Wireless environmental data acquisition for the international space station (for mission flights 3A, 4A, 5A and 7A.1)

Invocon, Inc. has developed a next generation data acquisition and communications network to be deployed in, on, and around space structures under construction. This Wireless Instrumentation System (WIS) is a highly integrated remote data acquisition system for use in a wide variety of distributed sensor applications. Typical applications include modal analysis, condition-based maintenance, structural monitoring and manufacturing process control. Designed for NASA Johnson Space Center, the system will monitor critical temperatures during the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS), and verify structural dynamics models for the ISS on-orbit. Similar units are used on Navy aircraft for flight testing data acquisition. The relaying network is automatically configured by the imbedded system software, which provides for simple installation and consistent operation in almost any environment. The ability to relocate the data acquisition electronics near the sensors decreases setup costs and reduces “noise” induced on analog signals by long wires. The first WIS hardware items flew as a Risk Mitigation Experiment on STS-83 in November of 1996 and STS-94 in July of 1997. The next phase of WIS involves development of the IWIS or Internal Wireless Instrumentation System and the SWIS or Shuttle Wireless Instrumentation System. IWIS, the internal system, will be deployed by the astronauts inside the partially completed ISS to collect data on the impulse response of the structure. The Shuttle-based system (SWIS) will provide units installed on the outside of the Station modules prior to launch. As the ISS modules are removed from the Cargo Bay and transferred to the assembly point on the Station, the SWIS data gathering units will transfer sensor data from the ISS module to the Crew Compartment of the Shuttle where the data will be down-linked to Mission Control for use by the flight controllers.