Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 10 October 2000

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on October 10, 2000. Mr. Goldin did not attend
the meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

B/Holz: Mr. Holz reported that the Agency is under another Continuing
Resolution (CR), which will carry us through the close of business this
Saturday, October 14. Everyone should report to work on Monday, October
16, unless notified otherwise. Another CR is expected to be
passed. (Note: A CR is extended through Oct. 27.)

E/Reese: Mr. Reese reported on the following: 1) A handicapped NASA
employee has indicated that Wallops Flight Facility is not easily
accessible. Mr. Reese has written a memorandum to all Center Directors
concerning reasonable accommodations. They must all look at accessibility
issues, particularly with new hiring. All Centers must have handicapped
accommodations. 2) Last week there were congressional hearings in which
the Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator was chastised for
allowing biases within the organization. NASA needs to be wise and
prudent, as well as more cognizant.

F/Novak: Ms. Novak reported that she is working with Human Resources at
the Centers on several issues and will be putting out a memo to the Center
Directors on 1) informal dress, 2) expanded use of the NASA Excepted
authority, and 3) the Agency’s college recruitment program.

Z/Garver: Ms. Garver reported that the Strategic Plan was submitted on
time and that the printed version will be available in about 2 weeks.

K/Thomas: Mr. Thomas reported that there will be a Space Science Symposium
for Small Business this week at Headquarters, supported by the Chief
Scientist, as well as the Offices of Space Science, Earth Science, and
Biological and Physical Research.

J/Sutton: Mr. Sutton reported that he recognizes that there have been some
difficulties during the first week of the contract at CI Travel’s Central
Reservation Center (CRC). Data line installation problems at the Centers
(the Verizon strike caused a delay in line installations at GSFC, LaRC,
and Headquarters) have caused the CRC to get overloaded during the first
week. Additionally, the 4,500 reservations transferred from AMEX to CI
Travel is another major workload since new tickets must be prepared. The
Space Shuttle launch and postponement also exacerbated the situation. But
GSFC, the principal Center for the Agency, has requested CI Travel to
increase their resources at their CRC to handle the heavy demand, and
they are adding more agents and telephone lines. We expect service at
the CRC to greatly improve during the second week of operation.

L/Heffernan: Mr. Heffernan reported on the following: 1) The
appropriations situation is still uncertain. 2) The Conference Report
should be agreed upon next week. 3) The authorization bill is on hold, but
it is anticipated that the hold will be lifted. 4) The House International
Relations Committee will conduct a hearing on HR 1883. NASA will have
General Counsel and Michael Hawes as witnesses. 5) Ten of 13
appropriations bills are still pending. (Note: Both the VA/HUD/IA
appropriation bill and the NASA authorization bill have been sent to the
President for his signature.)

C/Christensen: Mr. Christensen reported that this is National Disability
and Employee Awareness Month. On October 25, Glen McIntyre will be giving
a presentation which Mr. Christensen recommends highly. Also, Mr. McIntyre
will be conducting an accessibility study for Headquarters.

2. AO/Mr. Holcomb for AI/Dr. Mulville

Mr. Holcomb reported on the following: 1) He will be the Acting Associate
Deputy Administrator this week while Dr. Mulville is on leave. 2) The
Headquarters Quality Council will meet on Monday, October 16, from 1 to 3
p.m., in ACR-2. 3) The next Capital Investment Council will meet on
October 17 from 12:30 to 5 p.m. An agenda and location will be sent out
electronically this week. 4) The Headquarters Annual Awards Ceremony is
scheduled for Wednesday, October 18, and will be held in the auditorium at
1:30 p.m. 5) The Senior Management Council meeting will be held at
Headquarters on Friday, October 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

3. Center Reports

ARC/McDonald: Dr. McDonald reported that they would be hosting the Design
for Safety Conference this week with over 250 people registered.

GSFC/Townsend: Mr. Townsend reported on the successful launch of the
High-Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2) on October 9 from Kwajalein.
Early on-orbit activities of the spacecraft are going well.

JSC/Parsons: Mr. Parsons reported on the following: 1) Mr. Abbey is at
KSC for the launch. 2) The International Space Station (ISS) is doing
well on orbit and is ready to receive STS-92. 3) The General Design
Review was held in Russia last week to determine the readiness of the
Expedition #1 launch, and Tommy Holloway (ISS Program Manager) reported
all is ready for the launch at the end of the month. 4) There will be
a Flight Readiness Review next Thursday, hosted by JSC, to go over the
readiness of JSC to support the launch of the Expedition #1 crew.

KSC/Bridges: Mr. Bridges reported that we had excellent success with our
first remote launch countdown of the HETE-2 mission on a Pegasus vehicle,
which was remotely controlled from KSC and launched over the Marshall
Islands of the South Pacific. We had great video, telemetry, and
communication links for the launch countdown.

MSFC/Stephenson: Mr. Stephenson reported on the following: 1) The Space
Transportation Conference begins Wednesday, October 11. There has been a
good response for attendance from both industry and NASA Centers. 2) The
Center is looking forward to Vicki Novak’s visit for training on Friday,
October 13.

NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND
TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANAGEMENT OFFICE. SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO JILL HOOVER AT (202) 358-0905.

Correction to September 25, 2000, Minutes

B/Holz: Mr. Holz’s report should have read . . . “the IFMP Source
Evaluation Board’s evaluation . . .”