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STAFFORD-COVEY TASK GROUP BIOGRAPHIES
Col. James C. Adamson, U.S. Army (Ret.)
CEO, Monarch Precision, LLC, Consulting firm
Background: Astronaut (STS–28 & 43); President, Allied Signal Systems Technical Services Corporation, which later became Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. (retired, March 2001); Chief Operating Officer United Space Alliance (1995–1999). Current member, NASA Advisory Council Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness.
Maj. Gen. Bill Anders, USAF Reserve (Ret.)
Retired Chair and CEO of General Dynamics Corp. (1990–1994)
Background: Astronaut (Apollo 8); Executive Secretary of the Aeronautics & Space Council; Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Vice President of General Electric; U.S. Ambassador to Norway; Member, National Academy of Engineering; President, Heritage Flight Museum.
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Dr. Walter Broadnax
President Clark University, Atlanta, Ga.
Background: Just prior to coming to Clark, he was Dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington. Previously, he was Professor of Public Policy and Management in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., where he also directed The Bureau of Governmental Research.
RADM Walter H. Cantrell, USN (Ret.)
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
Background: Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Executive Director, Technology and Systems, and later President of Signal Processing Systems Division at Global Associates Limited; Program Director, Land Level Transfer Facility, Bath Iron Works, responsible for the design and construction of a $260M state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility.
Dr. Kathryn Clark
Vice President for Education at TIVY, Inc.
Background: Clark is also consultant in the fields of space, oceans and education. She consults for the Jean-Michel Cousteau Society, the National Marine Sanctuaries, and the Sea World—Hubbs Institute to enhance the study of oceans and marine wildlife and use the data for education and awareness of the environment of the seas.
Mr. Benjamin A. Cosgrove
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Senior Vice President, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group (Retired)
Background: 44 years at Boeing as engineer and manager associated with almost all Boeing jet aircraft programs, including chief project engineer and director of engineering for the 767 program. Current member, NASA Advisory Council Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness.
Mr. Richard O. Covey, USAF (Ret.)
Co-Chairman, NASA Return-to-Flight Task Group
Vice President, Support Operations, Boeing Homeland Security and Services
Background: Astronaut (STS–51l, STS–26, STS–38, STS–61); test pilot; held key management positions in the Astronaut Office and Flight Crew Operations.
Dan L. Crippen, Ph.D.
Former Director of the Congressional Budget Office
Background: Chief Counsel and Economic Policy Adviser to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Domestic Policy Advisor and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs; Senior Vice President of the consulting firm The Duberstein Group; Principal in the consulting firm Washington Counsel.
Mr. Joseph W. Cuzzupoli
Vice President and K–1 Program Manager, Kistler Aerospace Corporation
Background: Aerospace engineer and manager for over 40 years. Vice President and Program Manager for Space Shuttle Orbiter Project for Rockwell International during development and served earlier as an Assistant Program Manager on Apollo. Current Member, NAC Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness.
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Charles C. Daniel, Ph.D.
Engineering Consultant
Background: Over 35 years experience as an engineer and manager in the fields of space flight vehicle design, analysis, integration and test at the Marshall Space Flight Center—from Saturn V to ISS. He was SRB flight operations lead for STS–1 through STS–8 and Chief Engineer for Space Station. Current member, NASA Advisory Council Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness.
Richard Danzig, Ph.D.
A Director of National Semiconductor Corporation, Human Genome Sciences, and Saffron Hill Ventures
Background: Former Secretary and Under Secretary of the Navy. Former partner at the law firm of Latham and Watkins. Current Chairman of the Board of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Senior Fellow at the CNA Corporation, and member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Dr. Amy K. Donahue
An Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of Connecticut Institute of Public Affairs
Background: Under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, Donahue serves as Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator for Homeland Security. She teaches graduate courses in public organizations and management, policy analysis, intergovernmental relations, and research methods.
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Gen. Ron Fogleman, USAF Ret.
President and Chief Operating Officer of Durango Aerospace Incorporated
Background: Former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. Managed the Air Mobility Command and served as Commander and Chief, U.S. Transportation Command. Current member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Col. Gary S. Geyer, USAF (Ret.)
Consultant
Background: 35 years experience in space engineering and program management, primarily in senior positions in the government and industry. Served for 26 years with the National Reconnaissance Office. Named NRO 2000 Pioneer. Vice President for Lockheed Martin on major classified programs.
Maj. Gen. Ralph H. Jacobson, USAF (Ret.)
Consultant
Background: USAF Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Space Shuttle Development and Operations and later as Director of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. President Emeritus, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. Current member, NASA Advisory Council Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness.
Mr. Richard Kohrs
Chief Engineer, Kistler Aerospace Corporation
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Background: Over 40 years of experience in systems engineering and integration of NASA Apollo, Shuttle, and Space Station programs. Managed the daily engineering, processing, and operations activities of the Shuttle program from 1985 through 1989. Director of Space Station Freedom in 1989 with overall responsibility for development and operation. Prior to joining Kistler in 1997, he was Director of the ANSER Center for International Aerospace Cooperation.
Susan M. Livingstone
Policy & Management Consultant
Background: She serves as a member of the National Security Studies Board of Advisors (Maxwell School, Syracuse University), is again a board member of the Procurement Round Table and was appointed to NASA's Return-to-Flight Task Group for safe return of Shuttle flight operations.
Mr. James D. Lloyd
Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA
Background: Extensive background in system safety engineering and management for U.S. Army research and development programs. Came to NASA in aftermath of Challenger to help reconstitute the NASA safety and mission assurance program. Recently selected as the Deputy AA for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.
Lt. General Forrest S. McCartney, USAF (Ret.)
Consultant
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Background: Former Director of Kennedy Space Center (1986–1992). Lockheed Martin Vice President for Launch Operations, responsible for the Atlas, Titan, and Athena launch operations/activities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base. USAF Program Director for several major satellite programs. Current Vice Chairman, NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
Rosemary O'Leary J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of public administration & political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
Background: An elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, she was recently a senior Fulbright scholar conducting research on environmental policy in Malaysia. O'Leary was professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University and co-founder and co-director of the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute.
Mr. David Raspet
Consultant
Background: Former senior manager, USAF, McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing. Experiences include leading the Future Imaging Architecture Space Segment IPT, and working on EELV Program Mission Assurance and Titan IVB–30 Readiness.
Dr. Decatur B. Rogers, P.E.
Dean, Tennessee State University College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science
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Background: Since 1988, Dr. Rogers has served as the Dean, College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn. Rogers served in professorship and dean positions at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, and Federal City College, Washington.
Mr. Sy Rubenstein
Aerospace Consultant
Background: Former Rockwell International and McDonnell Douglas Employee. Served as President Rockwell International Space Systems Division responsible for Space Shuttle and Space Station activities. Former Vice President of Engineering and Orbiter Chief Engineer during the development and early operations of the Space Shuttle. Over 25 years of experience in the design, development and operation of manned space systems.
Mr. Robert Sieck
Aerospace Consultant
Background: Former Director of Shuttle Processing, Kennedy Space Center. Served as Launch Director for 52 Space Shuttle launches and has been an engineer on aerospace projects including Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. Current member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
Lt. General Thomas Stafford, USAF (Ret.)
Co-Chairman, NASA Return-to-Flight Task Group
President, Stafford, Burke & Hecker Inc., technical consulting
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Background: Astronaut (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, CDR of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project); Commandant of the USAF Flight Test Center; Deputy Chief of Staff, Research, Development and Acquisition at USAF HQ; served as a consultant to the President in various capacities and to NASA for the coordination of Shuttle-Mir activities. Current Chairman, NASA Advisory Council Task Force on International Space Station Operational Readiness.
Tom Tate
Vice president of legislative affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA)
Background: With AIA, the trade association representing the Nation's manufacturers of commercial, military and business aircraft, helicopters, aircraft engines, missiles, spacecraft, and related components, he directs the activities of the association's Office of Legislative Affairs.
Mr. William Wegner
Consultant
Background: Naval nuclear propulsion authority. Deputy Director to Admiral Rickover in Nuclear Navy Program. Founded Basic Energy Technology Associates and consulted in the area of civilian nuclear power plant safety. Board of Directors, Detroit Edison.
Mr. David Lengyel
Executive Secretary, Return-to-Flight Task Group
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Background: Executive Director of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. Former Manager of NASA's Moscow Technical Liaison Office. Several years' experience with ISS, Shuttle-Mir Programs. Extensive knowledge of Columbia Accident Investigation Board work.
STAFFORD-COVEY TASK GROUP MEMBERS
Colonel James C. Adamson, U.S. Army (Ret.):
CEO, Monarch Precision, LLC, Consulting firm
Colonel Adamson, a former astronaut, has an extensive background in aerodynamics as well as business management. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University. He returned to West Point as an Assistant Professor of Aerodynamics until selected to attend the Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md. in 1979. In 1981 he became Aerodynamics Officer for the Space Shuttle Operational Flight Test Program at the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center. Colonel Adamson became an astronaut in 1984 and flew two missions, one aboard Columbia (STS–28) and the second aboard Atlantis (STS–43).
After retiring from NASA in 1992, he created his own consulting firm, Monarch Precision, and was then recruited by Lockheed as President/CEO of Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company. In 1995 he helped create United Space Alliance and became their first Chief Operating Officer, where he remained until 1999. In late 1999, Colonel Adamson was again recruited to serve as President/CEO of Allied Signal Technical Services Corporation, which later became Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. Retiring from Honeywell in 2001, Colonel Adamson resumed part-time consulting with his own company, Monarch Precision, LLC. In addition to corporate board positions, he has served as a member of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on Shuttle-Mir Rendezvous and Docking Missions and is currently a member of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on International Space Station Operational Readiness.
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Maj. Gen. Bill Anders, USAF Reserve (Ret.):
Upon graduation in 1955, as an electrical engineer, from the United States Naval Academy, General Anders earned his pilot's wings in 1956. He received a graduate degree in nuclear engineering from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Institute of Technology while concurrently graduating with honors in aeronautical engineering from Ohio State University. In 1963, he was selected for the astronaut corps. He was the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 8 and backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 11. Among other successful public and private endeavors, General Anders has served as a Presidential appointee to the Aeronautics & Space Council, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (where he was the first chairman), and as U.S. Ambassador to Norway.
Subsequent to his public service, he joined the General Dynamics Corporation, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (1990–1993) and was awarded the National Security Industrial Association's ''CEO of the Year'' award.
During his distinguished career, General Anders was the co-holder of several world flight records and has received numerous awards including the USAF, NASA, and Atomic Energy Commission's Distinguished Service Medals. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and the Experimental Aircraft Association as well as the founder and President of the Heritage Flight Museum.
