scope:

Applicability

This Standard is applicable to space flight mechanisms that are designed, built, or acquired by or for NASA, though it may also serve as a useful guidance document for other systems such as ground support equipment (GSE). Valves, ordnance-actuated mechanical devices, quick-release pins (also known as push in and pull [PIP] pins), threaded interfaces designed to be actuated in service, and interfaces designed to release mechanical degrees of freedom are subject to failure modes typical of mechanisms and are therefore considered mechanisms subject to the requirements of this document. See Appendix A, section A.2.8, for more information on quick release pins. This Standard does not address human factors requirements. Adherence to this Standard does not in and of itself exempt a mechanism from any fault tolerance or hazard control requirements. The requirements and best practices in this Standard may serve as a useful basis for evaluating rationale for variances to fault tolerance requirements that may be proposed for mechanisms.

This Standard is approved for use by NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers and Facilities, and applicable technical requirements may be cited in contract, program, and other Agency documents. This language applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (a Federally Funded Research and Development Center), other contractors, recipients of grants, cooperative agreements, or other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contracts, grants, or agreements.

References to "this Standard" refer to NASA-STD-5017B; references to other documents state the specific document information.

Verifiable requirement statements are designated by the acronym "DDMR" (Design and Development of Mechanisms Requirement), numbered, and indicated by the word "shall." This Standard contains 90 requirements. To facilitate requirements selection by NASA programs and projects, a Requirements Identification Matrix is provided in Appendix C.

Explanatory or guidance text is indicated in italics beginning in section 4. The terms "may" or "can" denote discretionary privilege or permission, "should" denotes a good practice and is recommended but not required, "will" denotes expected outcome, and "is/are" denotes descriptive material or a statement of fact.