Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting April 4, 2000

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on April 3, 2000. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

B/Holz: Mr. Holz reported that the Committee on Government Reform,
Subcommittee on Information and Technology, issued its Governmentwide
report card on agency fiscal year 1999 compliance with the Government
Management Reform Act at its hearing on Friday, March 31. This Act
concerns the annual audit of agency financial statements. NASA received
the highest grade-point possible, a 4.0, in each of the following three
categories: “Reliable Financial Information,” “Effective Internal
Control,” and “Compliance with Laws and Regulations.” Thus, NASA earned
an overall grade of “A” again this year. NSF (National Science
Foundation) was the only other agency to receive this high grade. One
agency was downgraded for 1999 because of a problem in the “Compliance
with Laws and Regulations” category. Mr. Holz mentioned this to
emphasize that one slip would cause an agency to lose its good standing.
This is a very important accountability issue in the Federal Government.
Mr. Holz asked that recognition be given to the CFO community at every
NASA Center for a job well done. (Mr. Goldin stated that this was a
spectacular achievement, and he expressed his appreciation.)

E/Manuel-Alexander: Ms. Manuel-Alexander reported that Mr. Reese was
attending an event at Morgan State University.

H/Luedtke: Mr. Luedtke reported that the procurement conference held
last week was a great success–over 200 participants attended the
conference.

L/Heffernan: Mr. Heffernan reported on the following items: 1) The
hearing before the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled for
Thursday, April 6, at 1 p.m. 2) The Senate is expected to mark up the FY
2000 supplemental package tomorrow, Tuesday, April 4. 3) Last week, the
House Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2000 supplemental package,
which included $75M for NASA. (Note: This week, the Senate did not pass
the bill. Issue will be addressed in FY 2001 Appropriations.)

AO/Holcomb: Mr. Holcomb reported that on March 29, Deputy Chief
Information Officer David Nelson testified before the House Subcommittee
on Government Management, Information and Technology, regarding computer
security.

K/Thomas: Mr. Thomas reported that while attending meetings in Singapore
last week, NASA received extremely positive feedback from the small
business participants representing over 33 countries.

C/Christensen: Mr. Christensen reported that in collaboration with the
American Academy of Dermatology and in cooperation with Code U, NASA
Headquarters is offering full body screening for skin cancer on April 13
and 14. He encouraged everyone to take advantage of this screening
opportunity. Contact the Health Unit to make an appointment.

2. Center Reports

ARC/Berry: Mr. Berry reported that the Center is welcoming over 500
scientists from all over the world who are attending the first
Astrobiology Conference.

DFRC/Ramos: Mr. Ramos reported that the X-38 Vehicle 132 Free Flight 3
was successfully launched last Thursday, March 30. This was the third
and final flight of the vehicle and was the highest, fastest, and longest
test of the X-38 to date.

GRC/Campbell: Mr. Campbell reported that the Center is hosting “Home and
Home” activity on Tuesday, April 4, and Wednesday, April 5. Over 100
participants are expected to attend. The GRC “Home and Home” visit is
the third in a series of site visits, which began last March when NASA
Administrator Dan Goldin and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey hosted an
Industry Roundtable with airline executives. The purpose is to give
participants a view of the host site’s operations and capabilities,
create opportunities for dialogue, and establish contacts and
partnerships to reach the goal of an improved air and space
transportation system.

GSFC/Diaz: Mr. Diaz reported on the following items: 1) The Microwave
Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is on the cover of the May 1 issue of
Discover Magazine and includes a 7-page article on MAP.
(Visit http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ for more information on MAP.) 2) Next
week is the 10th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). On
April 10, the Center will celebrate the event. On April 12, HST will
receive a Laureate from Aviation Week. (Visit
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/spacesci/hst10/hst_main.htm for more
information on HST). 3) The Center will hold an annual “Open House” on
April 16 and will observe Earth Awareness Day on April 17.

JSC/Abbey: Mr. Abbey reported on the following items: 1) The STS-101
Flight Readiness Review is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at KSC, in
preparation for an April 24 launch. 2) The International Space Station
is doing well onorbit. 3) The Russian Proton engines were delivered to
Khrunichev this week for installation on the booster; the Proton will be
shipped to the Baikonur launch site on May 25 for the Service Module
launch. 4) The NSF delivered 1,042 meteorites to JSC this week for
curation. Additionally, 12 meteorite samples from the Yukon meteor are
in storage in the curation facility; these are extremely rare because
they were collected immediately after falling to Earth and are in
pristine condition. JSC scientists are conducting analyses on the
samples.

