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ShuttleOps - Space Shuttle Ground Operations

A Discrete Event Simulation

2003

The Project ¦ Contact

The Project:

Shuttle-Ops is a friendly but powerful discrete event simulation of the Space Shuttle ground processing operation. By means of a graphic user interface, an underlying Arena© discrete event simulation (DES) is populated with the Shuttle data being analyzed.

Shuttle-Ops can be used to explore changes to a Shuttle ground operations process yielding answers within minutes for multitudes of factors such as facility usage, vehicle fleet size, and off-nominal probabilities, including loss of vehicle or alternate launch site landings.

Example Input Types:

• Process times, such as landing, turnaround, depot cycles, integration sequence of stages, integration time, time on pad, numbers of engines, numbers of pods, and over 200 variables defining system processes or resources

Number of Required Inputs per Stage:

• Anywhere from 1 (changing the Shuttle as it is in only one aspect) to hundreds depending on what the user is studying.

Types of Outputs:

• Flights per year, facility utilization, half-widths, min's and max's.

Use:

• Operations analysis, process improvement, system definition improvement and analysis.

ModelCenter Compatibility:

• Yes. Through Arena compatibility with MS Excel.

Status:

• Operational

Changes to historical variables are simply typed in and the simulation can be re-run within minutes...Intuitive folder or double-click flow-chart structure for navigating through the variables

Ability to handle multiple sessions, change variables via a GUI or via MS Excel, view basic model animation and to customize the variables outputted

Delve into the Details of Shuttle Process Times and Resource Definition, Over 200 Variables, Using a GUI, MS Excel or Drop-Downs as Preferred

Yields

Flight Rate for the Fleet

Facility Resources Required

Utilizations

The Team:

• NASA Kennedy Space Center
  • Martin Steele Ph.D. NASA KSC Discrete Event Simulation Lead
  • Grant Cates Ph.D. NASA KSC Shuttle Operations, Discrete Event Simulation
  • Edgar Zapata, COTR, Testing & Analysis

• Productivity Apex Inc.
  • Dr. Mansooreh Mollaghasemi, Chairman and CEO
  • Dayana Cope, Simulation
  • Dr. Ghaith Rabadi, Simulation
  • Assem Kaylani, GUI Lead

Milestones:

• 1999-2002 Project maturation though to version 1.0
• 2004-2005 Project enhancement to include add-on for Activity Based Costing capability, version ShuttleOps ABC 1.0 release.

Contacts, Further Information, Distribution:

• For further information on this project contact Martin Steele Ph.D. of NASA KSC at martin.j.steele@nasa.gov
• For further information on this product contact Mike Calinan of Productivity Apex Inc. at mcalinan@productivityapex.com

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Also see:

• Other Simulations
• Productivity Apex Inc.
• A Space Shuttle Budget Program Perspective and KSC Launch and Landing (.ppt file)
• Stepping-Stones to the Future of Space Exploration, A Workshop Report, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS, Washington, D.C. Download (.pdf file). (re. Modeling & Simulation)

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Website Contact: Edgar Zapata, NASA Kennedy Space Center