Hidden Identification on Parts: Magnetic Machine-Readable Matrix Symbols

Have you ever seen a piece of spaceflight hardware? When you do, you will notice some letters and numbers etched or inscribed on it. All NASA parts have identification, usually expressed in terms of part number, serial number, and the like. In most cases, this identification is permanently marked directly on the part for tracking throughout its life cycle. The recently approved NASA Technical Standard 6002 and Handbook 6003 (found at ) added the matrix symbol to the identification scheme as shown in Figure 1. This put a checkerboard bar code on the part so that an optical scanner could read it. The intent was to make tracking parts as easy as checking out at the grocery store. The system works well as long as the matrix symbol is visible.