Synopsis
The Goddard Technical Standard GSFC-STD-1000 provides rules and best practices for the design, development, verification, and operation of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center flight systems across all mission classifications.
The document covers rules across five domains – Systems Engineering, Electrical, Software, Mechanical, and Instruments. Each rule includes the rationale, activities by project phase, and verification methods. Rules aim to capture engineering principles without being overly prescriptive, while still providing visibility into project deviations through waiver submissions.
Key rules cover areas like requiring technical margins for mass, power, propellant through all phases, mandating end-to-end system testing, imposing stability margins for attitude control systems, and verifying structural strength via testing factors of safety. On the software side, rules deal with eliminating dead code, requiring testbeds and independent testing, and demonstrating operations readiness via simulations.
Other rules deal with contamination control, thermal design margins, materials selection, deployment mechanisms, and instrument characterization. Common themes across many rules include emphasizing testing in the flight configuration, importance of early integration and testing, and the overarching ‘test as you fly’ philosophy.
While most rules apply to all missions, some rules explicitly call out exceptions based on mission classification or only apply to certain subsystems like propulsion systems.
Compliance is verified through typical SE technical reviews, peer reviews, and final pre-shipment reviews. Each rule has a designated Owner and Subject Matter Experts responsible for requirements validation, rationale verification, and evaluating waiver requests.
In summary, the Goddard rules encapsulate decades of spacecraft development expertise into a living document that aims to reduce project risk and enhance mission success through rigorous cross-project standardization.
