., March 1, 2001 