14 NASA Tech Briefs, June 2010 of control activities, such as monitoring and control of the electric grid, chemi- cal, or nuclear plant processes, air traffic control, and the like. This program was written by Hasan Rah- man of Lockheed Martin for Johnson Space Center. Further information is contained in a TSP (see page 1). MSC-24337-1 Update on PISCES An updated version of the Platform Independent Software Components for the Exploration of Space (PISCES) software library is available. A previous version was reported in “Library for Developing Spacecraft-Mission-Plan- ning Software” (MSC-22983), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 7 (July 2001), page 52. To recapitulate: This software provides for Web-based, collaborative development of computer programs for planning trajectories and trajec- tory-related aspects of spacecraft-mis- sion design. The library was built using state-of-the-art object-oriented con- cepts and software-development methodologies. The components of PISCES include Java-language applica- tion programs arranged in a hierarchy of classes that facilitates the reuse of the components. As its full name suggests, the PISCES library affords platform-independence: The Java language makes it possible to use the classes and application pro- grams with a Java virtual machine, which is available in most Web-browser programs. Another advantage is ex- pandability: Object orientation facili- tates expansion of the library through creation of a new class. Improvements in the library since the previous version include development of orbital-maneu- ver-planning and rendezvous-launch- window application programs, enhance- ment of capabilities for propagation of orbits, and development of a “desktop” user interface. This program was written by Don Pearson, Dustin Hamm, Brian Kubena, and Jonathan K. Weaver of Johnson Space Center. For further information, contact the Johnson Commercial Technology Office at (281) 483- 3809. MSC-23633-1 Ground and Space Radar Volume Matching and Comparison Software This software enables easy comparison of ground- and space-based radar obser- vations. The software was initially de- signed to compare ground radar reflec- tivity from operational, ground based S- and C-band meteorological radars with comparable measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite’s Precipitation Radar (PR) instrument. The software is also ap- plicable to other ground-based and space-based radars. The ground and space radar volume matching and com- parison software was developed in re- sponse to requirements defined by the Ground Validation System (GVS) of Goddard’s Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) project. This software innovation is specifi- cally concerned with simplifying the comparison of ground- and space- based radar measurements for the pur- pose of GPM algorithm and data prod- uct validation. This software is unique in that it provides an operational envi- ronment to routinely create compari- son products, and uses a direct geomet- ric approach to derive common volumes of space- and ground-based radar data. In this approach, spatially coincident volumes are defined by the intersection of individual space-based Precipitation Radar rays with the each of the conical elevation sweeps of the ground radar. Thus, the resampled vol- ume elements of the space and ground radar reflectivity can be directly com- pared to one another. This work was done by Kenneth Morris and Mathew Schwaller of Goddard Space Flight Center. Further information is contained in a TSP (see page 1). Additional information can also be found on the GPM GVS web site: http://gpm.gsfc.nasa.gov/groundvalida- tion.html. GSC-15738-1 Web-Based Interface for Command and Control of Network Sensors This software allows for the visualiza- tion and control of a network of sen- sors through a Web browser interface. It is currently being deployed for a net- work of sensors monitoring Mt. Saint Helen’s volcano; however, this innova- tion is generic enough that it can be deployed for any type of sensor Web. From this interface, the user is able to fully control and monitor the sensor Web. This includes, but is not limited to, sending “test” commands to individ- ual sensors in the network, monitoring for real-world events, and reacting to those events. This work was done by Michael N. Wallick, Joshua R. Doubleday, and Khawaja S. Shams of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, contact iaoffice@jpl.nasa.gov. This software is available for commercial li- censing. Please contact Daniel Broderick of the California Institute of Technology at danielb@caltech.edu. Refer to NPO-47110. Orbit Determination Toolbox The Orbit Determination Toolbox is an orbit determination (OD) analysis tool based on MATLAB and Java that provides a flexible way to do early mis- sion analysis. The toolbox is primarily in- tended for advanced mission analysis such as might be performed in concept exploration, proposal, early design phase, or rapid design center environ- ments. The emphasis is on flexibility, but it has enough fidelity to produce credi- ble results. Insight into all flight dynam- ics source code is provided. MATLAB is the primary user interface and is used for piecing together meas- urement and dynamic models. The Java Astrodynamics Toolbox is used as an en- gine for things that might be slow or in- efficient in MATLAB, such as high-fi- delity trajectory propagation, lunar and planetary ephemeris look-ups, preces- sion, nutation, polar motion calcula- tions, ephemeris file parsing, and the like. The primary analysis functions are sequential filter/smoother and batch least-squares commands that incorpo- rate Monte-Carlo data simulation, linear covariance analysis, measurement pro- cessing, and plotting capabilities at the generic level. These functions have a user interface that is based on that of the MATLAB ODE suite. To perform a specific analy- sis, users write MATLAB functions that implement truth and design system mod- els. The user provides his or her models as inputs to the filter commands. The software provides a capability to publish and subscribe to a software bus that is compliant with the NASA Goddard Mis- sion Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) standards, to exchange data with other flight dynamics tools to simplify the flight dynamics design cycle. Using the publish and subscribe approach allows for ana- lysts in a rapid design center environ- ment to seamlessly incorporate changes in spacecraft and mission design into navigation analysis and vice versa. This work was done by James R. Carpenter and Kevin Berry of Goddard Space Flight Center and Kate Gregory, Keith Speckman, Sun Hur-Diaz, Derek Surka, and Dave Gay- lor of Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. 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