Internship Experience at NASA-GSFC and JHUAPL

1
Internship Experience at NASA-GSFC and JHUAPL

• Bill Van Besien
• D.C. Space Grant Consortium Sponsorship Recipient
• National Science Foundation Cyber Corps Scholar
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
• George Washington University (BS 09, MS 10)
• September 8th, 2008

2
Introduction

• Educational
• Computer Science, B.S. from GWU 2009
• Computer Science (Focus in Computer Security and
  Information Assurance), M.S. from GWU 2010
• National Science Foundation Cyber Corps Scholar
• Contributed Projects under D.C. Space Grant
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (2007)
• Expandable Reconfigurable Instrument Nodes (ERIN)
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
  (2008)
• Analysis of CCSDS File Delivery Protocol on
  MESSENGER
• Continued work in public Space sector
• Senior Design Secure and Authenticated Deep
  Space Communication
• Delay Tolerant Networking Protocol Suite
• Future plans in the Space Industry

3
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Internship

• Student Internship Program (SIP), Summer 2007
• Code 564 Microelectronics and Signals
  Processing Branch
• Mentor Kenda Newton
• Expandable Reconfigurable Instrument Node (ERIN)
• Distributed Sensor Network with terrestrial and
  space applications
• Generic sensor platform with on-boarddata
  processing capabilities
• Contributions
• Developed serial-to-parallel hardwareinterface
  in VHDL
• Developed custom connector bypassingmanufacturer
  s I/O board saving mass,money and power
  consumption
• Produced documentation for integratingGPS
  receiver into hardware
• Debugged flight software for a UAV at Wallops
  Island facility (radiometerdemonstration)

4
JHU Applied Physics Lab Internship

• APL Student Internship Program, Summer 2008
• Space Department, Embedded Applications Group
• Mentor Chris Krupiarz
• Activities at the Lab
• MESSENGER
• Developed application to determine state of CFDP
  from spacecraft telemetry log
• Results will be used in upcoming publication
  analyzing performance of CFDP on MESSENGER
• Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP)
• Gained experience developing flight software with
  CFE and CFDP from Goddard
• Student Trojan Asteroid Mission Proposal (STAMP)
• Interns designed mission to Trojan asteroids near
  Jupiter
• Each intern given specialty (e.g., avionics, FSW,
  propulsion, R/F, systems engineering, etc)

5
CFDP Performance on MESSENGER

• What is CFDP?
• Standardization of communication protocols and
  ground systems
• Requirement to downlink science and telemetry
  data as fast as possible
• Observed that bitrate can be increased as antenna
  angle from horizon increases
• Must determine
• Frequency and distribution of bit errors
• Optimal configuration of CFDP to maximize
  effective downlink speed
• CFDP Header Parser makes this investigation much
  simpler

Raw Ground Software Telemetry Dump
PDU Header Parser Architecture
6
Senior Design CFDP Security Layer

• Provides data authentication and confidentiality
  (encryption) to systems working within a CFDP
  framework
• Threats to Deep Space Missions, current and
  future
• Extremely limited telecommand authentication
• Individuals or organizations may sabotage (or
  otherwise affect) space craft
• Earth departure/flybys do not require large
  (DSN-caliber) dish or narrow beam-width
• Independent or foreign government teams may be
  able to uplink to spacecraft
• Standard ground software for International
  Missions
• Chinese, Russian, US, and more operating through
  same ground system
• All communication unencrypted and subject to
  eavesdropping
• Legal repercussions for proprietary or
  export-controlled instruments
• Dual use technologies
• Enforce separation between protocol layers
• Security layer will encrypt all data to and from
  thespacecraft
• Authentication layer will ensure that
  telecommandsto the spacecraft are from the MOC
• Selectable levels of security

7
Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN)

• Suite of protocols amounting to an
  Interplanetary Internet
• Interplanetary communication involves
• Extremely high latency
• High bit-error rates
• Asymmetric communication
• Intermittent communication windows
• Common protocols in use in the Internet (TCP/IP)
  do not perform on networks with these constraints
• CFDP has some functionality, but
• Does not have clear separate levels of
  abstraction like TCP/IP
• Largely limited to point-to-point (i.e., not
  intended to rout through a complex network)
• Intended to be phased out within several years
• Case study of Mars system
• Agents and routers are rovers on the surface,
  stationary Landers, and orbital relay stations
• DTN is a joint effort between JHUAPL and NASA JPL

8
Experience with Internship Program

• Intern Mentoring
• Highly Supportive mentors who I have kept in
  contact with after internship
• Real contributions to projects
• Developed hardware, software, and utilities for
  spaceflight missions
• Opportunity to explore other areas
• CS major, but worked in EE
• Challenging Projects
• Able to directly apply concepts learned from
  coursework
• Professional networking
• Friends in theoretical physics, mission design,
  management, and EE
• Special thanks to the D.C. Space Grant Consortium
  for sponsoring my internships at GSFC and APL!
• Thank you!!
• Any questions?