From SysML to Mars: Mars2020’s MBSE Infusion

This presentation was made at the NAFEMS Americas Seminar "Model-Based Engineering: What is it & How Will It Impact Engineering Simulation" held on the 1st of October 2019 in Columbus Ohio

Resource Abstract

Mars2020, NASA’s next Mars Rover inherited a majority of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)’s Flight hardware and software. It also inherited the technical baseline described in disparate presentations, spreadsheets, document repositories, emails, and intelligent minds that have long left the project. The Mars2020 Systems Engineering leadership wanted to define their technical baseline in an integrative, data driven manner, that would incorporate the inherited design with the new science instruments and Martian sample caching system. The team chose to leverage advancements in MBSE to garner a better understanding of the complexities facing the mission. Now, less than one Martian year until launch, it is an opportune time to discuss MBSE’s impact on the Systems Engineering products and processes created by Mars2020. I will discuss what the objectives for Mars2020 MBSE were and evaluate how well those objectives were met. Additionally, I will evaluate the implementation’s alignment with JPL’s vision of MBSE and discuss what future missions can learn from Mars2020’s infusion.