ISS Operations: A Bridge to the Future
Assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) is nearing completion. In the next several months, the key components manufactured by the International Partners are set for delivery, and the Space Shuttles are scheduled to visit the ISS at least 11 more times before they are retired from service in 2010.
However, operations on board the ISS will continue for several years after Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour fly their final missions, and USA will have a central role in supporting that ongoing work.
“Through the Space Program Operations Contract (SPOC) and other agreements we have in place with NASA, we’re going to continue to sustain and operate the ISS all the way through 2016,” said Brian Breen, USA’s ISS Program Manager. “ USA employees will provide the continuity from the Space Shuttle Program through the ISS Program and onto the Constellation Program.”
Under SPOC, USA provides the ISS program with mission design and planning; software development and integration; astronaut and flight controller training; system integration; flight operations; flight crew equipment; and other support tasks. Its provisions include five one-year options that extend through 2015.
Besides SPOC, USA has five other distinct contracts for ISS work.
“The combination of these contracts gives USA a central role in human space flight beyond Shuttle retirement and in bridging the gap between Shuttle and Constellation,” Breen said.
“We are in the space operations business, and that is what we will be doing through these contracts for several more years – at least through 2016. We’ll be operating the Space Station.”
Among the five agreements USA has supporting the ISS is the International Space Station Payload Integration Contract (IPIC).
The majority of USA employees supporting the IPIC serve as ISS Payload Integration Managers (PIMs) and provide the essential interfaces between payload hardware developer organizations and the NASA payload implementing teams.
Flight Payload Managers (FPMs) also are members of the IPIC team. They provide a critical role interfacing with the ISS launch package management team to ensure launch and landing requirements and manifesting data for the overall payload complement are accurately defined in ISS and Shuttle Program documentation.
USA also provides payload stowage integration and payload manifesting personnel who work with the payload developers and their ISS Program counterparts to establish and document detailed payload stowage plans and launch and return manifest data for every flight.
A second ISS contract outside of SPOC is the On-orbit Replaceable Units (ORU) contract to provide maintenance and repair of ORUs for ISS prime contractor Boeing. ORUs are the spare system components of the ISS that are returned by Shuttle crews for repair or maintenance and reuse.
“Our support on the ORU contract is a perfect example of USA’s concept of ‘flexible utilization,’” Breen said. “This demonstrates our concept of cross training and use of resources from one program in support of another. By using Shuttle engineers and technicians to work on ISS ORUs only as the work requires, it helps keep cost down for both programs.”
USA also supplies support to the Cargo Mission Contract as a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin. This contract provides planning, preparation and integration of cargo slated for the ISS.
USA is one of several subcontractors from around the country supporting Hamilton Sundstrand in operating the NASA Consolidated EVA Hardware Contract, also known as One EVA.
“This contract is a true ‘transition enabler’ by the fact that the base period plus extension options carry the USA support beyond the end of the Shuttle Program and into the post assembly complete phase of ISS operations,” Breen said.
USA ’s role under One EVA is to process all the EVA hardware in support of mission readiness and training. USA employees provide support for hundreds of crew training events and process more than 500 components for the Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU), or space suits, and 250 tools for use during planned Shuttle/ISS EVAs. Approximately 200 USA employees work under the One EVA contract, most of them based in the Flight Crew Equipment/EVA element in Houston.
Another smaller contract USA plays a critical role in is the Portable Computer System (PCS) USOS Contract. This is an element of the Boeing ISS prime contract where laptop computers are used as the ISS crew interface for commanding and monitoring the ISS Core Systems - vehicle hardware and associated software.
“A shining star of USA’s ability to develop and maintain human-rated flight software coupled with our strategic outlook on logistics and maintenance, the PCS USOS Contract on the Boeing ISS prime contract puts USA in the position of being a critical link in the safety and success of ISS operations,” Breen said.
While PCS does not directly access Payload Systems, it provides an interface for executing payload-specific applications used to perform the necessary control and monitoring functions. USA develops and implements a software sustaining strategy to manage, update and maintain the ISS Program software
for PCS.
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