B5_Tour_-_TS.pdf

Training Systems Facility Tour for MSOC Pre-Proposal Conference

A quick reminder to everyone: Please no pictures, video or audio recording, also silence your cell phones. Be aware that areas we will be visiting today are currently being used for operations; please keep any talking between the members of the group to a minimum. Thank you.

A Safety item before we begin today: If an emergency occurs and evacuation is required, please follow your group escort out of the building. Please keep in mind that you might not exit out of the same door we entered. Follow the group to 75 feet from the building and please wait for additional instructions.

Introduction: Welcome to JSC Building 5, home to the simulation training systems managed by the Mission Systems Division. My name is Ruben Abramsky and I am the Deputy Office Chief of the Training Systems Office within the Mission Systems

Division. I will be walking you through several areas of the facility to provide you an overview of the training capabilities provided in the facility. The areas that we will look at include the server room, or data center, for the facility, the Flight

Controller Part Task Trainer (FCPTT), the Robotics Flight Controller Part Task

Trainer (RFCPTT), the crew Part Task Trainer (PTT), and the Space Station Training

Facility (SSTF) Full Task Trainer (FTT) including the Instructor Operator Station

(IOS) Suite and crew stations. All of these areas are in the Building 5S side of the facility. We will then cross over to the 5N side of the facility where we’ll look at a logistics area, the Software Production Environment (SPE) area, the Boeing CST-

100 Starliner training simulation area, IOS Suite 2, and the Training Systems

Operations area. All of the hardware and software systems that we’ll see throughout the tour are developed, maintained, and operated by the Mission

Systems contractor unless otherwise noted. Also note that we are nearing the end of a Training Systems re-engineering effort known as TS21. It is expected that transition to TS21 will be completed prior to FY18, so I will assume that the transition to the TS21 architecture has been completed as we go through the tour. Also note that the training devices are designed to be primarily operated by the instructors, with minimal support from the Mission Systems contractor operations personnel. The operations personnel that we do have are primarily here for maintenance support and operations support when problems arise.

OPS Server Room: This facility consists of two computational environments; the operational, or OPS, environment, and the development and test environment, which we call the Software Production Environment, or SPE. This server room houses the computational equipment associated primarily with the OPS environment. We will look at the SPE equipment a little later. The vast majority of the new operational computational equipment resides in these racks in the corner of the room. This first rack houses the Training Systems firewall, which protects the entire Training Systems infrastructure, including the SPE. The remaining racks house various computational equipment including infrastructure servers, SAN storage, network switches, image generators, User Support System

(USS) servers which are used to configure and control the various simulations, Payload simulation computers, and finally the simulation host computers. We have sixteen identical simulation host computers in the OPS environment which allow us to execute sixteen simultaneous independent simulations which support the various trainer configurations that we’ll see in the rest of the tour (FTT, PTT, FCPTT, and RFCPTT). The simulation hosts are 64 core server class PCs which execute the entire simulation, including flight software execution. Each simulation host has the capability to execute what used to take several racks of equipment in the previous system. There are a few miscellaneous pieces of equipment that are still operational in the rest of the room, such as the Central

Timing Equipment (CTE) (which is fully the responsibility of the Mission Systems contractor) and International Partner simulation equipment (which is primarily the responsibility of our international partners, but the Mission Systems contractor does have some hardware maintenance responsibilities), but most of the equipment is excess, or soon to be excess, equipment.

Next we will walk across the hall to see a Flight Controller Part Task Trainer, or

FCPTT.

FCPTT: We have six FCPTT rooms, which allow us to execute up to six simultaneous independent simulations using six of the sixteen simulation hosts that I mentioned earlier. Each room consists of one instructor console and four flight controller student consoles. Each console has access to the MCC Moderate

System Environment (MSE), which allows access to MCC tools and applications during a training session. Each console also includes DVICE audio system capability. There are two types of flight controller training performed in these rooms. The first is called single- or partial-system training. In this type of training, a single instructor will train one or two flight controllers on the particulars of a specific ISS system, such as the Electrical Power System. The second type of training is called mini-sim training. Two pairs of the six FCPTT rooms have a door between them to open them up for more users. For mini-sim training, several instructors will execute a small integrated simulation to train a small group of flight controllers on integrated ISS systems. The big screen monitors on the walls simulate the big board in the front of the MCC flight control room.

