Kennedy Space Center Gets Smart About Power

NASA has taken delivery of data historian and analysis tools in order to increase operational efficiencies and monitoring of the Kennedy Space Center's electric distribution system. 

The Kennedy Complex Control Systems (KCCS) include the two systems that control the entire electric distribution system including the Vertical Assembly Building, the fourth largest building by volume in the world, and launch pads 39A and 39B, which were used to launch the Space Shuttle. The electric distribution system provides power for the entire electric power system, and all Kennedy Space Center buildings, covering more than 219 square miles. 

Canary Labs, Martinsburg, Pa. supplied its Canary Enterprise Historian and TrendLink analysis software tools. The Canary Enterprise Historian and TrendLink applications transparently collect and log data for approximately 150,000 real-time data points from power quality meters, protection relays and PLCs throughout the complex, working in sync with the power distribution networks SCADA system. In the past, archiving this data into one system for long periods of time while making the data accessible to system users was a challenge for NASA. 

According to Ed Stern, vice president of Canary Labs, “Our solutions address a problem that NASA has had for years. Using the Canary Labs solutions, NASA’s users are able to access long-term data archives from one system, quickly and easily. In addition, our cost-effective solutions will provide access to the historical data to users that do not have direct access to the KCCS, achieving lower operational costs and faster time to value.”