| Interface & Control
Systems, Inc. (ICS) Announces Aerojet Milestone
Columbia, Md., June 25, 1999 -- Melbourne, Fla., September 28, 1999 – Interface and Control Systems (ICS) recently completed delivery of the Advanced Sensor Test Facility-Test Management System (ASTF-TMS) to GenCorp Aerojet. The ASTF-TMS is a comprehensive test system that will coordinate, monitor, and control the operation of satellite flight payloads and other facility test subsystems during thermal vacuum tests at Aerojet in Azusa, California. The ASTF-TMS system is housed in the Advanced Sensor Test Facility, a newly constructed thermal vacuum test facility built by Aerojet. Plans are for the ASTF-TMS to support environmental testing of flight payloads Aerojet is developing for the Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). SCL, ICS’s premier command & control software, is a primary component of the ASTF-TMS system. SCL controls test operations, manages the test configuration, and performs autonomous fault detection, determining preventive actions to keep faults from propagating. SCL uses both a traditional scripting language and an integrated expert system that responds to asynchronous events. The ASTF-TMS is an example of a ground test system that uses SCL as its command and control engine. SCL can also be embedded in the payload flight processor for autonomous onboard operations control and fault management. Jay Offutt, Vice President of Engineering at ICS, and the ASTF-TMS program manager, describes the significance of SCL on this project, “We completed the entire system from design to delivery in two months by using SCL. SCL enabled us to realize these time and cost savings because we provided “off the shelf” what would otherwise take years to develop. This will allow Aerojet to begin operational development of test scenarios this year, rather than sometime in the future. These time and cost savings will be shared by vendors of other subsystems through a communication library based on the Network Data Delivery Service (NDDS) product from Real-Time Innovations (RTI). As part of the deliverable system, this library allows vendors to communicate in a consistent and efficient manner over the network.” SCL provides autonomous embedded command & control capabilities for the recently launched Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft, allowing FUSE to perform astronomical observations autonomously for periods of 24 hours or more. SCL was also onboard NASA’s Clementine mission in 1994, and will be onboard the Interim Control Module for the International Space Station and the Navy Earth Mapping Observer satellite, both scheduled for launch in 2000. ICS is privately held company with main offices in Columbia, Md., and Melbourne, Fla. The product development and engineering services firm specializes in the development of real-time, embedded, and autonomous command and control software systems. Contact information:
 |
