ADAPTABLE DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM (ADAS) CONCEPT DEFINITION AND DESIGN

CURRENT SPACECRAFT DATA HANDLING SYSTEMS USING TIME DIVISIONMULTIPLEXED (TDM) TECHNIQUES ARE FREQUENTLY MISSION-UNIQUE DESIGNS. USE OF DATA PACKETS PROVIDE SEVERAL BENEFITS INCLUDING IMPROVED GROUND DATA PROCESSING. INCORPORATION OFDATA TRANSPARENCY CAN ALSO ENHANCE UTILIZATION OF GROUND EQUIPMENT FOR MULTIPLE MISSION PHASES. THE INCREASED SOPHISTICATION OF SPACECRAFT INSTRUMENTS, AND REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTRUMENT CHANGE-OUT AND SERVICING NEED DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE DATA HANDLING APPROACHES. AN ADAPTABLE DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM (ADAS) WHICH IS MODULAR, LOW-COST, AND CONFIGURABLE TO MISSION-UNIQUE REQUIREMENTS IS THE RESEARCH TOPIC. THE ADAS WILL FULLY SUPPORT INSTRUMENT VARIABLE RATEAND BURST DATA MODE REQUIREMENTS, AND CAN BE "OPTIMIZED" FORPOWER SYSTEM AND VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ARE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN OFTHE ADAS AND ITS ASSOCIATED TEST SET. DEVELOPMENT OF ADAS REQUIREMENTS AND TRADE-OFF EVALUATIONS FOR ADAS "OPTIMIZATION" WILL BE PERFORMED. PHASE I WILL ACCOMPLISH MODULE DEFINITION, DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY STUDIES. CONCEPT VALIDITY AND CONFIDENCE IN ACHIEVEMENT OF PHASE II GOALS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. PHASE II WILL ACCOMPLISH ADAS DETAILED DESIGN, MODULE PROTOTYPE FABRICATION, INTEGRATION AND FUNCTIONAL TEST, AND SPECIFICATION DEVELOPMENT. SUBSEQUENT COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT WILL PROVIDE ADAS SYSTEMS TO SATISFY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR A RANGE OF SPACECRAFT.