The Ares I Abort Failure Detection, Notification, and Response System: An Overview of the Development Process

Timely detection and response to catastrophic events during the launch and ascent phase of the Ares I launch system is of paramount importance to crew safety. This requires an abort system capable of detecting and confirming conditions that may lead to catastrophic failure, notifying the crew of the problem, and responding in time to allow the crew to escape safely. The Ares I Abort Failure Detection, Notification, and Response System is being developed through an iterative approach that analyses the vehicle design and identifies potential abort conditions, characterizes those conditions through modeling and simulation, then uses this data to develop algorithms capable of detecting and alerting the crew in time. It is expected that this same process will be applied in the development of future NASA crewed vehicles. It should also be applicable to other complex vehicle systems. 1 .