Europa Clipper (EC) Propulsion Module Electronics (PME) Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Automated Test

In order to perform a detailed investigation of Europa's icy surface, NASA's Europa Clipper (EC) mission will perform a flyby of Europa, a Jupiter moon. Propulsion Module Electronics (PME) is a power distribution assembly for Europa Clipper's Propulsion Module (PM). Automated testing of PME operations is critical to the mission's success in delivering multiple assemblies on schedule. PME receives primary power from the Avionics Module, distributes the power to a variety of PM electrical loads and performs various telemetry collection functions. Each PME box consists of a power slice, a telemetry slice, five distribution slices and six mezzanine boards which are tested separately, then mated with telemetry and distribution boards and tested as an integrated slice. A total of five PME boxes are then integrated and tested. Automated testing is done from board to integrated slice and finally in box configuration. To accommodate testing of many different hardware in various configurations, Use Case ground software architecture was developed. This software was used in conjunction with automated test scripts developed and run on multiple missions on multiple COTS mini-Mission Operations Center (MiniMOCs). Use Case ground software architecture offers flexibility and efficiency in testing of the hardware at different stages of development and in multiple testbeds. Each board/slice has a separate Use Case and there's a Use Case for the PME box. Each Use Case invokes a set of customized Ground Support Equipment (GSE) hardware and corresponding ground software applications, establishing command and telemetry, setting up and controlling loads, power supplies and FPGA initialization. The software applications make individual socket connections to the MiniMOC missions which have scripting and data capture capability, sending commands and receiving telemetry from the software applications. This approach facilitates automated testing on different components at various levels of levels of development simultaneously and speeds up development time in order to meet the schedule.