Lunar Surface Systems Software Architecture Options

Abstract

The Lunar Surface Systems (LSS) Software Workshop was held March 2009 in Houston, Texas to explore options and trades for software design concepts that could be used in lunar habitat assets, mobile assets, and lunar infrastructure. The workshop explored specific challenges for LSS software architectural support including autonomous operations, automation consistent with human-robotic surface operations concepts, and international partnering. It also addressed novel approaches to the ongoing software challenges of requirements, integrating systems and software engineering, verification and validation, and reliability for long-lived systems. The workshop was sponsored by NASA’s Constellation Lunar Surface Systems Project, and Software and Avionics Integration Office (SAvIO). The recommendations of the workshop informed further ongoing design studies and technology prioritizations which remain relevant even as NASA redefines its path towards the longrange goal of human exploration of the Martian surface. This paper summarizes the nonsensitive technical material and recommendations of the workshop.