Health monitoring system for the SSME - Hardware architecture study

This paper presents a hardware architecture for a health monitoring system (HMS) for the SSME. The architecture study was conducted in conjunction with a NASA sponsored program to develop a framework for SSME HMS for (1) ground test and, potentially (2) flight applications. The requirements for both systems are both stated and analyzed. A multiprocessor distributed VME system is envisioned for the ground-test hardware. By repackaging the boards, the same concept is shown to be usable for the flight system. The paper concludes with an analysis of weight, power, and reliability with respect to variations in functionality.