XSearch Incorporates PVCS Change Management Record Search
On November 4, 2008, XSearch v1.5 was released to Mission Control Center (MCC) flight controllers. This release adds four new sets of records that can be searched in a consolidated fashion using XSearch. The PVCS repository stores a variety of different types of International Space Station change management records. XSearch now enables users to search the most popular of these PVCS records: Software Change Requests (SCRs), Station Program Notes (SPNs), Schedule Issue/Change Forms (SIFs), and Change Notices (CNs). A total of eight different types of records can now be searched using the XSearch interface.
BACKGROUND: XSearch is a system that provides search and linkage across multiple databases used by International Space Station (ISS) and Shuttle flight controllers. XSearch integrates data from several separate flight operations databases. Through a common interface, Mission Control personnel using XSearch can issue a single search query and simultaneously interrogate multiple mission operations data sources. In addition to conducting searches, the system also contextualizes search results by detecting records that are cross-referenced by or textually similar to the search results.
Although PVCS records are available on a NASA-accessible web site, the backend database is not made available for direct database querying. As a result, the XSearch system constructs its own version of the database by contacting the PVCS web site each night and “scraping” information from the web pages of new or recently changed records to construct an XSearch-compatible repository of PVCS records.
The incorporation of PVCS records into XSearch represents achievement of a milestone originally set forth by JSC Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) Chief Engineer Brian Anderson two years ago. At that time, PVCS records were being searched via the NX-Search system developed for MOD by C. Knight, M. Gurram, and W. McDermott; other MOD records were slated to be searched via XSearch. Anderson requested a single interface for all key MOD documents, thereby initiating a merger of XSearch and NX-Search capabilities.
XSearch Team: Rich Keller, Chris Knight, Dan Berrios, Mohana Gurram, Steve Lin (ARC); Tim Hall, Jason Toschlog, James Hart, Jenny Yang (JSC)
NASA PROGRAM FUNDING: JSC Intercenter Task Agreement funded by ESMD Constellation Mission Operations Project Office
Contact: Rich Keller
- NASA Official: Dave Korsmeyer
- Curator: ASANI Solutions