Dr. Walter Broadnax:
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He is President of Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. Just prior to coming to Clark, he was Dean of the, School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington. Previously, he was Professor of Public Policy and Management in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., where he also directed The Bureau of Governmental Research. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty, Broadnax served as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; President, Center for Governmental Research, Inc., in Rochester, N.Y.; President, New York State Civil Service Commission; Lecturer and Director, Innovations in State and Local Government Programs in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Senior Staff Member, The Brookings Institution; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Director, Children, Youth and Adult Services, State of Kansas and Professor, The Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, Va.
He is one of America's leading scholar-practitioners in the field of public policy and management. He has published widely in the field and served in leadership positions in various professional associations: American Political Science Association, American Public Personnel Association, Association of Public Policy and Management, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, National Association of State Personnel Executives and the American Society for Public Administration.
Broadnax received his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, his B.A. from Washburn University and his M.P.A from the University of Kansas. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a former trustee of the Academy's Board. In March, he was installed as President of the American Society for Public Administration for (2003–2004). He is a member of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees, Harvard University's Taubman Center Advisory Board and United States Comptroller General Advisory Board. He has also served on several corporate and nonprofit boards of directors including the CNA Corporation, Keycorp Bank, Medecision Inc., Rochester General Hospital, Rochester United Way, the Ford Foundation/Harvard University Innovations in State and Local Government Program, the Maxwell School Advisory Board and the National Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Safety and Juvenile Justice Reform in the District of Columbia.
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RADM Walter H. Cantrell, USN (Ret.):
Admiral Cantrell has a long history of successfully solving high profile, technical issues. He is frequently asked to conduct reviews of complex, politically sensitive programs and to make recommendations for corrective actions.
He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Science. He also received a Master's degree in Naval Architecture, Marine and Naval Engineering and a NavEng (Professional Degree) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He is a graduate of the Senior Officials in National Security Program, JFK School of Government at Harvard. After an extensive and distinguished naval career, he retired in 1995.
He then joined Global Associates Limited as Executive Director for Technology and Systems. From 1996–1997 he was President of the Signal Processing Systems Division. Most recently, from 1997–2001, he was Program Director, Land Level Transfer Facility, Bath Iron Works, and was responsible for the design and construction of a $260M state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility. Admiral Cantrell currently serves on NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
Dr. Kathryn Clark:
Kathryn Clark is the Vice President for Education at TIVY, Inc., an exciting game that combines strategy and mathematics in a manner that makes learning fun. Organized competitions for the game have provided a strong motivation for students to improve their skills, resulting in increased standardized math scores. Baseball TIVY has competitions at professional baseball games, with competitors and their parents receiving free tickets to the game. Space TIVY has a National Tournament on Space Day at the National Air & Space Museum the 1st Thursday in May each year.
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Clark is also consultant in the fields of space, oceans and education. She consults for the Jean-Michel Cousteau Society, the National Marine Sanctuaries, and the Sea World—Hubbs Institute to enhance the study of oceans and marine wildlife and use the data for education and awareness of the environment of the seas.
She recently completed a job for the Michigan Virtual High School to aid in the development of the Math, Science and Technology Academy. She worked on the vision and mission of the Academy as well as the development of partners as they increase the scope and reach of the program to a national and international scale. Clark recently resigned from her job as NASA's Chief Scientist for the Human Exploration & Development of Space Enterprise.
Having completed a two-year term as NASA's Chief Scientist for the International Space Station Program, she became the HEDS Chief Scientist in August 2000. She was on leave from the University of Michigan Medical School. As Chief Scientist, Clark worked with scientists from all other areas of NASA to communicate research needs and look for possible collaboration among the science programs at NASA. She also assisted with education and outreach activities related to any human space flight endeavors, including the International Space Station, the Shuttle, any expendable launch vehicles intended to further human endeavors in space, and future missions to the Moon and Mars. Clark's particular interest is in ''Human Factors;'' all the elements necessary for the health, safety, and efficiency of crews involved in long duration space flight. These include training, interfacing with machines and robotics, biological countermeasures for the undesirable physical changes associated with space flight, and the psychological issues that may occur in response to the closed, dangerous environments while traveling in space or living on other planets.
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She received both her Master's and Doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan and then joined the faculty in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in 1993. She also served as the Deputy Director of the NASA Commercial Space Center, The Center for Microgravity Automation Technology from 1996–1998. CMAT provides imaging technology for use on the Space Station. The primary commercial focus of that Center is on using high fidelity imaging technology for science and education.
Clark's scientific interests are focused on neuromuscular development and adaptation to altered environments. Experiments are performed at the tissue level and include immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization of skeletal muscle and spinal cord grown both in vivo and in vitro. Clark's experience with NASA began with a neuromuscular development study (NIH.R1) that flew on STS–66 in November of 1994. These experiments were repeated and augmented (NIH.R2) on STS–70 in July of 1995. She was also involved in the Neurolab project flown on STS–90 in May of 1998 and the aforementioned ladybug experiment that flew on STS–93 with Commander Eileen Collins.
Clark is the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of Board of Control of Michigan Tech University, the Chair of the Board of Visitors of Western Reserve Academy, and serves on the boards of The Space Day Foundation and Orion's Quest, both education oriented not-for-profit organizations.
She is a past member of the Board of Directors of Women in Aerospace, is an airplane pilot and member of the 99's (the International Society of Women Pilots), and an avid cyclist, swimmer, and cross-country skier. She owns a jazz club in Ann Arbor. She is married to Dr. Robert Ike, a rheumatologist at the University of Michigan Medical School.
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Mr. Benjamin A. Cosgrove:
Consultant
Benjamin Cosgrove has a long and distinguished career as an engineer and manager associated with most of Boeing jet aircraft programs. His extensive background in aerospace stress and structures includes having served as a stress engineer or structural unit chief on the B–47, B–52, KC–135, 707, 727, 737, and 747 jetliners. He was Chief Engineer of the 767.
He was honored by Aviation Week and Space Technology for his role in converting the Boeing 767 transport design from a three-man to a two-man cockpit configuration and received the Ed Wells Technical Management Award for addressing aging aircraft issues. He received the National Aeronautics Association's prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 1991 for his lifetime contributions to commercial aviation safety and for technical achievement. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of both the AIAA and England's Royal Aeronautical Society. Having retired from his position as Senior Vice President of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group in 1993 after 44 years of service, he is now a consultant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering and received an honorary Doctorate of Engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1993. Cosgrove is a member of the NASA Advisory Committee's Task Force on International Space Station Operational Readiness.
Mr. Richard O. Covey, USAF (Ret.):
Co-Chair, Return-to-Flight Task Group
Vice President, Support Operations, Boeing Homeland Security and Services
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Richard Covey, a veteran of four Space Shuttle flights, has over 35 years of aerospace experience in both the private and public sectors. He piloted STS–26, the first flight after the Challenger accident, and was commander of STS–61, the acclaimed Endeavor/Hubble Space Telescope first service and repair mission.
Covey is a highly decorated combat pilot and Outstanding Graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Sciences from the USAF Academy and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University.
He served as the USAF Joint Test Force Director for F–15 electronic warfare systems developmental and production verification testing. During his distinguished 16-year career at NASA, he held key management positions in the Astronaut Office and Flight Crew Operations Directorate at JSC. Covey left NASA and retired from the Air Force in 1994.
In his position at Boeing, his organization provides system engineering, facility/system maintenance and operations, and spacecraft operations and launch support to commercial, Department of Defense and other U.S. government space and communication programs throughout the world. Prior to his current position, Covey was Vice President of Boeing's Houston Operations.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards such as: two Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Department of Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, five Air Force Distinguished Flying Crosses, 16 Air Medals, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the Goddard and Collier Trophies for his role on STS–61.
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Dan L. Crippen, Ph.D.:
Former Director of the Congressional Budget Office
Dr. Dan Crippen has a strong reputation for objective and insightful analysis. He served, until January 3rd of this year, as the fifth Director of the Congressional Budget Office. His public service positions also include Chief Counsel and Economic Policy Adviser to the Senate Majority Leader (1981–1985); Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (1987–1988); and Domestic Policy Advisor and Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (1988–1989), where he advised the President on all issues relating to domestic policy, including the preparation and presentation of the federal budget. He has provided service to several national commissions, including membership on the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement.
Crippen has substantial experience in the private sector as well. Before joining the Congressional Budget Office, he was a principal with Washington Counsel, a law and consulting firm. He has also served as Executive Director of the Merrill Lynch International Advisory Council and as a founding partner and Senior Vice President of The Duberstein Group.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Dakota in 1974, a Master of Arts from Ohio State University in 1976, and Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Finance from Ohio State in 1981.
Mr. Joseph W. Cuzzupoli:
Vice President and K–1 Program Manager, Kistler Aerospace Corporation
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Joseph Cuzzupoli brings to the Task Group more than 40 years of aerospace engineering and managerial experience. He began his career with General Dynamics as Launch Director (1959–1962), and then became Manager of Manufacturing/Engineering and Director of Test Operations for Rockwell International (1962–1966). Cuzzupoli directed all functions in the building and testing of Apollo 6, Apollo 8, Apollo 9 and Apollo 12 flights as Rockwell's Assistant Program Manager for the Apollo Program; he later was Vice President of Operations. In 1978, he became the Vice President and Program Manager for the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project and was responsible for 5000 employees in the development of the Shuttle.
He left Rockwell in 1980 and consulted on various aerospace projects for NASA centers until 1991 when he joined American Pacific Corporation as Senior Vice President. In his current position at Kistler Aerospace (Vice President and Program Manager, 1996–present) he has primary responsibility for design and production of the K–1 reusable launch vehicle. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Maine Maritime Academy, a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and a Certificate of Management/Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council's Task Force on Shuttle-Mir Rendezvous and Docking Missions and is a current member of the NASA Advisory Council's Task Force on International Space Station Operational Readiness.
Charles C. Daniel, Ph.D.:
Engineering Consultant
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Dr. Charles Daniel has over 35 years experience as an engineer and manager in the fields of space flight vehicle design, analysis, integration and testing; he has been involved in aerospace programs from Saturn V to the International Space Station. In 1968, he began his career at Marshall Space Flight Center where he supported Saturn Instrument Unit operations for Apollo 11, 12, and 13. In 1971, he performed avionics integration work for the Skylab program and spent the next decade developing avionics for the solid rocket boosters. He was SRB flight operations lead in that activity.
Daniel worked as part of the original Space Station Skunk Works for definition of the initial space station concept and developed the Master engineering schedule for the Station.
Following the Challenger accident, he led the evaluation of all Hazards Analyses associated with Shuttle and coordinated acceptance analyses associated with the modifications to the SRMs and SRBs. During Space Station Freedom development, he was the avionics lead and served as MSFC lead for Level II assembly and configuration development. Dr. Daniel was part of the initial group to define the concept for Russian participation in the Space Station Restructure activity and later returned to MSFC as Chief Engineer for Space Station.
