Pre-proposal assessment of reliability for spacecraft and instruments

This paper primarily addresses the role of Reliability Engineering in the multidisciplinary process used by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the Integrated Design Center and a description of the estimating tool that is used. This estimating tool may have expanded applicability in the proposal of new designs in many industries. Understanding key contributors to Mission Success or Failure is necessary to assure a successful proposal is developed. Additionally, this preliminary analysis needs to contain recommendations for future use in later stages of project development for the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR).