National Instruments announces that LabVIEW software rescues data from Galileo mission.

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1995--When the probe released from the Galileo spacecraft in mid-July enters Jupiter's atmosphere Thursday and begins transmitting data about Jovian atmosphere structure and properties, scientists can thank, in large part, the Measurement Technology Center (MTC) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and LabVIEW(R) graphical instrumentation software from National Instruments (Austin, Texas) (NASDAQ:NATI).

After the Galileo high-rate dish antenna failed to open fully in space, engineers at the MTC used LabVIEW to identify solutions.

Members of the Galileo project and MTC agree that the LabVIEW graphical programming methodology gave scientists the tools needed to quickly analyze the operation of the Test Bed once the faulty antenna was discovered.

According to Greg Levanas, low-gain antenna mission support equipment cognizant engineer with the Galileo program, "I believe no other programming approach could produce this level of output."

The scientists had to figure out a way to remotely program Galileo's computer to compress only the most important data, thus saving valuable memory on the onboard computer. George Wells, a member of the technical staff at MTC, used LabVIEW to develop a software-based analyzer connected to the Test Bed, a replica of the Galileo computer. The tests had to be accurate before the software could be installed on the spacecraft.

"The advantage of using a graphical programming language like LabVIEW is that it provides easy visibility into the compression process that is being incorporated by the Galileo programming support team," said Wells. "With LabVIEW, we wrote utilities for real-time data display and error detection."

The analyzer in the LabVIEW system monitors the telemetry from the Test Bed, sorts the data, compares it to the predicted outcome, records errors, and displays the progress of the test to assure that every byte is correctly downlinked. After a test, the team uses the LabVIEW utilities to locate errors by matching them with the original data.

"The time to write and modify the code using LabVIEW graphical programming is significantly less -- by a factor of four to 10 -- that using text-based code," said Dr. Ed Baroth, technical manager of the MTC.

National Instruments, headquartered in Austin, manufactures software and hardware products for PCs and workstations that scientists and engineers worldwide use to build virtual instrumentation systems.

These systems are used for research and industrial applications, such as automated testing, laboratory automation, advanced research, industrial control, factory automation, physiological monitoring, numerical analysis, and data visualization.

National Instruments stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol NATI. Further information on National Instruments may be obtained from the company's SEC filings or by directly contacting the company's investor relations department at 512/349-5090. -0-

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CONTACT: National Instruments, Austin

Tad Druart, 512/794-5662

or

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jim Doyle, 818/354-0474

or

Dr. Ed Baroth, 818/354-8339