Daniel holds a Doctorate degree in Engineering and has completed postgraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley and MIT. He was a member of the NAC Task Force on Shuttle-Mir Rendezvous and Docking Operations and is a member of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force, ISS Operational Readiness.
Richard Danzig, J.D., Ph.D.:
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A Director of National Semiconductor Corporation, Human Genome Sciences, and Saffron Hill Ventures
Dr. Richard Danzig, former Under Secretary of the Navy (1993–1997) and Secretary of the Navy (1998–2001), has vast and varied expertise in law, business, military and government operations, as well as national service. He is currently a Director of the National Semiconductor Corporation and a Director of Human Genome Sciences. He also serves as a consultant to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies regarding response to terrorism and is Chairman of the Board of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment.
Danzig holds a J.D. degree from Yale Law School and Bachelor and Doctorate of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White. In the 1970s, he was an Associate Professor of Law at Stanford University, a ,Prize Fellow at Harvard and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow. He later served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and then as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Logistics. Between 1981 and 1993, he was a partner in the law firm of Latham and Watkins, co-authored a book on national service, and taught a law class at Georgetown University Law School. He has written a book, Joseph's Way, on innovation in large organizations, which will be published in 2004.
During his distinguished public career at DOD, Danzig received the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest Department of Defense civilian award, three times. He is a Member of the NASA Advisory Council.
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Dr. Amy K. Donahue, Ph.D.:
Dr. Amy K. Donahue is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of Connecticut Institute of Public Affairs.
She teaches graduate courses in public organizations and management, policy analysis, intergovernmental relations, and research methods. Donahue's research focuses on the productivity of emergency services organizations and on the nature of citizen demand for public safety services. She is author of published work about the design, management, and finance of fire departments and other public agencies. Donahue serves as a consultant for local governments seeking to improve the structure and management of their fire and emergency services.
Under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, Donahue serves as Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator for Homeland Security. She functions as NASA's liaison with the Department of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council. She also works within NASA to discern opportunities to contribute to homeland security efforts government-wide, including evaluating existing projects and identifying new opportunities for interagency collaboration targeted at homeland security. She recently spent three months in the field in Texas managing the Columbia recovery operation.
Previously, Donahue was a senior research associate at the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. She conducted research and analysis in support of the Government Performance Project, a five-year initiative funded by the Pew Charitable,Trusts to evaluate comprehensively performance of Federal, State, and local government management systems. She developed conceptual models and evaluation criteria, designed written survey instruments for administration to governments and agencies, and conducted data analysis.
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Donahue has 20 years of field experience and training in an array of emergency services-related fields, including managing a 911 communications center, and working as a firefighter and emergency medical technician in Fairbanks, Ala., and upstate New York.
As an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, she spent four years on active duty in the 6th Infantry Division, where her positions included Main Support Battalion Training and Operations Officer, Officer-in-Charge of the division's Forward Surgical Team, and Chief of Mobilization, Education, Training and Security at Bassett Army Hospital.
Donahue holds her Ph.D. in Public Administration and her M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and her B.A. in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University.
She has been honored with the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration Dissertation Award, the Syracuse University Doctoral Prize, the Jon Ben Snow Graduate Fellowship in Nonprofit Management at Syracuse University, the Arthur F. Buddington Award for Excellence in the Earth Sciences at Princeton University, and several military awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, the Expert Field Medical Badge, Air Assault Badge, and Basic Military Parachutist Badge.
General Ron Fogleman, USAF (Ret.):
President and Chief Operating Officer of Durango Aerospace Incorporated
General Fogleman has vast experience in air and space operations, expertise in long-range programming and strategic planning, and extensive training in fighter and mobility aircraft. He served in the USAF for 34 years, culminating in his appointment as Chief of Staff, until his retirement in 1997. Fogleman has served as a military advisor to the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council and the President.
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Among other advisory boards, he is a member of the National Defense Policy Board, the NASA Advisory Council, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the congressionally directed Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization. He is chairing a National Research Council Committee on Aeronautics Research and Technology for Vision 2050: An Integrated Transportation System.
Fogleman received a Master's Degree in Military History from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Master's Degree in Political Science from Duke University, and graduated from the Army War College. He has been awarded several military decorations including: Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; both the Army and Navy Distinguished Service Medals; Silver Star; Purple Heart; Meritorious Service Medal; and two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
Col. Gary S. Geyer, USAF (Ret.):
Consultant
Colonel Geyer has 35 years of experience in space engineering and program management, primarily in senior positions in the government and industry that emphasize management and system engineering. He has been responsible for all aspects of systems' success, including schedule, cost, and technical performance.
He served for 26 years with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and was the NRO System Program Office Director for two major programs, which encompassed the design, manufacture, test, launch, and operation of several of our nation's most important reconnaissance satellites. Geyer received the NRO Pioneer Award 2000 for his contributions as one of 46 pioneers of the NRO responsible for our nation's information superiority that significantly contributed to the end of the cold war.
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Following his career at the NRO, Geyer was Vice President for a major classified program at Lockheed Martin and responsible for all aspects of program and mission success. His other assignments have included Chief Engineer for another nationally vital classified program and Deputy for Analysis for the Titan IV program. Geyer is teaching a Space Design course and a System Engineering/Program Management course at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Ohio State University, arid a Master's in Electrical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Maj. Gen. Ralph H. Jacobson, USAF (Ret.):
Consultant
During General Jacobson's 47 years of distinguished military and civilian service, he has developed an expertise in aerospace program management, satellite operations, business, and budget management. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956, earned his pilot's wings in 1957, received a Master's Degree in Astronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1962, and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from The George Washington University in 1966.
His early USAF assignments included tours as: a tactical airlift pilot, including a one-year assignment in Vietnam; the project officer for the Titan II inertial guidance system; and an action officer on the Air Staff in the Pentagon. Beginning in 1970; he held a series of assignments in the Nation's space program, which included several technical program management responsibilities and command responsibility for satellite operations.
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As a Brig. Gen., he was assigned to the Space Shuttle Program Office at NASA Headquarters and later became the Air Staff Officer responsible for budget development for the Air Force Space Program. In 1983 he became Director of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, from which he retired in 1987. His military decorations include the Defense, National Intelligence Community, and Air Force Distinguished Service medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross. After his military retirement, Jacobson became President and Chief Executive Officer of The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory where he served in that capacity until 1997.
He is a member of many advisory groups and boards, including the Strategic Advisory Group, U.S. Strategic Command, Sandia National Security Advisory Panel, Space Studies Board of the National Research Council, and is a Trustee, United States Naval Academy Foundation. Jacobson is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as a Member of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness and a former member of the NAC Task Force on Shuttle-Mir Operational Readiness.
Mr. Richard Kohrs:
Chief Engineer, Kistler Aerospace Corporation
Richard Kohrs has over 40 years of experience in aerospace systems engineering, stress analysis, and integration. He has held senior management positions in major NASA programs from Apollo to the Space Station.
As a member of the Apollo Spacecraft Program's Systems Engineering and Integration Office, he developed the Spacecraft Operations Data Book system that documented systems and subsystem performance, and was the control database for developing flight rules, crew procedures, and overall performance of the Apollo Spacecraft.
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After Apollo, he became Manager of System Integration for the Space Shuttle Program; Deputy Manager, Space Shuttle Program; and then Deputy Director of the Space Shuttle Program at Johnson Space Center. As Deputy Director, he was responsible for the daily engineering, processing, and operations activities of the Shuttle program and he developed an extensive background in Shuttle systems integration. In 1989, he became the Director of Space Station Freedom, with overall responsibility for its development and operation.
After years of public service, he left NASA to become the Director of the ANSER Center for International Aerospace Cooperation (1994–1997). Kohrs joined Kistler Aerospace in 1997 as Chief Engineer. His primary responsibilities include vehicle integration, design specifications, design data books, interface control, vehicle weight, performance, and engineering review board matters. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1956.
Susan Morrissey Livingstone:
Susan Livingstone has served her nation for more than 30 years in both government and civic roles. From July 2001 to February 2003, she served as Under Secretary of the Navy. As ''COO'' to the Secretary of the Navy, she had a broad executive management portfolio (e.g., programming, planning, budgeting, business processes, organizational alignment), but also focused on Naval space, information technology and intelligence/compartmented programs; integration of Navy-Marine Corps capabilities; audit, IG and criminal investigative programs; and civilian personnel programs.
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Livingstone is a policy and management consultant and also serves as a member of the National Security Studies Board of Advisors (Maxwell School, Syracuse University), is again a board member of the Procurement Round Table and was appointed to NASA's Return-to-Flight Task Group for safe return of Shuttle flight operations.
Prior to serving as Under Secretary of the Navy, Livingstone was CEO of the Association of the United States Army and deputy chairman of its Council of Trustees. She also served as a vice president and board member of the Procurement Round Table, and as a consultant and panel chairman to the Defense Science Board (on ''logistics transformation'').
From 1993 to 1998, Livingstone served the American Red Cross HQ as Vice President of Health and Safety Services, Acting Senior Vice President for Chapter Services and as a consultant for Armed Forces Emergency Services.
As Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Logistics and Environment from 1989 to 1993, she was responsible for a wide range of programs including military construction, installation management, Army logistics programs, base realignment and closures, energy and environmental issues, domestic disaster relief and restoration of public infrastructure to the people of Kuwait following operation Desert Storm. She also was decision and acquisition management authority for the DOD chemical warfare materiel destruction program.
From 1981 to 1989, Livingstone served at the Veterans Administration in a number of positions including Associate Deputy Administrator for Logistics and Associate Deputy Administrator for Management. She served as the VA's Senior Acquisition Official and also directed and managed the Nation's largest medical construction program. Prior to her Executive Branch service, she worked for more than nine years in the Legislative branch on the personal staffs of both a Senator and two congressmen.
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Livingstone graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1968 with an A.B. degree and completed an M.A. in Political Science at the University of Montana in 1972. She also spent two years in postgraduate studies at Tufts University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Livingstone has received numerous awards for her community and national service, including the highest civilian awards from the NRO, VA, and the Departments of the Army and Navy. She is also is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Award for Outstanding Public Service.
Mr. James D. Lloyd:
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA Ex-Officio Member
James Lloyd has extensive experience in safety engineering and risk management, and has supported a number of Blue Ribbon panels relating to mishaps and safety problems throughout his career. He began his career after an intern-training period as a system safety engineer with the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command in St. Louis.
He transferred to its parent headquarters, the Army Materiel Command (AMC) in 1973 and, after serving several safety engineering roles was appointed as the Chief of the Program Evaluation Division in the Command's Safety Office, where he assured the adequacy of safety programs for AMC organizations.
