Ozark IC Completes One Year of Successful Ultra-Violet Detection on the International Space Station

Dr. A. Matt Francis, Ozark IC’s founder & CEO, to present a paper at the ISS Research and Development (ISS R&D) Conference next week (September 24) on the mission and its Grafana-based data mining and display system

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS September 2020 – A paper titled “A Year on the ISS: Real-time UV Data Acquisition on the MISSEE Platform” will be presented by Dr. A. Matt Francis next week at 1:30pm (Central) on September 24, 2020 in the Technology Development and Demonstration track of the ISSRD Conference (https://www.issconference.org). This paper will describe the one-year UV detection project on the International Space Station (ISS) and how it prompted the creation of a Grafana-based real-time information display system that is now used within Ozark IC for its products as a data visualization tool. The presentation is now viewable upon registration, and attendance at the session will allow for questions and answers.

Three Ozark IC ultra-violet (UV) detector modules were installed on the ISS in January 2019 on Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance’s MISSE platform (www.alphaspace.com). Live data was received beginning in May 2019 and continued until the experiment was deactivated for return by SpaceX’s last original Dragon capsule in April 2020.

The three modules were oriented on the ISS in different directions: Ram (the forward direction of ISS), Wake (opposite direction from Ram) and Zenith (away from Earth). All three modules performed flawlessly during their time in orbit as well as back in Ozark IC’s laboratory after their flight. The Wake and Zenith modules were returned in April 2020 and the Ram module is returning in December 2020.

The MISSE experiment provided the following benefits to Ozark IC:

By performing flawlessly in Low Earth Orbit, Ozark IC’s Extreme Node (XNode^TM ) module, that contains Ozark IC’s silicon carbide (SiC) UV detector together with an electronic data acquisition unit, has now achieved a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 9.
The large amount of data obtained from the ISS project prompted Ozark IC to develop a real-time dashboard (called OzIC. Lab) utilizing the open observability platform from Grafana Labs (www.grafana.com) for data visualization. Data is converted in the dashboard to real-time performance information that was then correlated to ISS status (such as velocity, altitude, latitude, longitude, live video feed, ISS location, solar heating). This system has now been applied company wide, to remotely monitor and control experiments (extremely useful in these COVID-19 times) and is used as a data visualization tool with Ozark IC’s products for its customers.

“This project was very important to us in ways we did not initially expect,” said Dr. Matt Francis, Ozark IC’s Founder and President. “While it verified our UV module in a very dramatic way, it really brought home to us the need to convert raw data into useful information and to do it in real time. XNodes^TM + OzIC.Lab has had an enormous impact on our own operations and will have an even greater impact on our customers."

Mark Shumbera, Director of Business Development for Alpha Space, said, “We are very pleased that testing on our MISSE platform provided such a dramatic boost for Ozark IC and their ability to support their customers. This is exactly what MISSE and our Space Testing as a Service model is designed to do."

About Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance, LLC.
Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance, LLC (Houston, TX) is a pioneer of commercial Space Testing as a Service (STaaS). The company owns and operates the MISSE platform for external orbital testing of a wide range of technologies including powered electronics, solar cells, and materials. With a roughly six-month cadence of launches and experiment returns, customers can rapidly advance the readiness level of their active or passive technology in low Earth orbit at an affordable price. Alpha Space was founded in 2015 and is a minority woman owned business.
www.alphaspace.com

About Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc.
Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc (Fayetteville, AR). was founded in 2011. Ozark IC’s mission is to “digitize” extreme environments by bringing best-in-class analog, mixed-signal and signal processing integrated circuits into the extreme conditions experienced in Energy Exploration, Aerospace, Space Exploration and Industrial Controls. Ozark IC’s solutions include hardware and software, integrated circuits and packaging. Ozark IC’s strategy and technology have led industry watchers to recognize Ozark IC as a disruptive player in the extreme environments/rugged electronics marketplace.
https://www.ozarkic.com/

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Ian Getreu at +1 (503) 888-2372 or email Getreu@OzarkIC.com

OzIC.Lab Grafana-based dashboards showing real-time data and correlations with ISS status