Nov 1997: Launch of Huygens Satellite

CAPTEC, the Irish company responsible for performing the Software Independent Validation on the on-board software, was represented at the successful launch of the Huygens probe with the Cassini spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 15th 1997.

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH & CHECKOUT

The above picture shows some of the European participants on the morning following this successful launch.(A larger picture is available by clicking on this picture - note that the image is 66KB.)

CAPTEC, Computer Applied Techniques Ltd., is well recognised for its achievements in major software development projects within the European Space Programme. The company, based in Malahide, Co. Dublin, is in a growth phase and specialises in sophisticated satellite control software and the development of products based on imaging techniques. The company has successfully engaged in several ESA missions since 1984, and has to its credit involvement in the Hipparcos satellite, ISO - the Infrared Space Observatory, as well as SOHO - the Solar and Heliospheric Space observatory. Opportunities to participate in this exciting field of effort are taken up by advanced degree graduates mainly from Irish universities.

The joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission (named after two seventeenth Century astronomers) marks the first time a space probe has attempted to land on the moon of another planet. The prime scientific targets of this international mission are Saturn and its moon Titan - with the anticipated results of the mission expected to provide the first direct sampling of the earth-like atmosphere of Titan and the first detailed pictures of its previously hidden surface.

The launch of ESA's probe aboard the Cassini spacecraft foreshadows a breakthrough in planetary science. After seven years of interplanetary travel, in 2005, Huygens will descend by parachute into Titan's atmosphere. Due to the nature of the challenging mission, the long distance it must travel and the value of scientific return, each component and the system as a whole, has undergone an unprecedented program of rigorous testing for quality and performance.

Every phase of the development has been reviewed and validated by independent experts. CAPTEC was engaged by Aerospatiale, France (the prime contractor and leader of an industrial consortium for the ESA venture) to perform the independent review and validation of the software development. CAPTEC performed the validation independently of the companies that were responsible for the specification and implementation of the critical on-board software. This independent approach provides significant benefits to the customer in terms of enhanced software reliability, increased confidence and reduced maintenance costs. It therefore has enormous potential for wider application in the commercial world, for example such validation is undoubtedly essential for systems in the financial network sector.

The benefits derived from the mission are significant; aside from the rewards of international co-operation, the excitement of the anticipated discoveries and the features of the new technology, exploration of the surface of this unique planet could offer numerous clues to the history of planetary and solar system evolution - perhaps even links to the origins of earth!

©2005 CAPTEC
Computer Applied Techniques Ltd