In 1979, he continued his career as a civilian engineer with the AMC Field Safety Activity in Charlestown, IN, where he directed worldwide safety engineering, evaluation and training support. In 1987, a year after the Shuttle Challenger disaster, Lloyd transferred from the U.S. Army to NASA to help the agency rebuild its safety mission assurance program. He was instrumental in fulfilling several of the recommendations issued by the Rogers' Commission, which had investigated the Challenger mishap. After the Shuttle returned to flight with the mission of STS–26, Lloyd moved to the Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston, Va., where he served in various roles culminating in being appointed as the Program's Product Assurance Manager.
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In 1993, he became Director, Safety and Risk Management Division in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, serving as NASA's ''Safety Director'' and was appointed to his present position in early 2003. He serves also as an ex-officio member of the NAC Task Force on ISS Operational Readiness. Lloyd holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, with honors, from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., and a Master of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station.
Lt. General Forrest S. McCartney, USAF (Ret.):
Vice Chairman of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
During General McCartney's distinguished USAF career, he held the position of Program Director for several major satellite programs, was Commander of the Ballistic Missile Organization (responsible for Minuteman and Peacekeeper development), Commander of Air Force Space Division and Vice Commander, Air Force Space Command.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He was recipient of the General Thomas D. White Space Trophy in 1984 and the 1987 Military Astronautical Trophy.
Following the Challenger accident in late 1986, McCartney was assigned by the USAF to NASA and served as the Director of Kennedy Space Center until 1992. He received numerous awards, including NASA's Distinguished Service Medal and Presidential Rank Award, the National Space Club Goddard Memorial Trophy, AIAA Von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management.
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After 40 years of military and civil service, McCartney became a consultant to industry, specializing in the evaluation of hardware failure/flight readiness. In 1994, he joined Lockheed Martin as the Astronautics Vice President for Launch Operations. He retired from Lockheed Martin in 2001 and is currently the Vice Chairman of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
McCartney has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the USAF Institute of Technology, and an honorary Doctorate from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Rosemary O'Leary J.D., Ph.D.:
Rosemary O'Leary is Professor of Public Administration and Political Science, and Coordinator of the Ph.D. Program in Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. An elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, she was recently a senior Fulbright scholar conducting research on environmental policy in Malaysia.
Previously O'Leary was professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University and co-founder and co-director of the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute. She has served as the director of policy and planning for a state environmental agency and has worked as an environmental attorney.
She has worked as a consultant to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the International City/County Management Association, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences.
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O'Leary is the author or editor of five books and more than 75 articles on environmental management, environmental policy, public management, dispute resolution, bureaucratic politics, and law and public policy. She has won seven national research awards, including Best Book in Public and Nonprofit Management for 2000 (given by the Academy of Management), Best Book in Environmental Management and Policy for 1999 (given by the American Society for Public Administration), and the Mosher Award, which she won twice, for best article by an academician published in Public Administration Review.
O'Leary was recently awarded the Syracuse University Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, the highest research award at the university. She has won eight teaching awards as well, including the national Excellence in Teaching Award given by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, and she was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given by the American Society for Public Administration's Section on Environment and Natural Resources Administration. O'Leary has served as chair of the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association, and as the chair of the Section on Environment and Natural Resources Administration of the American Society for Public Administration.
Mr. David Raspet:
Engineering Consultant
David Raspet is an expert in national security space architectures, payloads, avionics, space electrical power development, and integration, in addition to his experiences as a manager in a wide variety of military and commercial programs. He is currently a consultant to the USAF EELV Program Office, where he assists in defining the mission assurance program and develops enhanced program management methods. In 2002, he was responsible for the independent review of Titan IVB–30 readiness and the spacecraft/launch vehicle integration.
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Prior public and private sector experience includes: Future Imagining Architecture Space Segment IPT Lead—Boeing; FIA Mission Payload IPT Lead, Low Altitude Demonstration System Program Director, Delta IV Program Director, Director of Flight Systems—McDonnell Douglas; Vice Director, Secretary of the Air Force Special Projects—Air Force; Deputy Director, Launch and Support Operations—Air Force.
Raspet received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Mississippi State University and his Master's degree in Electro-Optical Engineering Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Dr. Decatur B. Rogers, P.E.:
Dean Tennessee State University College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science
Since 1988, Dr. Rogers has served as the Dean, College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn. Rogers served in professorship and dean positions at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, and Federal City College, Washington.
Rogers holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University; Masters' in Engineering Management and Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University; and a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee State University.
Mr. Sy Rubenstein:
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Aerospace Consultant
Sy Rubenstein was a major contributor to the design, development and operation of the Space Shuttle and has been involved in commercial and government projects for more than 35 years. As an employee of Rockwell International, the prime contractor for the Shuttle, he was the Director of System Engineering, Chief Engineer, Program Manager and Division President during twenty years of space programs.
He has received the NASA Public Service Medal, the NASA Medal for Exceptional Engineering and the AIAA Space Systems Award for his contributions to manned space development. Rubenstein, a leader, innovator and problem solver, is a fellow of the AIAA and the AAS.
Mr. Robert Sieck:
Aerospace Consultant
Robert Sieck, the former Director of Shuttle Processing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), has an extensive background in Shuttle systems, testing, launch, landing and processing. He joined NASA in 1964 as a Gemini Spacecraft Systems engineer and then served as an Apollo Spacecraft test team project engineer. He later became the Shuttle Orbiter test team project engineer, and in 1976 was named the Engineering Manager for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests at Dryden Flight Research Facility in California. He was the Chief Shuttle Project Engineer for STS–1 through STS–7 and became the first KSC Shuttle Flow Director in 1983. He was appointed Director, Launch and Landing Operations in 1984, where he served as Shuttle Launch Director for 11 missions.
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He served as Deputy Director of Shuttle Operations from 1992 until January 1995 and was responsible for assisting with the management and technical direction of the Shuttle program at KSC. He also retained his position as Shuttle Launch Director, a responsibility he had held from February 1984 through August 1985, and then from December 1986 to January 1995. He was Launch Director for STS–26R and all subsequent Shuttle missions through STS–63. Sieck served as Launch Director for 52 Space Shuttle launches.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Virginia in 1960 and obtained additional postgraduate credits in mathematics, physics, meteorology, and management at both Texas A&M and the Florida Institute of Technology. He has received numerous NASA and industry commendations, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Sieck joined the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel as a consultant in March 1999.
Lt. General Thomas Stafford, USAF (Ret.):
Co-Chair, Return-to-Flight Task Group
President, Stafford, Burke & Hacker Inc., technical consulting
General Stafford, an honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, joined the space program in 1962 and flew four missions during the Gemini and Apollo programs. He piloted Gemini 6 and Gemini 9, and traveled to the moon as Commander of Apollo 10. He was assigned as head of the astronaut group in June 1969, responsible for the selection of flight crews for projects Apollo and Skylab.
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In 1971, Stafford was assigned as Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations at the NASA Manned Spaceflight Center. His last mission, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975, achieved the first rendezvous between American and Soviet spacecrafts.
He left NASA in 1975 to head the Air Force Test Flight Center at Edwards Air Force Base and in 1978 assumed duties as Deputy Chief of Staff, Research Development and Acquisition, USAF Headquarters in Washington. He retired from government service in 1979 and became an aerospace consultant.
Stafford has served as Defense Advisor to former President Ronald Reagan; and headed The Synthesis Group, which was tasked with plotting the U.S. return to the moon and eventual journey to Mars.
Throughout his careers in the Air Force and NASA space program, he has received many awards and medals including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1993. He served on the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Committee on NASA Scientific and Technological Program Reviews, and the Space Policy Advisory Council.
He was Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on Shuttle-Mir Rendezvous and Docking Missions. He is currently the Chairman of the NASA Advisory Council Task Force on International Space Station Operational Readiness.
Tom Tate:
Tom Tate was Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the trade association representing the Nation's manufacturers of commercial, military and business aircraft, helicopters, aircraft engines, missiles, spacecraft, and related components and equipment. Joining AIA in 1988, Tate directs the activities of the Association's Office of Legislative Affairs, which monitors policy issues affecting the industry and prepares testimony that communicates industry's viewpoint to Congress.
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Before joining AIA, Tate served on the staff of the House of Representative's Committee on Science and Technology for 14 years. Joining the staff in 1973 as a technical consultant and counsel to the House Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications, he was appointed Deputy Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Energy Research and Development in 1976. In 1978, Tate returned to the Space Subcommittee as Chief Counsel, and in 1981 he became Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Committee until joining AIA.
Tate worked for the Space Division of Rockwell International in Downey, Calif., from 1962 to 1973 in various engineering and marketing capacities and was Director of Space Operations when he departed the company in 1973. He worked on numerous programs, including the Gemini Paraglider, Apollo, Apollo/Soyuz, and Shuttle Programs.
Tate worked for RCA's Missile and Surface Radar Division in Moorestown, N.J. from 1958 to 1962 in the project office of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) program being built for the USAF. From 1957 to 1958, Tate served in the Army as an artillery and guided missile officer at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Tate received a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Scranton in 1956 and a Law degree from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, Calif., in 1970. In his final year of law school, his fellow students awarded him the Gold Book Award as the most outstanding student. In 1991, he received the Frank J. O'Hara award for distinguished alumni in science and technology from the University of Scranton.
Tate is a member of numerous aerospace and defense associations including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the National Space Club, and the National Space Institute, where he serves as an advisor. He also served as a permanent civilian member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Senior Executive Service Salary and Performance Review Board.
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William Wegner:
Consultant
Wegner graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1948. He subsequently received Masters' degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Webb Institute in New York. In 1956 he was selected by Admiral Hyman Rickover to join the Navy's nuclear program and was sent to MIT, where he received his Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering. After serving in a number of field positions, including that of Nuclear Power Superintendent at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, he returned to Washington. He served as Deputy Director to Admiral Rickover in the Naval Nuclear Program for 16 years and was awarded the DOD Distinguished Service Award and the Atomic Energy Commission's Distinguished Service Award.
In 1979, he retired from government service, and formed Basic Energy Technology Associates with three fellow naval retirees. During its 10 successful years of operation, it provided technical services to over 25 nuclear utilities and other nuclear-related activities. He has served on a number of panels including the National Academy of Sciences that studied the safety of Department of Energy nuclear reactors. From 1989 to 1992, he provided technical assistance to the Secretary of Energy on nuclear-related matters. He has provided technical services to over 50 nuclear facilities. Wegner served as a Director of the Board of Directors of Detroit Edison from 1990 until retiring in 1999.
Mr. David Lengyel:
Executive Secretary, Return-to-Flight Task Group
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Since February 2003, Lengyel has served on the administrative staff of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). Prior to this he was Executive Director of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel for almost two years.
From 1999 through 2000, Lengyel served a tour of duty as the Manager of the Moscow Technical Liaison Office (MTLO) for the International Space Station Program in Russia. The MTLO interfaces with Russian contractors and space agency personnel to monitor and track the progress of Russian Segment elements, Soyuz/Progress vehicles as well as provide technical liaison between U.S. and Russian engineering/mission integration personnel.
