[comp.software-eng] SQA in Space

brian@ghp.UUCP (Brian Quigley) (08/08/90)

We have been working recently in the Canadian nuclear industry
in the area of Software Quality Assurance.  We want to compare 
the practices we have seen with those of other industries with 
high reliability or safety requirements.

In particular, we are interested in commonly used SQA practices in the 
space industry.

For example, is there an established approach to assessing
the critical roles of software programs, as perhaps "safety-critical"
or "mission-critical"?  

Are there prescribed techniques or procedures
required by NASA on sub-contractors of software in order to
demonstrate various quality attributes?  Are sub-contractors required
to comply with any particular Quality Assurance Plan for the software?

Is software recognized as a component of the overall system which has some
(unknown?) reliability, and hence a failure rate?

We are interested in general approaches and concerns.  We are not 
concerned about the details of any particular procedure or standard,
but we are still interested in their existence.

Any comments by e-mail are welcome and appreciated.  If there is
sufficient interest, I will summarize for the net.  Thanks!!

-Brian.

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Brian Quigley                       Gellman, Hayward & Partners
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