There is another similar trainer known as the Robotics Flight Controller Part Task

Trainer (RFCPTT) that we will go see next. As we walk down the hall, you will see the remaining four FCPTT rooms.

RFCPTT: The RFCPTT is the Robotics Flight Controller Part Task Trainer. It is similar to the FCPTTs that we saw downstairs, but it includes a robotics workstation to conduct SSRMS operations. This trainer is used to train individual robotics flight controllers, and also to perform mini-sims which involve robotics operations, such as visiting vehicle simulations involving the JAXA HTV, Orbital Cygnus, and SpaceX

Dragon. There is an area behind the glass for several instructors to operate the simulation, as well as several flight controller consoles split up into two rooms.

The two rooms provide the capability to train in a front room/back room configuration similar to the MCC. Each flight controller console provides access to the MCC MSE for MCC tools and applications as well as DVICE audio access.

Again, the big screen monitors are used to represent the big screen in the MCC.

Now that we’ve seen where the flight controllers receive their part task training, we’ll go look at the crew part task trainers, or PTTs, that are used to train crew members.

PTT: There are three PTT rooms and three simulation hosts dedicated to PTT training. The PTTs are used to train crew members on individual ISS systems such as the electrical power system, the communications system, etc. A PTT session typically includes one instructor and one crew member. Each room includes an

IOS for the instructor, a PCS laptop for crew interface to the onboard systems, an

SSC laptop which the crew uses to access plans and procedures, and a virtual panel monitor on which the crew can access physical displays and controls. Note that the PCS and SSC laptop hardware and software is provided as GFE, but the

Mission Systems contractor does have responsibility for the configuration management of the software loads and also for the stowage and deployment of the laptops throughout the facility.

The crew and flight controller part task trainers prepare the crew and flight controller students for full integrated simulations in the MCC utilizing the SSTF full task trainer, which we will go see next.

SSTF: The SSTF is the ISS full task trainer. Three of the sixteen simulation host computers are dedicated to SSTF full task simulations. These typically include one full team integrated simulation with the full flight control team located in the

MCC, one standalone sim (could be a crew session or instructor only sim for training or simulation prep), and one Payload-only sim to train payload operators at the POIC at MSFC. This is the SSTF IOS suite where instructor teams conduct the simulations. Each of these consoles can be connected individually to any simulation. This side of the room is typically used for integrated simulations with the MCC, and these consoles include MCC Mission Critical Environment (MCE) workstations that allow full access to MCC tools and applications. The other side of the room is used for standalone and payload simulations. These do not include

MCE workstations, but do provide access to the MCC MSE for access to MCC tools and applications. The SSTF includes simulations of the ESA Columbus Module and the JAXA JEM module. These simulations are developed, maintained, and operated by ESA and JAXA personnel. Those two consoles are for use by ESA and

JAXA for those operations. The IT equipment contained in those consoles are the responsibility of ESA and JAXA. All consoles provide full monitoring and control of the simulations, as well as DVICE audio capabilities. There are also big screen monitors to display various video feeds and other information for the full team.

Now we’ll go take a look at the SSTF crew stations.

The crew stations represent the various modules that make up the ISS. The modules represented include the JEM, the Columbus module, Node 2, the U.S.

Lab, Node 1, the Airlock, Node 3, the Russian FGB, and the Russian Service

Module. The crew stations are of varying degrees of fidelity based on training needs, but all displays and controls that are outfitted interface directly with the simulation to provide the correct signatures to the crew and flight control team.

