Space Shuttle payload customer support tools: Orbiter-in-a-Box

Recent Space Shuttle program initiatives aim to achieve a substantial reduction in the mission operations production template. We undertake these initiatives in order to reduce infrastructure costs and increase mission operations supportability, while maintaining the program´s substantial capability, flexibility, quality, and safety. We describe here one particular initiative that creates a new way to support Space Shuttle payloads. This initiative has many dimensions, including many process changes, and changes to on-board flight software and orbiter interfaces with the payload software. We describe briefly the dimensions of the initiative and the nature of the changes from the conventional process. In particular, we describe in detail one of the principal tools supporting the new process. This new tool, the orbiter-in-a-box, is a portable, high-fidelity, and comparatively inexpensive Space Shuttle vehicle simulation. In conjunction with the implementation of new processes and on-board support systems, this tool provides early life-cycle development and testing support for Space Shuttle payload customers