As the Artemis I uncrewed moon-orbiting mission comes to a successful end, LDRA — the project’s software verification, source code analysis, and testing partner — provided its ongoing support in the development of the mission software. The LDRA tool suite supported many verification and validation (V&V) activities, including requirements management, standards compliance, and target testing for multiple subsystems and software vendors validating that it was an essential component in the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) mission software.
“We congratulate the entire Artemis team on the success of this historic mission,” said Ian Hennell, Operations Director, LDRA. “Our initial selection as the Orion software verification tool suite in 2008 exemplifies how our experience is primed to handle the rigors of aerospace development. Since then, LDRA’s use in many space applications, including the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, and our continued involvement on Artemis demonstrates how the LDRA tool suite is a perfect fit for multi-vendor, long-duration mission software for both government and non-government projects.”
Designed, developed, and maintained by LDRA, the LDRA tool suite enforces compliance with industry coding standards, such as NPR-7150.2D “NASA Software Engineering Requirements”, and custom rules across large-scale, heterogenous code bases. On the Orion project, the LDRA tool suite provides clear visibility into coding flaws and compliance gaps for software subsystems, including booster, engine controller, launch abort, and flight software.
“The LDRA tool suite helps software teams and mission specialists sleep better at night, knowing that their code has passed a gauntlet of safety, quality, and reliability checks,” Hennell added. “This partnership between the Orion MPCV and LDRA teams will continue to deliver robust and comprehensive V&V activities for the duration of the Artemis mission.”
The Orion spacecraft serves as the exploration vehicle that will carry the Artemis crew on their mission to explore deep space, including the Moon and Mars. On the Artemis I mission, an uncrewed Orion flew thousands of miles beyond the Moon over six weeks, setting the stage for the first flight with astronauts beginning with Artemis II.
