Psyche Mission’s End-to-End Information System Verification Validation: Planning, Execution, and Lessons Learned

The Psyche mission is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) discovery class mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that will explore a possibly metal world—an asteroid known as (16) Psyche located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Psyche Mission launch period begins in October of 2023 after an intense and rigorous phase of system testing including verification and validation (VV) of the End-to-End Information System (EEIS). The EEIS is a virtual system comprised of distributed functions across the flight system, launch vehicle, mission system and science system, that interoperate cooperatively to collect, transport, store, translate, integrate, and manage mission (e.g., science, engineering, radio metric, command, ancillary) information. Core elements of the Psyche EEIS include the space link, Deep Space Network (DSN), ground data system, flight system, instruments, and timekeeping functions. The EEIS engineering team is responsible for ensuring the architecture is accurately implemented and that the project has a comprehensive understanding of the system’s functions and operability. This paper will explore the scope and results of EEIS testing, and will analyze the challenges faced and lessons learned from the VV campaign. The completed VV activities are defined as part of the EEIS phased development and test plan (PDTP) which outlines the scope of various system-level tests, associated requirements and stakeholders, necessary venue and support, and the timeline on which the tests will be accomplished. EEIS testing includes verification of: high-level data interfaces; requirements on the quality, quantity, completeness, and latency of the system’s data; performance and functional requirements; end-to-end command, telemetry, and science data flow; some lower level mission and flight system requirements; and data accountability validation. While these tests are successfully executed through the implementation of institutional best practices, the project faced a number of technical and organizational challenges in executing robust system tests. This paper will explore some of the unique challenges in the verification and validation of the EEIS including programmatic challenges, cross-subsystem tests with multiple stakeholders, and the development of features in flight software and testing venues. This evaluation of the EEIS VV planning, execution, and lessons learned effectively informs future space missions on best practices and recommended approaches in system level communication testing.