A Flight of Fancy - The Evolution of a Test Process for Spacecraft Software

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory formed an embedded software group for producing space flight software. In addition to defining the process for developing and testing this software, the group had to quickly apply and adjust the new processes to a series of four spacecraft missions, starting in 2001, as resources were over-extended and schedules were compressed. Brenda Clyde shares highlights, complexities, and differences of testing these spacecraft missions in the last four years. She describes the initial test process, the problems encountered during the test phase for each mission, the resolution of the problems, and the incorporation of the changes into the next mission. Learn about the challenges the Applied Physics Laboratory faced testing embedded software and the process in place for testing their next spacecraft mission.