Constellation Program Return to the Moon: Software Systems Challenges -- Autonomy and Autonomicity a Solution?

This letter, based on a keynote talk at EASe-2006 introduced NASA's constellation program, which is developing new space systems for renewed human exploration of the moon, and eventually, Mars. A selection of challenges for software systems were introduced that arise from the special circumstances of constellation systems. These challenges illustrate a variety of the types of problems that must be addressed related to software quality, automation, autonomicity and autonomy. For example, constellation program-level systems engineering and integration activities are tasked with ensuring interoperability, reuse, compatibility, and evolutionary upgrade of all systems. To further compound the challenges, constellation missions represent a mixing of the human space-flight processes with those of NASA's robotic exploration missions. These factors and others give rise to many unique and/or significantly more complex engineering than has been previously faced in the development of space systems. In this context, software reliability and safety become critical qualities for what will arguably be the most complex software systems artifact ever created