Lengyel joined NASA in October 1993 as the third Executive Officer to Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. He served in several program operations and payloads capacities within the ISS and Shuttle-Mir Programs at the Johnson Space Center from 1994 to 1998. He led an analytical assessment of Shuttle-Mir lessons learned for application to the ISS.
Prior to joining NASA, Lengyel was a senior aircrew-training instructor for McDonnell-Douglas in St. Louis. He conducted pilot training for the FA–18 Hornet and F–15 Eagle for both foreign and domestic customers.
He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves and has accumulated over 2000 hours flight time in the F–4S Phantom II, OV–10 Bronco, and FA–18 Hornet.
Lengyel holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, an MBA from the University of Missouri, and an MA in International Affairs from Washington University in St. Louis.
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89217f.eps
Table of Contents
I. Purpose
II. Charter
III. Management Plan
IV. Staffing
V. Deployment
VI. Integrated Schedule
VII. Appendix A—NESC Charter
I. Purpose
This document will provide guidance to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Implementation Planning Team, to ensure that the NESC is operational by October 1, 2003.
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II. Scope
The Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the NASA Chief Engineer established the Implementation Planning Team. The team has participation from all NASA Field Centers, Headquarters, Space Shuttle Program and International Space Station Program.
The Implementation Planning Team is responsible for: establishing the NESC Management Plan; establishing initial agreements between Centers and external organizations; staffing the NESC; and, communicating/deploying the NESC's operation plan across the Agency. This Implementation Plan has been prepared as a guide toward accomplishing these objectives and does not require formal approval.
III. Charter
The NESC charter was created by the Associate Deputy Administrator for Technical Programs; NASA Chief Engineer; Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, Langley Research Center Director and Special Assistant to the LaRC Center Director. The Charter was presented to, and approved by, the Executive Council on August 1, 2003. The Charter was used to develop this Implementation Plan and will be used to develop the NESC Management Plan (reference Attachment A).
IV. Management Plan
The NESC Implementation Planning Team will use the Charter, concept briefing and this Implementation Plan to develop a formal Management Plan. The Management Plan will include, as a minimum: roles and responsibilities of the NESC; interface of the NESC with the Centers, programs and other independent assessment organizations; staffing plan; independent reporting structure; metrics; and concept of operation.
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The Implementation Planning Team will sponsor a minimum of two retreats to obtain input from key stakeholders for use in the development of the NESC Management Plan. The first retreat will include those organizations that currently have the technical skills and specialized facilities that the NESC will require. The second retreat will involve the primary customers of the NESC, the Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Directors from each Center. After receiving feedback from these two key groups, the Implementation Planning Team will finalize the Management Plan through a series of twice-weekly meetings. The final baseline draft will be placed under formal configuration control. Implementation Planning Team members will obtain approval of the Management Plan from each Center Director. Final approval is targeted for September 15, 2003 with signatures from the Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the NASA Chief Engineer.
V. Staffing
The NESC will be NASA's elite engineering organization. The NESC will be staffed with high-grade, high-performing civil service scientific and engineering personnel. This workforce will be distributed across NASA's Centers but will be centrally managed and funded by the NESC, utilizing a Task Agreement, or equivalent, process. . It will be supplemented by partnerships from across the Nation.
In order to attract and keep NASA's best engineers, consistent with the NESC charter and mission, appropriate pay and promotion opportunities will be offered. The NESC will require a high percentage of Senior Executive, Leadership or Technical (SES, SL or ST) positions. The following list does not reflect a detailed position-by-position analysis of personnel requirements, but it can be used for planning purposes: Director (1), Deputy Director (1), Principle Engineers (4), Program Chief Engineers (6), Discipline Chief Engineers (12), Business Manager (1), Chief Systems Engineer (1), Chief Astronaut (1), S&MA Liaison (1). The Implementation Planning Team will seek special approval from the NASA Human Resource Office, and the Excepted Service category may be utilized as appropriate.
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All positions will be posted internal and external to the agency in an effort to recruit the Nation's best engineers to the NESC. The NESC should be allocated a minimum of six outside hire slots, in the event that the best candidates for a particular position are outside of NASA. All senior level positions should be selected by October 1, 2003. The remaining positions will be filled as required based on need.
Position descriptions and job announcements must be completed in the month of August for these key positions. Once these senior positions are selected, the remaining organization will be staffed, utilizing existing engineering experts across the Agency. These positions will be matrixed from their existing engineering organization through formal task agreements, as stated above. These task agreements will document requirements and resources and will be updated each year, through the POP process, to reflect the needs of the NESC.
To ensure successful implementation of the NESC, initial operations will be focused on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs and other selected programs to be determined with input from the centers and enterprises. The initial staffing of the NESC will be limited to the disciplines and skills required to support these programs, based on the historical precedence of problem traffic.
A multi-Center board, chaired by the Special Assistant to the LaRC Center Director, will be responsible for selecting the high-grade positions. The board will ensure the best candidates are selected from across the Agency and external community. The Special Assistant to the LaRC Center Director will make lower-grade selections. The responsible Chief Engineer will make the remaining matrixed positions selections.
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VI. Deployment
The success of the NESC is contingent on the full support of NASA's ten field centers. The engineering expertise crucial to provide the best technical independent assessment resides at the field centers. For the NESC to attract the best and brightest, it must be recognized as NASA's elite engineering organization. The proposed charter clearly defines the role of the NESC to provide independent engineering technical expertise to evaluate and supplement safety and engineering activities for NASA programs. This represents a very challenging role for the Agency's best engineers.
The NESC must also create a natural hierarchical progression for engineers to ensure the organization continues to be staffed with NASA's best engineers. This will be accomplished by offering strong leadership and pay and promotion opportunities commensurate with the challenging work required by the NESC. The proposed NESC career progression is depicted in Figure 1.
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Also key to the success of the NESC is the full participation and commitment by all the Centers and the programs in developing the implementation and management plans for the NESC. Since the engineering directorates at each Center are key participants, the NESC will sponsor a separate retreat to review and revise the plans to allow each Center's viewpoint to be considered. In addition there will be a separate retreat with the S&MA Directors from each center to receive their feedback on the plans as the NESC primary customers.
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NASA has been conducting a benchmarking exchange with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) that has an outstanding history of safe operation of the Navy's nuclear reactors. The NESC Implementation Planning Team will visit the NNPP during the month of August for insight and lessons learned, which will be considered in the creation of the NESC plans.
The NESC will visit all NASA Centers and Enterprises with a briefing describing the NESC's function and operation. Active recruiting and marketing of the NESC must be performed by the NESC, Public Affairs Office, Human Resources and Engineering Organizations to ensure the mission of the NESC reaches all levels of our organizations. This needs to be an aggressive recruiting campaign through the months of August and September to achieve start up in October 2003 and should include such things as an NESC web site with access both internal and external to NASA, NESC articles in all of the Centers newsletters, NESC articles in national publications and even an NESC poster distributed to all Centers. The NESC Implementation Planning Team members will present the NESC concept briefing to key organizations at their respective Centers and act as a focal point for NESC information. Communication will be the key to attracting NASA's best engineers and thus ensuring the NESC's success.
Each Center will be responsible for establishing facilities to house the NESC members located at their respective Centers. This includes office space, desks, phones, and computers, ect. In all cases, the NESC members should be co-located with the engineering organization or program they will be supporting. The NESC members should be provided accommodations and equipment consistent with their pay grade. Establishing appropriate facilities for NESC members will be essential to demonstrating the Center's commitment to the NESC.
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VII. Integrated Schedule
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VIII. Appendix A—NESC Charter
NESC Charter
1.0 PURPOSE
1.1 This charter establishes the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and sets forth its functions and interfaces.
1.2 The NESC provides independent engineering technical expertise to evaluate and supplement safety and engineering activities for NASA programs. The NESC will perform independent engineering assessments, analysis and testing to assure technical adequacy and safety of NASA activities.
2.0 APPLICABILITY/SCOPE
2.1 This Charter is applicable to NASA Headquarters and all NASA Centers, including Component Facilities, and to prime contractors including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the extent specified in applicable contracts.
2.2 The scope of the term ''Safety'' as used in the title and content of this charter encompasses those aspects of NASA system designs and operations that are important to mission success and that relate to potential risks to the public, and to NASA and contractor flight and ground personnel. The scope of the term ''Engineering'' as used in the title and content of this charter signifies any of the professional technical design, manufacturing, and operational disciplines, including systems engineering, and the various specific engineering disciplines.
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3.0 AUTHORITY
42 U.S.C. 2473 (c) (1), Section 203 (c) (1) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended.
4.0 FUNCTIONS
4.1 Provides a centralized location for the management of independent engineering assessment supported by expert personnel, state of the art tools and methods for the purpose of assuring safety.
4.2 Performs independent engineering review, analysis and testing to uncover technical vulnerabilities and to determine the appropriate preventative or corrective action for NASA programs.
4.3 Performs independent safety and engineering trend analyses and technical risk assessments utilizing program and discipline data sources and state of the art tools and techniques looking for trends across and within programs.
4.4 Provides technical leadership and expertise in support of Agency engineering and safety and mission assurance audits and reviews (including providing recommendations certifying the adequacy of areas reviewed).
4.5 Facilitates and/or leads mishap investigations. Analyzes Agency mishap and close-call data for trends and causes and develops countermeasures for prevalent proximate and root causes, and disseminates information on analysis results.
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4.6 Promotes continual improvement of engineering and safety within NASA by capturing, disseminating, and using knowledge gleaned both inside and outside the Agency.
4.7 Assesses and validates existing analytical techniques, engineering standards, models, simulations, and other tools for adequacy and capability. Enhances or corrects deficient analytical techniques and tools and develops advanced assessment techniques and tools.
4.8 Based on Agency Lessons Learned, performs systems engineering reviews of program management practices and processes. Establishes best practices.
4.9 Participates as appropriate in Agency engineering and system safety training and mentoring programs
5.0 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
5.1 The NESC Director will report to the Director, Langley Research Center.
5.2 The AA, OSMA with concurrence of the Chief Engineer will establish program direction that LaRC will implement through the NESC. The AA, OSMA; the Chief Engineer; and the Center Director, LaRC will create a mutually agreed on standard process for establishing, integrating, and implementing this program direction.
5.3 Other NASA Centers will provide technical personnel to support operation of the NESC as requested by the NESC Director consistent with program direction per 5.2.
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5.4 The NESC Director will establish a suitable infrastructure to execute the responsibilities of this Charter, making use of resources at Langley, other NASA Centers, other government agencies, industry, and academia as appropriate.
6.0 PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
6.1 The NESC will be staffed with high grade, civil service, high performing scientists, engineers and technicians who are considered experts in their fields. The workforce will be supplemented through partnerships with other federal agencies, National Laboratories, universities and expert consultants, as needed. Funding will be provided from Corporate G&A.
