Virtual Engineering and Science Team - Reusable autonomy for spacecraft subsystems

Addresses the design, development and evaluation of the Virtual Engineering and Science Team (VEST) tool. VEST supports the efficient and cost-effective realization of on-board subsystem/instrument autonomy and contributes directly to the realization of an intelligent autonomous spacecraft. VEST supports the evolution of a subsystem/instrument model which explicitly represents correct vs. anomalous behavior. From that model, it automatically generates the code needed to support the autonomous operation of what was modeled. VEST facilitates the integration of the efforts of engineers, scientists and software technologists. This integration of efforts will be a significant advance over current development processes. The model, developed through the use of VEST, will be the basis for the physical construction of the subsystem/instrument and the generated code will support its autonomous operation once in space. The close coupling between the model and the code, in the same tool environment, will help ensure the correct and reliable operational control of the subsystem/instrument.