While orbiting 254 miles above the Earth, International Space Station flight engineer Christina Koch received a command from NASA to “activate Hermes power.” A two-year development project went online with the flip of a switch.
Students Dustin Tish, Jeremy Coffelt and Luis Orozco were on hand at the Hermes command console at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to assist the project’s scientists, engineers and project manager in developing and activating the Hermes facility. This Class-1E platform provides scientists with a unique capability for ongoing microgravity research.
The students were ecstatic as they witnessed the system begin its bootup, configuration and initial operation.
“I can’t believe we are now able to command the Hermes facility while it’s aboard the International Space Station from here at the Johnson Space Center,” said Hermes project manager Veronica Saucedo. “With the help of our three students, the system came up beautifully and appears to be completely operational. The pictures and data we are receiving truly exceed our expectations.”
The students were responsible for all facets of the command and control system within Hermes. Tish was tasked with the mechanical aspects of the project, Orozco was responsible for real-time operating system-based code running on six different microcontrollers, and Coffelt was the software lead for management, communications and user interface code written in Python for the BeagleBone Black device.
“As one of my first projects, I couldn’t be more pleased with the system’s performance,” said Dr. Kristen John, Hermes project scientist and principal investigator.
The students were responsible for all facets of the command and control system within Hermes. Tish was tasked with the mechanical aspects of the project, Orozco was responsible for real-time operating system-based code running on six different microcontrollers, and Coffelt was the software lead for management, communications and user interface code written in Python for the BeagleBone Black device.
“As one of my first projects, I couldn’t be more pleased with the system’s performance,” said Dr. Kristen John, Hermes project scientist and principal investigator.