Analyzing Data in the Internet of Things

Chapter 8. Leverage Data Analytics to Reduce Human Space Mission Risks

Haden Land and Jason Loveland

Editor’s Note: At Strata + Hadoop World in New York, in September 2015, Haden Land (Vice President, Research & Technology at Lockheed Martin) and Jason Loveland (Software Engineer at Lockheed Martin) presented a case study that uses data analytics for system testing in an online environment, to reduce human space flight risk for NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is designed to take humans farther than they’ve ever been able to travel before. Orion is a multi-purpose crew vehicle, and the first spacecraft designed for long-duration space flight and exploration. The program is focused on a sustainable and affordable effort for both human and robotic exploration, to extend the presence of human engagement in the solar system and beyond.

In December 2014, the Delta IV rocket launched from Cape Canaveral carrying the Orion vehicle. The mission was roughly four hours and 24 minutes—a fairly quick mission. It orbited the earth twice. The distance was approximately 15 times farther than the International Space Station.

There were tremendous data points that were gathered. One that was particularly interesting was that Orion traveled twice through the Van Allen radiation belt. That’s a pretty extreme test, and this vehicle did that twice, and was exposed to fairly substantial radiation. Toward the end of the flight, upon entering the atmosphere, the vehicle was going 20,000 ...