AUBURN HILLS, Mich., 28 Aug. 2007.Dassault Systèmes' DELMIA software is helping Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. (LMSSC) work more closely with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The focus of their efforts is on mockups for the crew exploration vehicle to be used in the Orion orbital and moon-landing missions.
Orion, America's next-generation space exploration project, is part of the Constellation program to explore the solar system.
The Lockheed Martin Corp. unit and NASA are partnering in human-factors simulations to develop Orion's command module. Lockheed Martin's Orion contracts are valued at about $4 billion. The simulation software is DELMIA DPM (Digital Process for Manufacturing) and V5 Human for ergonomic analyses.
Working directly with astronauts, NASA and LMSSC, using DELMIA's solutions, are building a virtual, or digital, mockup of the crew exploration vehicle in Littleton, Colo., and a physical mockup at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
The digital mockup is speeding development of the high-fidelity physical mockup at JSC. The Littleton mockup is also cutting development costs by doing modifications digitally rather than through carpentry. The virtual mockup is to provide a technical basis for crew arrangement, crew spacing, and seat design, and is to ensure crewmembers can see and reach controls. Simulations use up to 11 manikins and include analyses for exercise space, access to crew stowage, and getting in and out of Orion.
The simulation data is used at JSC to refine the physical Orion mockup, which is built full-scale. The JSC mockup also helps the crew trainees and NASA evaluate the design of the control systems. These simulations will help avoid the wasted time and excess cost of repeated rebuilds and modifications of the physical mockup.