6.2 NESC will serve as a major Agency-wide technical resource focused on safety and success for Agency missions. People assigned to NESC will have upward mobility to other positions in the agency after rotational (2-5 year) assignments with the NESC.
6.3 The NESC will draw expertise from other Centers to perform its mission (capabilities should not be duplicated but rather leveraged). When NASA employees at other Centers are used to support the NESC because of their unique expertise, they will report to and be funded by the NESC for the period of time of their support.
6.4 The NESC will serve the SMA, Engineering and program/project communities as a value added, independent resource.
6.5 Independent assessments will be carefully chosen and managed with a strong focus on the customer needs. Work will be prioritized based on technical risk, the need for independence, and the potential for value added contribution.
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6.6 The NESC will generally not perform its work as a substitute for that performed in support of specific programs and projects, but will generally perform work to provide improvements in broadly applicable technical disciplines and to independently assess and verify the adequacy of program and project technical work.
7.0 DURATION
The NESC will remain in existence at the discretion of the Administrator.
8.0 RECORDS
The Langley Center Director, in consultation with the NASA Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and the NASA Chief Engineer, is responsible for the maintenance of this charter and all other Agency-level records associated with the NESC.
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Table of Contents
I. Purpose
II. Scope
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III. Roles and Responsibilities
IV. Principles of Operation
V. Organization
VI. Processes
VII. Related Documentation
I. Purpose
This management plan documents the operation of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and represents a contract between the NESC and its primary customers.
The NESC is being formed to ensure that NASA's safety and mission assurance (SMA) organizations will have adequate technical expertise and resources for independent, in-depth, technical reviews of NASA's programs. One of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board findings was that the overall safety organizations previously lacked the expertise and resources to adequately conduct independent technical reviews. In order to bring the country's outstanding technical experts to bear on the problems and challenges of NASA programs, the NESC will be comprised of the best engineering expertise from across the Agency and will include partnerships with expert consultants from other government organizations, National Laboratories, universities, and industry.
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II. Scope
The NESC will:
1. Perform independent in-depth technical reviews, assessments and analyses of high-risk projects for SMA organizations, engineering organizations and programs.
2. Perform independent engineering and SMA trend analysis.
3. Provide independent systems engineering analysis.
4. Facilitate or lead selected mishap investigations.
5. Support programs or institutions in resolving the Agency's high-risk technical issues.
The NESC will perform these functions across all major NASA programs and/or as directed by the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and/or NASA Chief Engineer. To ensure successful implementation of the NESC, initial operations will be focused on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs and other selected high-risk, high-visibility programs.
Rather than relieving NASA program managers from their responsibility for safety, the NESC will complement the programs by providing an independent technical review, assessment or analysis with additional technical expertise, using independent funding. These activities will be prioritized and selected based upon a formal risk assessment and will encompass both NASA and contractor programs, processes and facilities.
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The NESC will provide an independent engineering chain-of-command in commissioning and conducting independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses. In addition, it will function as an independent line of communication to ensure and encourage communication for all NASA employees and consideration of all points of view on critical technical issues.
III. Roles and Responsibilities
Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance
The Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance will provide policy and funding authority for the NESC. The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the SMA organizations at the Centers will be the primary customer, and funding source, of the NESC and can request the NESC to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses, based on safety and mission success concerns. The NESC will report the results of these activities to the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance.
NASA Chief Engineer
The NASA Chief Engineer will, with concurrence from the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance, have policy authority for the NESC. The NASA Chief Engineer and the engineering organizations at the NASA Centers will also be primary customers of the NESC. The NASA engineering organizations will be the primary source of engineering expertise that will make up the NESC. The NASA Chief Engineer will review and approve the lessons learned, best practices, and engineering policy that the NESC develops. The NASA Chief Engineer, in consultation with the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance, can request the NESC to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses, based on safety concerns. The NESC will report the results of these activities to the NASA Chief Engineer.
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Director, Langley Research Center
The NESC will be located at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. The Center Director, Langley Research Center, will direct the implementation of the policy and guidance provided by the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and the NASA Chief Engineer. The Director, Langley Research Center, will make the required Langley Research Center resources and facilities available for the NESC to carry out its mission. The NESC will fund Center activities performed on behalf of the NESC. The Director, Langley Research Center, can request the NESC to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses with concurrence of the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance. The NESC will report the results of these activities to the Director, Langley Research Center.
Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center
The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center will implement the direction, policy, and guidance as provided by the Director, Langley Research Center, NASA Chief Engineer, and the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance. The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center, will manage the resources of the NESC to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses of NASA's major programs, based on safety and mission success concerns and prioritized by formal risk assessment. The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center, will ensure the NESC obtains, through accepted full cost practices, the technical capability, resources and facilities to conduct its activities for its customers.
Directors, NASA Centers
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The Directors of the NASA Centers will make the required resources and facilities at their respective Centers available for the NESC to complete its mission. The NESC will fund Center activities performed on behalf of the NESC. Directors of NASA Centers can request the NESC to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses. The NESC will report the results of these activities to the respective Directors.
IV. Principles of Operation
The NESC will perform independent in-depth technical reviews, assessments and analyses as requested by its primary customers. These activities will be performed across major NASA programs and NASA Centers. The NESC will set the example for a strong safety culture by providing knowledgeable leadership to perform technical reviews, assessments and analyses in an open environment and attacking the problems and issues with unequaled tenacity. By being independent, the NESC will be able to focus on potential or current trouble spots in three ways: proactive, active and reactive.
In being proactive, the NESC will be trained in, and use, new techniques and tools for uncovering potential problems before they occur. The NESC will review trends, not only within programs but also across programs, to identify potential concerns before they become major problems. The areas to be reviewed will be based upon criticality and risk, regardless of whether a program has requested an independent review. The NESC will also perform test and analysis of issues that no particular program is currently working. In addition, the NESC will document and maintain a compilation of lessons learned, communicate lessons learned to all programs and Centers, and work with programs and Centers to incorporate lessons learned into new programs and activities.
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The NESC will remain active by participating in major program reviews and boards to gain insight into program decisions and technical rationale. This insight will be used to determine if an independent technical review, assessment or analysis of known risk areas is warranted. The NESC will provide the agency a second look at these known high-risk areas of programs and projects. In addition, the NESC will work technical issues in real-time with the programs as needed.
The NESC will be reactive by independently leading, or facilitating, investigations of selected mishaps and close calls, as requested.
The NESC will also encourage, cultivate, document, review and disposition dissenting opinions across the technical community. The NESC will set an example for the Agency in seeking out and evaluating differing points of view.
In order to fulfill these functions, the NESC will establish, and maintain, a ''ready'' pool of critical skills from within NASA and from outside organizations such as other government organizations, National Laboratories, universities, and industry. The NESC will strive to develop a diverse personnel base, in order to ensure the broadest possible insight and perspective is maintained.
The NESC senior leadership positions may be limited in length (two years with up to three one-year extensions) in order to maintain competencies in the both the NESC and at the Centers. In addition, a set of metrics will be established and maintained for the NESC to assess its own performance.
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V. Organization
The NESC will be a decentralized organization with a management office located at the Langley Research Center. To build a diverse organization, the NESC will draw upon expertise both internal to NASA, and from outside the agency. The NESC will utilize the engineering resources (both personnel and facilities) resident at each of ten NASA Centers, leveraging off each Center's areas of expertise (Figure 1). The NESC will procure additional engineering expertise as required, by contracting consultants and partnerships with other government organizations, National Laboratories, universities and industry. By involving the external community, the NESC will ensure that a broad and diverse perspective is maintained. The NESC will have strong technical representation located at each of the NASA Centers to provide insight into programs and projects.
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The NESC organization will be comprised of the following offices (see Figure 2):
Office of the Director (resident at Langley Research Center)
Business Management Office (resident at Langley Research Center)
Systems Engineering Office (resident at Langley Research Center and NASA Centers)
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Principal Engineers Office (resident at Langley Research Center)
NESC Chief Engineers Office (resident at NASA Centers)
Discipline Chief Engineers Office (resident at NASA Centers)
The resources reporting to each Discipline Chief Engineer will be matrixed from across the Agency by formal task agreements. Non-NASA experts will also be acquired through appropriate mechanisms.
Maintaining the technical expertise of its personnel and providing insight into the Agency's high-risk programs and projects is critical to the success of the NESC. To accomplish both of these objectives, NESC personnel must be co-located within the programs, projects and engineering organizations. In addition, NESC personnel must maintain positions of prominence within their parent organizations and must participate as formal members of the respective boards and reviews.
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Office of the Director
The Office of the Director is responsible for implementing the direction and policy established by the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and the NASA Chief Engineer, under the direction of the Director, Langley Research Center.
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The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center will distribute technical resources, as required, to perform independent in-depth technical assessments, reviews and analyses of NASA programs. The Director will chair the NESC Review Board. Through the NESC Review Board, the Director will approve requests for independent assessments and will approve the final documentation for all independent reviews, assessments and analyses performed by the NESC, prior to release to the customer. The Director, or designee, will be a non-voting member of the highest-level review board (such as Flight or Launch Readiness Reviews) for selected programs, with authority to request action from the program/board. The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center, is authorized to delegate authority to act on his behalf.
The NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison will be detailed to the NESC by the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and will serve as the NESC SMA engineering discipline expert and senior SMA advisor to the Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center. In this capacity, the NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison will facilitate communications and coordination among Center SMA organizations and NESC Chief Engineers, and will serve as a point of entry for Center SMA organizations to obtain access to NESC technical resources. The NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison, through the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, will be responsible for accessing the SMA technical and engineering discipline experts from across the Agency, other government organizations, universities, and industry (including systems safety engineering, reliability and maintainability engineering, quality engineering, software quality assurance, quality control and industrial safety) necessary to support NESC technical reviews, assessments, and analyses. The NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison and will also provide the technical leadership of the safety and mission assurance technical resources supporting NESC activities. In addition, the NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison will serve as day-to-day representative of the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance. The NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison will communicate Agency SMA policy interpretations to the NESC and support the selection of reviews, assessments, and analyses through the appropriate involvement of the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance. The NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison will serve on the NESC Review Board and will also represent the NESC in all Agency-level SMA boards and reviews.
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The Chief Astronaut will assemble and lead a ''Flight Operations'' Super Problem Resolution Team for all operational independent technical reviews, assessments or analyses involving human space flight operations (both aerospace and aeronautic). Depending on the nature of the activity, a different leader with the appropriate skills and experiences will be selected to lead a specific flight operations team. The Chief Astronaut will serve on the NESC Review Board.
