National Instruments and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Team Up to Develop LabVIEW Software for Embedded Flight Processors.

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 1997--

Astronauts Will Be Able to Use LabVIEW(TM)

Onboard Space Shuttles and Stations

National Instruments (NASDAQ:NATI) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have signed a Technology Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to jointly develop, evaluate, and test a version of LabVIEW graphical instrumentation software for flight processors.

The collaborative effort will result in the development and testing of a flight-qualified, embedded version of LabVIEW that astronauts can use with these specialized processors to conduct experiments onboard space shuttle and space station missions.

Engineers at JPL's Measurement Technology Center (MTC) have found that using graphical programming increases productivity by four to ten times when compared to text-based languages. Many NASA scientists and engineers are already using LabVIEW in ground-based studies during preparation for flight experiments.

The new flight version, that permits a seamless transition of ground-based software to flight, will initially be evaluated for use in Low Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). LabVIEW software is now being used for data acquisition and analysis in ground-based studies on JPL's Microgravity Scaling Theory Experiment (MISTE) flight definition experiment.

The JPL MISTE low-temperature laboratory will be used to evaluate the initial LabVIEW flight versions. The success of this TCA should lead to important follow-on activities for LabVIEW applications in a large number of NASA flight projects.

"These are the same applications that we've developed for years with LabVIEW; previously, however, we couldn't use LabVIEW in space because it wasn't ported to in-flight processors," said Dr. Edmund Baroth, MTC Technical Manager. "Now, we're looking at a seamless transition for developing applications on the ground and running them on embedded, in-flight processors. This collaboration does not replace the efforts of our flight software developers. In fact, it does the opposite -- it gives these developers a highly productive class of tools (graphical programming) that previously has been limited to ground-based applications."

"From day one, when we began developing LabVIEW, we had real-time applications in mind," said Jeff Kodosky, Vice President of Research and Development at National Instruments and inventor of LabVIEW. "This project is the next logical extension for LabVIEW -- its G programming language is inherently parallel and fits naturally with real-time applications."

About the Technology Cooperation Agreement

The agreement calls for National Instruments and JPL to develop, evaluate, and test a version of LabVIEW for the Lockheed Martin RAD-6000 flight processor. This task combines the graphical programming development expertise of National Instruments with the flight software capability of JPL. The 12-month effort is comprised of three parts:

National Instruments

1. Create a flight version of LabVIEW that is compatible with the Lockheed Martin RAD-6000 flight processor

2. Provide software tools to create drivers for additional flight hardware boards

3. Update the flight version of LabVIEW as required during evaluation

JPL

1. Provide access to a Lockheed Martin RAD-6000 flight processor for testing the flight version of LabVIEW

2. Develop software drivers to interface with the baseline system used for evaluation

3. Test the software on the flight-definition ground-based apparatus.

About National Instruments

National Instruments, a leading supplier of computer-based measurement and automation products, was founded in 1976. The company manufactures hundreds of software and hardware products, which, when combined with industry-standard computers, are used to replace and/or communicate with traditional instrumentation to acquire, analyze, and display data and to monitor and control processes. These computer-based instrumentation systems are used for test, measurement, and industrial automation applications.

National Instruments stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol NATI. Investment information may be obtained from the company's Investor Relations Department at 512/349-5090 or by sending e-mail to [e-mail].

About JPL

The primary mission of NASA's JPL, managed by the California Institute of Technology, is the exploration of the solar system and the universe through robotic spacecraft and instruments. JPL pursues the most creative spacecraft missions, missions that begin at home with Earth and the other planets of the solar system and extend outward to the search for extra-solar planetary systems. Further information about JPL's activities can be obtained at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .

For More Information

For more information about LabVIEW, contact National Instruments, 6504 Bridge Point Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039. Call toll free in the United States and Canada at 800/258-7022, fax [phone], e-mail [e-mail]. Readers can also access information through the company's InstrumentationWeb(TM) at http://www.natinst.com . -0-

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CONTACT: National Instruments, Austin

Tad Druart, 800/258-7022 (Editors)

Ernest Martinez, 800/258-7022 (Readers)