Risk Assessment of an Unmanned Planetary Mission

This is a model that simulates an unmanned scientific mission to another planet. It illustrates how GoldSim's Reliability Module can be used to carry out a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of a complex system.

The mission can end in six ways: the launch vehicle is lost before land is cleared; the launch vehicle is lost after land is cleared, but before orbit is achieved; the vehicle is lost before the separation of the spacecraft; the spacecraft reaches cruise phase but fails to achieve minimal mission objectives; minimal scientific objectives achieved, and full scientific objectives achieved.

This model is based on an example from Appendix D of the Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedures Guide for NASA Managers and Practitioners (NASA, 2011).