Lessons Learned from the Implementation of DOORS for the SUDA Instrument on Europa Clipper

Abstract

Requirements management software can be useful, although the application of it on a project can be detrimental and time-consuming if not well implemented. The Dynamic Object-Oriented Requirements System (DOORS) software is one tool that is used for managing space-based systems requirements and their verifications. The SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) team at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), part of the Europa Clipper mission being managed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is using DOORS to manage this effort. This work details the SUDA Systems Engineering team's experience and lessons learned as they set up the requirements and verification database, managed the database contents, and worked around the limitations found with DOORS. In particular, decisions made early on can have significant unforeseen consequences that lead to large inefficiencies. Here we consider some of those decisions and their impacts as well as offer recommendations to inform future implementation of this software.