Ardent's O2 Database Helps Unlock the Mysteries of the Big Bang; Provides Technology Essential in NASA/Johns Hopkins Satellite Project

Business Wire, August 25, 1998

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 1998--Ardent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDT) today announced that its O2 Object Database Management System (ODBMS) will provide mission-critical satellite control capability in an upcoming space research mission directed jointly by NASA and The Johns Hopkins University. The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite will conduct a three-year research mission aimed at helping scientists better understand the conditions that immediately followed the "Big Bang." The FUSE satellite, which is the first NASA satellite to be developed entirely by a university and managed from a control center on its campus, will be operated through a control language based on Ardent's O2 database.

Ardent Software's O2 ODBMS is a key component in the FUSE ground control center, providing a dynamic environment for the storage of mission critical data and the generation of satellite control commands. O2 is the foundation of the Satellite Command Language (SCL), a system developed by Interface & Control Systems (ICS) to generate commands for both satellite navigation and the onboard telescope. O2 and SCL enable the satellite to function with a greater deal of autonomy, ultimately reducing the number of people needed to operate the satellite ground control station.

The FUSE satellite, scheduled for launch in early 1999, is part of NASA's Origins Program which in turn stems from the agency's Explorer Program initiated in 1958 to conduct research in space physics and astrophysics. More recently, in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency, NASA restructured the Explorer program and selected Johns Hopkins University to oversee the FUSE project, appointing J.B. Joyce of Johns Hopkins as Mission Operations Manager.

"Ardent's O2 database provides us with a flexible, intelligent base for the FUSE control center," said Joyce. "One of the objectives of this mission is to make development and operations as efficient as possible. The O2 architecture is perfect for the complex command structure necessary to control both the satellite navigation equipment and the onboard telescope."

As the original developer of the SCL based on O2, ICS has been a key subcontractor in the FUSE project, providing design and development support for the FUSE satellite command and control software, the ground station control software, and the telemetry, tracking and commanding data system software (TT&C). ICS selected O2 for its data analysis systems because of its flexibility, portability and ability to manage complex data. O2 was selected as part of an effort to minimize costs by using commercial hardware and software.

"O2 has a sophisticated modeling environment with both the scalability and re-use characteristics we needed for quick, efficient development. O2 allows us to build object classes within the database, enabling us to not only model commands, but also to add the code to format the commands internally, saving us a significant amount of time," said Pat Cappelaere, President of ICS. "The time and resources required to build this type of system from scratch would be overwhelming, perhaps even prohibitive."

"Ardent's O2 object database is ideally suited to manage the real-time, mission critical, complex data modeling tasks like those inherent in controlling a satellite's systems," said Francois Bancilhon, vice president and general manager of Ardent's Object Technology business unit. "Even more importantly, in this day of cost-cutting and streamlining, it is encouraging to see The Johns Hopkins University and other academic institutions leveraging O2 technology to create cost-effective solutions in partnership with the government."

About O2

Ardent's O2 ODBMS is an open, standards-compliant object database designed to support complex, scaleable database applications. It combines standard database features with all of the benefits of an object data model. Ardent's Object Technology product line includes the O2 Object Database System and the JRB and CRB relational bindings for Java and C , which provide database independence and transparent database access for relational database applications.

Ardent's object technology partners include BEA Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens-Nixdorf, Iona Technologies, Rational, Symantec, Silicon Graphics, Verity and Sun. Customers include Clarks International, Renault, British Telecom, Bellcore, Xerox, Alcatel, Matra Systemes et Information, Rome Airport, Paradis Insurance Group, Thomson, Interface & Control Systems, Fujitsu, Motorola, Sun, National Semiconductor, Aerospatiale, France Telecom, NASA, Grolier Studio, Lucent, and the U.S. Army.

About Ardent Software

Ardent Software is a data management company with a range of software products, including database systems and data warehouse development tools. Its products include the O2 System(R), a high-performance object database management system; DataStage(R), a data warehouse development tool; and UniVerse(R) and UniData(R), extended relational database management systems for packaged business applications. With worldwide sales and service operations, as well as 1,000 resellers in more than 50 countries, Ardent is one of the top 100 software companies in the world. More than 50,000 customers and over 2,000,000 users in virtually every aspect of business and government use Ardent's products to overcome their most complex data management problems. Additional information is available on Ardent's web site at www.ardentsoftware.com.