The Chief Scientist will assemble and lead a ''Flight Operations'' Super Problem Resolution Team for all operational independent technical reviews, assessments or analyses involving non-human flight operations (both aerospace and aeronautic). Depending on the nature of the activity, a different leader with the appropriate skills and experiences will be selected to lead a specific flight operations team. The Chief Scientist will serve on the NESC Review Board.
Business Management and Support Office
The Business Management and Support Office (BMSO) is responsible for all the business management and administrative support for the NESC. Responsibilities of the BMO include:
Establishing and developing partnerships and/or contracts with other government agencies, National Laboratories, universities and industries.
Establishing, maintaining, and managing formal Task Agreements with each NASA Center for the matrix support of technical experts.
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Providing technical writers for NESC reports and briefings.
Performing configuration control for NESC documentation and boards.
Providing NESC knowledge-capture and communication of lessons learned across the Agency.
Establishing a training regimen for NESC personnel.
The Manager, Business Management and Support Office will be responsible for establishing the NESC Operating Plan, acting as the Contracting Officers Technical Representative (COTR) for contracts established to carry out the duties of the NESC and serving as a member of the NESC Review Board.
Systems Engineering Office
The Systems Engineering Office (SEO) will be responsible for conducting independent systems engineering reviews of NASA programs. As appropriate, the reviews will include independent assessment of program practices and processes, as well as systems engineering analysis. In addition, the SEO will perform independent trending of problems, mishaps and close calls within, and across, programs. The SEO will have a core membership resident at the Langley Research Center and will be full-time, hard-lined NESC employees. The SEO will also include participation of matrixed systems engineering experts from across the Agency and appropriate external organizations. The Manager, Systems Engineering Office, will be a member of the NESC Review Board.
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Principal Engineers Office
The Principal Engineers Office (PEO) will provide leadership for teams of discipline specialists performing independent technical reviews, assessments, and analyses of complex, multi-disciplinary systems. The Principal Engineers will reside at the Langley Research Center and will be full-time, hard-lined NESC employees. The Principal Engineers will be responsible for leading teams in the performance of established processes for Independent Technical Assessments, Technical Inspections, Technical Support, Technical Advocacy, and Mishap Investigations. The Principal Engineers will also be responsible for maintaining a catalogue of interdisciplinary tools, methods, and resources. Each Principal Engineer will be a member of the NESC Review Board.
NESC Chief Engineers Office
The NESC Chief Engineers Office (NCEO) will provide the NESC with technical insight into NASA's programs. The NESC Chief Engineers Office is comprised of recognized experts who reside at each of the NASA Centers and are full-time, hard-lined NESC employees. The primary duty of the NESC Chief Engineers will be to evaluate technical decisions and rationale in order to recommend to the NESC when an independent technical review, assessment or analysis is warranted or requested by the respective programs or institutional engineering. The NESC Chief Engineer provides the direct insight into high-risk programs and projects. By residing at the Centers, the NESC Chief Engineers will be able to stay current on all issues and will continue to support their home programs, projects and/or institutions. The NESC Chief Engineer will utilize additional full-time, hard-lined engineering support to cover all the Center's high-risk programs and projects, as required. The NESC Chief Engineer will foster regular, open communication with the program's SMA and engineering communities. The NESC Chief Engineers will be non-voting members of their respective program's technical review boards, with authority to request action from the program/board. Each NESC Chief Engineer will be a member of the NESC Review Board.
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Discipline Chief Engineers Office
The Discipline Chief Engineers Office (DCEO) will be comprised of experts who will reside within their respective NASA Center's engineering organizations, but will be full-time, hard-lined NESC employees. The DCEO provides the technical leadership of the NESC technical resources in order to perform independent technical reviews, assessments and analyses. The core set of Discipline Chief Engineers will be established to perform the initial technical assessments on Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and other selected Programs. Additional Discipline Chief Engineers will be added as required to perform additional assessments as the scope of the NESC expands. Each Discipline Chief Engineer will be responsible for establishing a Super Problem Resolution Team (Super PRT) that will consist of the Agency's best experts in that particular discipline, augmented by external experts from other government organizations, National Laboratories, universities, and industry, as required. While each Discipline Chief Engineer will report to the Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center, the remaining Super PRT personnel will be matrixed through formal Task Agreements. Non-NASA experts will also be acquired through appropriate mechanisms. These Super PRTs will be called into action depending on the skills required for a particular independent technical assessment.
When not supporting NESC activities, the matrixed personnel will perform their normal duties within their respective engineering organizations. Priorities will be negotiated and established between the Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center and the Directors of the respective engineering organizations.
If an independent technical review, assessment or analysis involves a single discipline; the cognizant Discipline Chief Engineer will lead the activity. If an independent assessment requires the involvement of multiple disciplines, a Principal Engineer will lead the assessment, with support from the appropriate Discipline Chief Engineers.
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The Discipline Chief Engineer will maintain a catalogue of critical skills and facilities available for their discipline. Each Discipline Chief Engineer will be a member of the NESC Review Board.
VI. Processes
Insight and Requests
The NESC will gain insight into the programs through six separate paths:
1. Direct participation of the NESC Chief Engineers in their respective Center's boards and reviews. It will be imperative that the NESC select and maintain a strong corps of senior engineers as NESC Chief Engineers. The NESC Chief Engineers will be located at the program sites and participating with the programs or projects during reviews and boards to gain insight into program decisions, technical rationale and problem resolutions. To provide formality and discipline to this insight process, the NCE will be non-voting members of the programs technical boards and reviews with authority to request action by the program or project. This will give the NESC Chief Engineers access to program decisions and in turn will give the programs access to the NESC Chief Engineer's experience.
2. SMA participation in the programs. SMA insight into the programs has been previously defined in SMA documentation. The SMA organization will now have access to the NESC technical resources through the NESC Safety and Mission Assurance Liaison or by direction from the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance.
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3. Institutional engineering participation with the programs, as previously defined in program documentation. The institutional engineers will now have an alternate path to request independent technical review through the NESC Chief Engineers.
4. NESC systems engineering review and independent analysis and trending of program problems, issues, mishaps and close calls both within and across programs.
5. The broad technical community, through a new NESC web site or the existing NASA Safety and Reporting System (NSRS) web site. Hidden or underlying opportunities may be best uncovered by a well-advertised, simple web site for anonymous requests, which may, or may not, represent an immediate safety concern.
6. NASA Senior Management
Requests for an independent technical review, assessment or analysis may result from any of these six insight paths. The NESC Review Board will review these requests as they come in for technical merit and prioritize them through a simple risk assessment described below.
Independent Technical Assessments
Once a request for independent technical review, assessment, or analysis (ITA) is made, either internally or externally, a formally documented process will be followed. Depending on the nature of the review, a NESC Principal Engineer will assemble and lead a multi-disciplined team to perform the assessment. The composition of the team will include the appropriate Discipline Chief Engineers, with appropriate representation from their respective Super Problem Resolution Teams, as well as SMA, flight operations, and ground operations, and other independent assessment organization representatives, as required. For example, the NESC might partner with the independent verification & validation (IV&V) facility for those activities involving flight, ground or test software. The Principal Engineer will develop an Independent Assessment Plan (including schedule for completion), present an in-briefing for the program being assessed, lead the assessment (including any necessary testing and analysis) and present an out-briefing to the program. During the assessment, the Principal Engineers, and their teams, will conduct intermediate reviews with the NESC Review Board to get a peer review of the activity. The Principal Engineer will also be responsible for completing a final written report. For those technical assessments involving a single discipline, the Discipline Chief Engineer will lead the assessment, present the briefings, and complete the final report. Assessments of facility or ground systems will be conducted in the same manner as flight system reviews.
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During the course of the assessment, the NESC may issue requests, non-conformance reports or other appropriate actions, which will become constraints to proceed beyond a selected milestone. The NESC will use the documentation and closure process for the respective program or project. The constraint will be removed with the concurrence of the NESC. If the issue represents a critical safety issue, the NESC may issue a ''Stop Work'' notice until the program resolves the discrepancies to the satisfaction of the respective program board, with NESC member concurrence.
Technical Inspections
Based on insight into the programs gained by the NESC, as previously described, the NESC may perform Technical Inspections (TI) to evaluate the technical adequacy of a particular area within program, even if a problem has not yet been detected. Examples of these potential inspection areas include: math models, analytical tools, manufacturing procedures, test procedures, vehicle processing, troubleshooting techniques, manufacturing tooling, ground support equipment, or special test equipment. As with the Independent Technical Assessments, a Principal Engineer would assemble and lead a multi-discipline team to perform Technical Inspections. The composition of the team will include the appropriate Discipline Chief Engineers, with representation from their respective Super Problem Resolution Teams, as well as SMA, flight operations, ground operations and other independent assessment organizations representatives as required. Technical Inspections would be performed on short notice to the program, in order to ensure a real-time evaluation. Although there would not be an in-briefing, there would be an out-briefing to the program or Center. The NESC will allow programs and projects the opportunity to correct any identified technical inadequacies prior to publishing the final report.
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During the course of the inspection, the NESC may issue requests, non-conformance reports or other appropriate actions, which will become constraints to proceed beyond a selected milestone. The NESC will use the documentation and closure process for the respective program or project. The constraint will be removed with the concurrence of the NESC. If the issue represents a critical safety issue, the NESC may issue a ''Stop Work'' notice until the program resolves the discrepancies to the satisfaction of the respective program board, with NESC member concurrence.
Technical Support
On limited occasions a program or NASA Center may be confronted with a problem that is so complex that it would warrant assembling all the resources available to the Agency to resolve the problem in a timely manner. In this case the NESC, with approval from the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance and NASA Chief Engineer, could be used as direct technical support to a program or NASA Center foregoing the role of independence. The requesting program or NASA Center would then fund those resources, and would utilize an outside team for an independent review of the activity. In this case the program could request specific Super Problem Resolutions Team support, with or without the NESC playing a leadership role. Use of NESC resources in this manner should be extremely rare to avoid diluting the primary charter of the NESC of providing independent technical assessments.
Alternately, the NESC will make its catalog of resources, (personnel and facilities) and network of experts, available to programs and NASA Centers. In this case, the requesting programs can seek assistance directly; through appropriate contracting channels and/or agreements. The NESC would remain independent of the activity and any individuals called upon by the requesting program or NASA Center would not be available to perform an independent technical assessment on the same issue.
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Technical Advocacy
The NESC will provide technical advocacy to SMA organizations, institutional engineering, program and projects as deemed necessary. This advocacy may include, but is not limited to, the endorsement of: suggested additional testing, maintaining critical skills or facilities, or programs fulfilling in-line functions. In addition, the NESC will promote the positive actions taken by individuals, programs or projects to correct identified technical inadequacies.
