Zachary Sally
University of Central Florida
Software Engineer Intern
NASA - Kennedy Space Center
Summer 2022
Overview
During the Summer of 2022, I had the opportunity to come work for NASA at Kennedy Space Center as a software engineer intern. I worked with the team responsible for communication between the Launch Control System and Space Launch System
What I Contributed
Throughout the term, I worked on developing documentation for a packet analyzer used to facilitate the communication between the Launch Control System (LCS) and the Space Launch System (SLS). Specifically, I wrote a user guide and a developer guide for this packet analyzer, with a focus on the custom dissectors of LCS. These dissectors decommutate telemetry data sent to and from the SLS components into readable information. LCS engineers use these dissectors to troubleshoot and debug their software leading up to launch operations. These documents will be used as a baseline for usage and development of the packet analyzer across the entire software division at Kennedy Space Center.
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Developing these guides involved extensive research into official documentation for this tool, as well as source code and additional notes left behind by previous interns. I also collaborated with my team's technical points of contact frequently to discuss research and project requirements.
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User's Guide
The first document I helped create is a user guide for the packet analyzer. This guide provides information on how to use the User Interface, display filters, packet analysis functions, and data export functions within the packet analyzer GUI. It also provides a basic overview of each custom dissector. It is designed for LCS engineers and future interns to effectively use the packet analyzer, as creating this centralized document will help streamline research for future interns and give LCS engineers a reference for certain functions.
The second document I helped create is a developer' guide for the packet analyzer. This guide covers all the technical information regarding the packet analyzer and the dissectors, including how telemetry data is processed by the dissectors, and how they can be modified or expanded upon in the future. It is designed for LCS engineers and future interns to learn how to build dissectors, as well as containing all the necessary information regarding networks, protocols, and files. This document will also help streamline research for future interns and give LCS engineers a reference for any technical information about the packet analyzer as required
Developer's Guide
Encountered Challenges and Solutions
No Exact Project Requirements:
Problem: Since this documentation was the first of its kind, my technical experts did not have an outline of everything we should research and include in the guides. This led to a lot of confusion throughout the term, as my partner and I did not know exactly what should go into these guides.
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Solution: To overcome this challenge, I iteratively collaborated with my technical experts. I began by outlining any concepts that I could fit into the guides, then collaborated with my team to filter out what was and was not necessary. I took this information and slowly incorporated more specific information, and repeated the process down to the final product.
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What I Learned: This process helped me grow by giving me experience with technical communication and project management in a real-word application.
Large Learning Curve + Lack of Centralized Documentation:
Problem: Since my partner and I were the one creating the centralized documentation, we didn't have a lot of centralized resources to help us. There were a lot of different resources that were scattered around. This made the learning curve steep and caused a lot of confusion throughout the internship.
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Solution: To overcome this challenge, I had to analyze all of the various resources I could find. I used previous interns' documentation to get a better grasp of how the dissectors work in the grand scope of LCS. I deciphered source code to gain more technical knowledge of the dissectors. I asked MANY questions to my technical experts, and closely collaborated with my partner about our research.
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What I Learned: This process was very challenging, but it really helped me learn how to find answers on my own. In the real world, I won't have my hand held when working on projects. I have to be proactive.