Aviation Systems Division
Software Facility
Building the tools, data, and simulation environments that power aviation systems research at NASA Ames.
The Aviation Systems Division’s Software Facility manages the complete software life cycle for the Division’s research tools, from early proof-of-concept to production. Promising ideas are matured into production-grade software with IT security and compliance built in from the outset, then deployed wherever the mission calls for it: on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge.
The facility doesn’t stop at deployment. It supports field tests and live demonstrations, maintains and evolves products already in the hands of researchers and partners, and continues to develop and integrate new core capabilities as the Division’s research needs grow. Underpinning all of it is a steady discipline of risk management, software assurance, and release management, so every product reaches its users — through a public release or a targeted delivery to a specific partner — with confidence.
That work is organized around three systems that feed the facility’s capabilities: a system of records (the Sherlock data warehouse), systems of insight (Freddie, the ATM Testbed, and the Division’s AI/ML stack), and systems of engagement (World Wind and Xavier). Together, they support a practice spanning software development, deployment, field test and demo support, technology hosting, and technology management.
Software Facility
Reduces the time to test concepts, technologies, and their interactions, interoperability, and integration using shared historical and live data, operational tools, and remote access.
Improves understanding of interactions among concepts, algorithms, human-automation and air-ground architectures, and technologies at the National Airspace System level.
Enables assessment of large-scale contingency operation alternatives using shadow-mode simulation.
Enables uncertainty assessment across concepts and operations.
Our Core Competencies
Five integrated capabilities form the foundation of the Software Facility, each developed through NASA research and sustained for the value they provide to researchers, government partners, and industry.
Freddie 2.0
An interconnected collection of microservices related to flight volumes and constraints approval, and compliance tracking, enabled on multiple code bases.
Sherlock 2.0
A one-of-its-kind data warehouse with historical and real-time aviation data with multilayered access control and supporting data interpretation services.
World Wind 2.0
A smart scenario building tool that allows designing aviation theaters of operation in 3D view supported by a custom-configured, interactive AI assistant.
Xavier 2.0
A multiagent, distributed control, photorealistic simulation tool capable of digital twinning conventional and new-entrant aviation operations.
Testbed 2.0
A web-portal offering a suite of software functions to seamlessly create simulations and evaluate aviation technology innovations on-demand.
Working with Us
Partners and stakeholders of Software Facility can submit, track, and manage work requests through our customized work order management system — Project Records & Insight Management Environment (PRIME), covering software development requests, product support, and sub-contract coordination.
