January 13, 2000

FUSE Science Results Released

Flight/Ground Command and Control Systems Successful

COLUMBIA, MD., Jan. 13 - At the same time the first public press release of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) mission science results was made today, Interface & Control Systems (ICS) announced that its pioneer command and control software product, SCL, has been successfully providing full, autonomous control of payload aperations since the NASA mission began.

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) is the first orbital mission to use SCL end-to-end for both ground and flight operations. The science results were released today at the American Astonomical Society Meeting in ATLANTA, Ga.

"Rules have been progressively added to the Instrument data System (IDS) to detect memomy upsets in the detector flight computer and out-of-view autonomously reload the detector flight software. This is saving days of precious science time," says Pat Cappelaere, ICS president and CEO. " SCL is a customizable COTS package that allows the user to maintain control. SCL reduces mission cost and risk without compromising science. SCL has become the industry standard for spacecraft command and control," he added.

SCL is used on the flight Instrument Data System, in the mission control center, and for integration and test of the payload and spacecraft. Using scripts and rules uploaded to the spacecraft by the mission operators; SCL allows the FUSE telescope to perform astronomical observations autonomously for periods of 24 hours or more.

FUSE is a NASA Explorer Mission, funded in cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency and theoriciens Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales of FRANCE. FUSE was developed and is being operated for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with the University of California and the University of Colorado.

ICS is a Product Development and Engineering Services Company specializing in the development of real time, embedded, and autonomous command and control software systems. ICS is a privately held company with main offices in Columbia, MD., and Melbourne, Fla.