Failure Rate Analysis of Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Performance during Orbital Life

摘要

Space life performance data on 57 Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft have been analyzed from the standpoint of determining an appropriate reliability model and the associated reliability parameters. Data from published NASA reports, which cover the space performance of GSFC spacecraft launched in the 1960-1970 decade, form the basis of the analyses. The results of the analyses show that the time distri¬bution of 449 malfunctions, of which 248 were classified as failures (not necessarily catastrophic), follow a reliability growth pattern that can be described with either the Duane model (represented by the accumulated failure rate, λΕ = F/NT or a Weibull distribution. The advantages of both mathematical models are used in order to: identify space failure rates, observe chronological trends, and compare failure rates with those experienced during the prelaunch environ mental tests of the flight model spacecraft.