Proceedings Article | 3 September 2008
KEYWORDS: Chemical elements, Mirrors, Commercial off the shelf technology, Data modeling, Thermal modeling, Systems modeling, MATLAB, Analytical research, Control systems, Optical components
Due to their scale, operating environment, and required levels of operating precision, the design of the next generation of
space-based observatories will necessarily place an ever-greater reliance on numerical simulation. Since it will be
impossible to fully ground-test such systems prior to flight, system-level confidence must come, in large part, from
correlated subsystem tests, system-level simulation, and an overall design understanding based on quantification of
margins of uncertainty, sensitivity analyses, parameter variation studies, and design optimization. Further challenges
will necessarily arise due to the actively-controlled nature of such systems, requiring fundamentally-integrated thermal,
structural, optical, and controls models. In this paper we will discuss Cielo, JPL's multidisciplinary, high-capability
compute platform for systems analysis, and describe some of the challenges in demonstrating these capabilities for the
first time on a complex model, the Space Interferometry Mission's Thermal-Structural-Optical (SIM-TOM3) testbed.
The successes and lessons learned from these activities have the potential to greatly influence subsequent test programs,
leading to greater design understanding, improved mission confidence, and significant cost and schedule reductions.