You’ll note that the size and configuration of the modules are not necessarily flight-like, but again, all of the controls are functional. This is in contrast to the

SVMF in B9 where the size and configuration of the modules is very flight-like, but most controls are non-functional. We’ll briefly walk through the crew stations to give you an idea of what they look like. Note that the U.S. Lab and the cupola are our highest fidelity crew stations and include high fidelity robotics workstations that are used to control the SSRMS robotic arm. The cupola also includes out the window visuals that are driven by the image generators that I mentioned previously. Also note that the JEM and Columbus crew stations are maintained and operated by JAXA and ESA, respectively. The remaining crew stations are all maintained by the Mission Systems contractor, including routine maintenance, configuration control, and deployment of portable equipment.

We’ve now seen all of the ISS trainers in the facility. If you’ve been keeping count, we’ve accounted for 13 of the sixteen simulation hosts (six for FCPTT, three for SSTF, three for PTT, and one for the RFCPTT). The remaining three simulation hosts are dedicated to support mock-up training in the SVMF in building 9, and are controlled via IOS consoles in building 9.

Next we will go back downstairs and cross over to the B5N side of the facility and take a look at some additional capabilities.

Logistics Area: This is one of several logistics areas in our facilities. This one includes a cage for bonded storage. You may note that there are other areas of the building that are currently being used for storage.

SPE Area: Up these stairs is the Software Production Environment server room and System Test Area. I’ll tell you about it here since there is not a lot of room up there. The SPE is used for simulation development and to test new simulation releases prior to deployment to the OPS environment. Behind the partitions are server racks which house the SPE computational equipment which mimic the OPS environment. There is also a hardware test bed for crew station equipment, and eight consoles dedicated for the system test team. Note that in addition to these consoles, SPE resources are accessible from every developer’s workstation in their offices and from various other consoles throughout the facility. We’ll now walk on up and take a look.

Next we’ll go take a look at the area for the Boeing Starliner trainers and future

Orion trainers.

Starliner Training Area: The Starliner trainers are being provided by Boeing, and will be maintained and operated by Boeing. The Mission Systems Division’s responsibilities include integration of the trainers in the facility and integration of the Starliner simulation with the ISS simulation. This area is where the Boeing

Mission Simulator, or BMS, will go. The BMS will be a high fidelity full-cockpit trainer. The area over there is where we plan to put the Orion Mission Simulator.

Over here we have two rooms for Starliner crew PTTs. The CPTTs will be medium fidelity representations of the vehicles displays and controls and include an IOS console for instructor operations. Again, these capabilities will be provided, maintained, and operated by Boeing. The IOS console and workstation computer are provided and maintained by the Mission Systems contractor.

Next we’ll go look at our newest IOS Suite.

IOS Suite 2: This is what we call IOS Suite 2, or “The Bridge”. This is a multi-purpose room that is initially intended to support Boeing Starliner training, but is capable of supporting any activities in the facility, including ISS simulations. The capabilities of the IOS consoles in this room are the same as the SSTF IOS suite that we saw upstairs, including MCC MCE workstations, DVICE audio access, large screen monitors, etc. All of the hardware in this room is the responsibility of the

Mission Systems contractor, with the exception of a Boeing IOS computer that will reside in each console and will be provided and maintained by Boeing.

Lastly, we’ll go take a look the Training Systems Operations area.

Training Systems Operations Area: The Training Systems Operations area is the monitoring and control center for the facility. The operations personnel in this area support the users throughout the facility with operational support and help desk functions. They also monitor facility status and physical access. Facility maintenance personnel are also located in adjacent rooms. The ops personnel will be relocating across the hall, and this area is planned to be used for an additional IOS Suite to support Orion training. It is expected that much of the operations support currently residing in this building will be relocated to the

Facilities System Services Center (FSSC) in building 30, with only required capabilities remaining locally. As we walk back to B5S, we’ll pass through the area to which we are relocating the operations area.

B5S High Bay: This concludes the tour of building 5. Thank you for your participation and interest in the MSOC contract.