Orion SysML Model, Digital Twin, and Lessons Learned for Artemis I
Gregory J. Pierce, Joshua D. Heeren, Terry R. Hill
Abstract
Abstract In 2015 it was recognized by NASA's Orion Chief Engineer that NASA's design insight into the Orion subsystems for Artemis I was not sufficient to provide standard engineering support to flight operations. To address these concerns, provide an opportunity to apply emerging model‐based systems engineering and digital twin methodologies, and provide opportunities for employees across NASA to get hands‐on training, an Orion Digital Twin pilot project was initiated in 2020 as part of the Agency's Digital Transformation initiative. With the increase in complexities of spacecraft, and decreased time to made decisions during missions in critical or emergency situations, digital modeling and integration of design can reduce the time to answer questions by days and the required human resources by an order of magnitude over conventional approaches and was identified to be a critical capability for NASA's future. This paper describes the genesis of the Orion Digital Twin pilot project, efforts undertaken, a reproducible methodology to take available system information from a mature program to create an executable SysML model that supports a link to the physical asset, and associated lessons learned and project deliverables.