Independent Technical Assessment, Technical Inspection, or Technical Support Selection and Prioritization
Critical skills will always be a limited resource. Therefore the NESC must focus its critical skills on those issues with the highest risk. The prioritization of NESC activities will be accomplished through a consistent formal risk assessment, based on likelihood and consequence. In addition, a checklist of questions will be used when determining likelihood and consequence, in order to provide consistency and to uncover the less obvious risks. This approach, as illustrated in Figure 3, is currently being used in most programs and projects and is described in Agency polices.
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NESC Review Board
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The Director, NASA Engineering and Safety Center will Chair the NESC Review Board. Membership will include the Deputy Director, NESC Chief Engineers, Principal Engineers, Discipline Chief Engineers, NESC Chief Astronaut, NESC Chief Scientist, Manager, Systems Engineering Office, Manager, Business Management and Support Office, NESC SMA Liaison and NASA Chief Engineer's Office.
The NESC Review Board will: review and approve all requests based on selection and prioritization process; provide peer reviews of on-going assessments; ensure the consistency and technical adequacy of all reviews, prior to release to the customer; determine if any follow-on activity is required after the review, and provide direction for use of all resources including critical skills, facilities, testing, and analysis.
Knowledge Capture and Communication
The NESC will capture and communicate knowledge through five complementary processes: periodic reports; lessons learned; training; annual workshops, and a web site.
Periodic Reports: Beginning on October 1, 2004, and recurring at the beginning of each fiscal year, an annual report will be delivered to the Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance. The annual report will summarize the activities for the preceding year and will establish goals and metrics for the coming year. In addition, an internal reporting system will include quarterly reports from the Discipline Chief Engineers and NESC Chief Engineers, with emphasis on progress against the metrics of that year, for analysis by the NESC Review Board.
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Lessons Learned: One of the principal missions of the NESC is to bring system and order to the effective retention and utilization of lessons learned. To that end, three of the other processes in this section—training, annual workshops and web site—will, as their principal purpose, document and disseminate the results of NESC investigations, reviews and other activities.
Training: NESC personnel will receive training to promote and establish innovative techniques to proactively uncover potential problems and issues in NASA's programs and projects. The NESC will utilize existing tools for traditional purposes, such as maintaining and enhancing specific discipline skills. Selected NESC members will receive formal training for independent assessments and mishap investigations. The NESC will also advocate improved training programs specifically engineered to affect System Safety Awareness in the workforce, including technical safety training based on NASA successes and failures (e.g. Lunar Landings, Space Shuttle flights, ISS construction, Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 13 hardware failure and response, the loss of crews and orbiters on, Challenger and Columbia flights,). Training resources available from other government organizations will be surveyed for application to the NESC.
Annual Workshops: The NESC will sponsor an annual workshop to discuss processes for proactively identifying and solving engineering problems before they occur. While serving to publicize and record the accomplishments of the NESC, through papers and proceedings that document significant NESC activities, the workshop will also feature invited lectures and papers from non-traditional fields. In concert with the NESC training activities, the workshop will initiate and perpetuate the proactive identification of potential problems before they occur.
Web site: In addition to the functions described in other sections of this plan, the NESC Website will provide a central repository and a tool for disseminating the periodic reports, lessons learned, training modules, and workshop proceedings outlined above.
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Mishap Investigation
The NESC may be requested to lead or support selected Agency mishap investigations. As such, Principal Engineers, and other key NESC employees, will be formally trained in mishap investigation. The Principal Engineers will lead most of the investigations that are conducted by the NESC. Mishap investigations will be performed in accordance with Agency policy and procedures.
Dissenting Opinions
The NESC will cultivate an environment that encourages and seeks out dissenting opinions. In order to encourage this open environment, and to solicit alternative perspectives, the NESC will establish a disciplined process for addressing dissenting opinions. As a matter of practice, each independent technical review, assessment and analysis will seek out dissenting opinions for review and evaluation. These dissenting opinions will also be documented and dispositioned in each report and/or briefing.
Awards
The NESC will establish NESC Awards, given periodically for outstanding technical achievement during independent technical reviews, assessments or analyses. In addition, the NESC will utilize existing Agency awards to reward and encourage the safety culture that the NESC is trying to cultivate.
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Internal NESC Reviews
Initially, it is anticipated that the Stafford-Covey Return-to-Flight Task Group will review the NESC organizational and implementation concepts to ensure proper independence and implementation. The NESC will be subject to periodic reviews by an external organization to ensure proper independence is being maintained. In addition, the NESC will develop a set of metrics that will be used to monitor the organizations progress and effectiveness.
VII. Related Documentation
NESC Charter
NESC Implementation Plan
NPG 8621—Mishap Investigations Procedure and Guidance
NPG 8000.4—Risk Management Procedure and Guideline
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Not Culture But Perhaps a Cult
Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2003, Op. Ed. on NASA and the Shuttle by Homer Hickam
At the end of the movie ''October Sky'' which was based on my memoir Rocket Boys, there is a dramatic launch of the Space Shuttle. The director of the film wanted to show the transition from my small amateur rockets in West Virginia to the huge professional rockets of NASA as a metaphor for my own transition from coal-town boy to big-time space engineer. The scene works wonderfully. When I was at the Venice Film Festival, the audience rose to their feet after this scene and applauded me while tears streamed down their faces. When I go to the Cape and watch the Shuttle being launched, I still get a lump in my throat watching it soar aloft. Even though I no longer work for NASA, its thunder affirms my dreams for space flight. Still, when I put emotion aside, I cannot ignore my engineering training. That training and my knowledge as a twenty-year veteran of the space agency (and also a Vietnam veteran) has led me to conclude that the Space Shuttle Program may well be NASA's Vietnam. A generation of engineers and managers have exhausted themselves trying to make it work and they just can't. But why not? I believe it is because the Shuttle's engineering design, just as Vietnam's political design, is inherently flawed.
Much has been made over the report produced by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). I have since read newspaper articles that called the report ''scathing.'' Hardly. Its polite recommendations probably had Shuttle managers who made poor decisions dancing down their office hallways with relief. Essentially, it gave them a pass by proclaiming ''culture'' made them do it. It is an echo of the Rand Commission's study on the Shuttle Program produced almost exactly one year ago which also wrung its hands over the NASA culture, though with a different conclusion (turn the whole thing over to contractors).
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I do not believe there is a NASA culture other than a willingness by its engineers to work their butts off to keep us in space. It might be said, however, that there is a Shuttle cult. It is practiced like a religion by space policy makers who simply cannot imagine an American space agency without the Shuttle. Well, I can and it is a space agency which can actually fly people and cargoes into orbit without everybody involved being terrified of imminent death and destruction every time the Shuttle lifts off the pad.
With some important reservations, the CAIB recommended to keep the Shuttles flying but with more inspections, more bureaucracy (an outside safety agency to keep an eye on everybody involved), and more money. But I think piling on more inspections and people and dollars won't make the Shuttle any safer. Neither will the safety sensitivity training that will be probably be dumped on top of already overworked and disillusioned NASA engineers. My God, they've already dedicated their lives, their very souls, to keep the Shuttle flying safely! The truth is no amount of arm-waving and worrying about ''culture'' can fix a flawed design. Every engineer knows a design that tries to bypass the realities of physics, chemistry, and strengths of materials by applying complexity will fail eventually no matter how much attention is given to it.
Take a look at the Shuttle stack and what do you see? A fragile space plane sitting on the back of a huge propellant tank between two massive solid rocket boosters. The tank holds liquid oxygen and hydrogen and towers above the space plane. It is the foam off this tank that hit Columbia and knocked a hole in her wing. But why is there foam at all? Because without it, ice would form on the super-cooled tank and hit the space plane. But why would ice or foam hit it in the first place? Because of where the space plane sits. But why does it sit there? Because the Shuttle Main Engines (SME's) need to come back to Earth and therefore must be attached to the space plane to be returned. And why do the SME's need to be returned? So that they can be reused. And why do they have to be reused? Because, theoretically, it's cheaper to refurbish them than build new ones. Therefore, the space plane we think of as the Shuttle has to sit right in the middle of all the turmoil of launch because we once believed it would be cheaper to bring back those engines and rebuild them than to build new ones. That has not proved to be the case—far from it—but it has left us with a crew sitting in the most vulnerable position possible in terms of engineering design and safety. Simply put, had that space plane been on top of the stack, the destruction of Columbia would not have occurred because its wings would have been out of the line of fire. Challenger would probably not have happened, either. Had the space plane been above the explosion, it likely would have been able to punch out and glide back home.
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The flawed design of the Shuttle is all in its history and it's more than the way the stack is assembled. For instance, the Shuttle uses hydrogen fuel, the most difficult, cranky fuel there is. Hydrogen is the smallest atom in the universe and leaks through molecule-sized pinholes. When it gathers in an enclosed space (such as under the Shuttle stack on the pad), it's a bomb waiting to go off. Hydrogen leakages grounded the Shuttles for three months before Columbia was launched and scares a lot of NASA engineers to death. So why do they use hydrogen and all its cranky plumbing? Because the Shuttle's original designers had to wring the last ounce of performance out of it to haul those mains into orbit along with the heavy payloads that the Air Force demanded at the time (the Air Force long ago gave up on the Shuttle). And what about those solid rocket boosters, unstoppable once lit? They leave the crews with no choice but to hang on until they've wound down even if their space plane is being torn apart. They were added not because they were the best boosters around but because they were relatively cheap. If his engineers had brought my father something to dig coal as flawed in its suppositions as well as its design as the Shuttle, he would have chased them out of his coal mine.
The odd thing is that the Shuttle was designed by great engineers. The problem is they were forced to fit their designs to fit what has proved to be an impossible concept, a chemically-propelled rocket ship that would carry humans and heavy payloads into orbit routinely, then land to be refurbished and sent aloft again within days. They also had to do it on the cheap. It was inevitable that a flawed design would be the result. In my second memoir, The Coalwood Way, I wrote about me always complaining about the past until Roy Lee, a fellow Rocket Boy, tells me to stop it because ''You can't beat history.'' And he was right even though, as I wrote, ''It placed my heart in the icy vise of truth where hearts tend to suffer.'' The heart of every NASA engineer suffers today in this icy truth: the Space Shuttle is an inherently flawed design and will destroy American human space flight if we don't get it behind us. It's nearly done it already.
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So what should be done? Let's get practical. We can't just shut the thing down instantly. History's got us by the throat. We need the Shuttle to finish the Space Station and to also keep the Russians and Chinese from dominating space. I for one am not willing to see that occur while we dither. Human space flight is important to this country. But I think the Shuttle is as safe as you're going to get it pretty much with what is in place today. Let's fire the managers responsible for Columbia (they are not difficult to identify) so as to warn the next crop they'd best be competent, put the toughest engineers we can find to be in charge of the program, fly the thing eight to ten more times over the next four years to finish the space station and meet our international obligations. Then let's close the program down in a controlled fashion and replace it with proven expendable launchers and a shiny new space plane. And, this time, put it on top.
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