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NASA announces winners of 'Software of the Year' award NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: August 10, 2004 NASA selected a data visualization and simulation software package used by Mars rovers and landers, and a software package that can be used in aerospace and industrial flow fluid applications, as the "best of the best" software developed by the agency this year. The "Science Activity Planner" (SAP), developed by a team of experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., combines cutting-edge visualization with sophisticated planning and simulation capabilities to provide an intuitive interface to Mars rovers and landers. It is a multi-mission, multi-purpose tool that has achieved three simultaneous successes in mission operations, public outreach and technology development. The software comes in two versions. The first is used in mission operations and contains the official mission activity dictionary. The second version was released under the name "Maestro" to the public, for education and outreach. Maestro includes additional training features that make it a more effective tool for public engagement. The software is used heavily in the Mars Exploration Rover Mission on a daily basis. Scientists on the rover missions depend on SAP as their primary interface to the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Every day, mission scientists and engineers use SAP to plan the next actions of the rovers and analyze the data arriving from Mars. The software has completed over 350 Mars days of successful mission operations of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers without a single critical failure and will continue to serve this role until the end of the mission. The SAP team leader is Jeffrey S. Norris of JPL. The TetrUSS 2004 is a suite of computer programs used for fluid dynamics and aerodynamics analysis. Originally developed for NASA internal applications, TetrUSS 2004 has evolved into an efficient and versatile computer fluid dynamics (CFD) tool used by engineers and scientists throughout the nation. The software is widely used in other government organizations, the aerospace industry, academia and non-aerospace industries such as automotive, biomedical and civil engineering. Increased use of TetrUSS 2004 has occurred in critical NASA, government and industry programs. TetrUSS 2004 is now in use at over 500 sites for all classes of aerospace and industrial fluid flow applications, inside and outside of NASA, worth many billions of dollars. The TetrUSS 2004 team leader is Neal Frink of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. NASA began the competition in 1994, designed to reward outstanding software at the agency, as measured by the following criteria.
Software eligible for this award must have NASA intellectual property interest, be of commercial grade, and be available to appropriate commercial users or dedicated to a NASA mission. |
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A Russian Proton M rocket launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Amazonas communications satellite that will serve the Americas and Europe. (2min 25sec file)
This narrated animation profiles the mission of a Proton rocket launching the Amazonas communications satellite. (2min 27sec file)
The fully assembled Proton rocket is rolled to launch pad for its flight to place the Amazonas spacecraft into orbit. (41sec file)
The Boeing Delta 2-Heavy rocket launches at 2:16 a.m. EDT carrying the NASA's MESSENGER space probe from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (5min 23sec file)
The Cocoa Beach tracking camera site captured this beautiful view of the launch and separation of the ground-ignited solid rocket boosters. (1min 31sec file)
Expedition 10 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov discuss their planned six-month mission on the space station. (11min 23sec file)