The International Space Station Comparative Maintenance Analysis(CMAM)

Abstract

The following thesis describes the current model (the Reliability and Maintainability Assessment Tool RMAT) used by NASA and related prime contractors for the forecasting of Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) failure rates and associated maintenance demands for the International Space Station (ISS). A new model (the Comparative Maintenance Analysis Tool CMAM) is introduced and developed for replicating some of the basic functionality of RMAT in order to provide a comparative look at RMAT results. The CMAM program, developed in Visual Basic.net and dynamically linked to a Microsoft ACCESS database, focuses on a representative set of critical Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs that represent key items that require both internal and external maintenance in both pressurized and un- pressurized storage) and generated failure rate data for each critical ORU. The results of the CMAM model are then compared with the failure rates generated by RMAT program for the same set of critical ORUs. These two independently developed sets of data are then analyzed against historic failure rates for these ISS parts. The results of this analysis are used to conduct a sensitivity analysis of both the CMAM and RMAT programs in order to help identify the primary contributing factors behind divergence issues between forecasted / predicted failures and associated maintenance from actual (historical) failure rates. Recommendations are provided, based upon the results of the comparison, with respect to the sensitivity of RMAT to changes in certain input parameters, as well as on the feasibility of implementing CMAM as a comparative tool for use by both NASA and Boeing L&M personnel for the purpose of RMAT sensitivity analysis, as well as use in initial operational planning for optimizing ORU stocking levels while awaiting more comprehensive RMAT results.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA427287

Entities

People

  • Brian T. Soldon

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Asymptotic Series
  • Basic Programming Language
  • Data Sets
  • Database Management Systems
  • Databases
  • Domain Specific Programming Languages
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Graphical User Interface
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Maintenance Requirements
  • Programming Languages
  • Reliability
  • Space Stations
  • Space Systems
  • User Interface

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
  • Speech Processing/Speech Recognition.

Technology Areas

  • Space