LaRC/Freeman: Mr. Freeman reported that LaRC, under the sponsorship of
the Center of Excellence for Structures and Materials, organized a
Structures and Materials for Space Transportation Workshop on March 28-30
at LaRC. Approximately 100 people attended the workshop from both
government and industry. The industry participants numbered about 35.
The objective of the workshop was to identify the critical structures and
materials needs in airframes and propulsion systems for space
transportation over the next 25 years. The workshop was structured
around the ongoing Second and Third Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle
planning activities. The workshop consisted of overviews from the
program managers of the ongoing planning activities and individual
breakout groups that correspond to the ongoing planning groups working
structures and materials technology needs for second and third generation
airframe and propulsion. To date, the feedback has been very positive,
especially from the managers of the ongoing planning teams, who are using
the results from the workshop as key input to their planning process.

3. A/Goldin

Mr. Goldin discussed two subjects related to safety. First, he
reiterated that no spacecraft is to be launched unless it has gone
through a rigorous Red Team review. He emphasized that each Associate
Administrator and Center Director must focus on making this their highest
priority to ensure that the spacecraft is “ready for launch.”

Secondly, Mr. Goldin discussed NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 2820, NASA
Software Policies. He reiterated the requirement for NASA programs and
projects to be reviewed using the Verification and Validation (V&V)
techniques and processes, including appropriate Independent Verification
and Validation (IV&V). NASA needs to better implement this requirement
for flight and ground software and hardware. As NASA and its contractors
move from analog-based systems to digital systems, there is a need to
improve our tools and methods to perform V&V of software systems. He
stated that NASA is the world’s leader in aerospace and indicated the
need for NASA to emerge as the world’s leader in digital systems.
[Mr. Goldin directed the Chief Information Officer, Chief Engineer,
and Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance (AA S&MA) to
review the standards and procedures of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Carnegie Mellon University for potential
NASA application of their IV&V processes so that NASA’s IV&V standards
and procedures are compatible with the industry and not cumbersome or
unique.]

Mr. Goldin requested all Center Systems Management Offices (SMO’s) to
take inventory of all projects and to review their software. The SMO’s
should verify if appropriate procedures were used in flight and ground
software development, V&V, and IV&V. The first priority is to assess the
next spacecraft to be launched. The SMO’s should review: 1) system
robustness and margins, e.g., appropriate system stress test; 2)
appropriateness of analysis and simulation for hardware if conducted in
lieu of testing; and 3) Operational Readiness Review in assessing
spacecraft operational tests, integrated space and ground hardware and
software, and analysis and simulation of spacecraft. Mr. Goldin expects
leadership from the Associate Administrators and Center Directors.

In closing, Mr. Goldin discussed the capabilities and use of the NASA
Software IV&V Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mr. Goldin clarified
that the IV&V Facility, working with the Chief Information Officer, Chief
Engineer, and AA S&MA should establish the standards and procedures for
software IV&V. The IV&V Facility will certify what contractors conduct
IV&V and, along with ARC, will continue to develop advanced tools. Mr.
Goldin stated that the Chief Information Officer, Chief Engineer, and AA
S&MA will designate where a project’s software IV&V will be conducted and
that these tasks will be carried out by the Center Directors.

NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND
TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANAGEMENT OFFICE. SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO TERESA GRIMES AT (202) 358-1280.

Officials-in-Charge of NASA Headquarters Offices:

AI/Dr. Mulville

AB/Ms. Tagg

AC/Gen. Armstrong

AE/Mr. Keegan

AJ/Mr. Tam

AO/Mr. Holcomb

AS/Dr. Olsen

B/Mr. Holz

C/Mr. Christensen

E/Mr. Reese

F/Ms. Novak

G/Mr. Frankle

H/Mr. Luedtke

I/Mr. Schumacher

J/Mr. Sutton

K/Mr. Thomas

L/Mr. Heffernan

M/Mr. Rothenberg

P/Ms. Wilhide

Q/Mr. Gregory

R/Mr. Venneri

S/Dr. Weiler

U/Dr. Nicogossian

W/Ms. Gross

Y/Dr. Asrar

Z/Ms. Garver

Directors, NASA Centers:

ARC/Dr. McDonald

DFRC/Mr. Petersen

GRC/Mr. Campbell

GSFC/Mr. Diaz

JSC/Mr. Abbey

KSC/Mr. Bridges

LaRC/Dr. Creedon

MSFC/Mr. Stephenson

SSC/Mr. Estess

Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

Dr. Stone

cc:

A/Ms. Roberts

AB/Ms. Saldana

AC/Ms. Landrus

AE/Ms. Moore

AI/Ms. Shaeffer

AO/Ms. Wissinger

AS/Ms. Simms

CIC/Ms. Grimes

CIC/Ms. Hoover

CIC/Ms. Coates

CIC/Ms. Fenner

CIC/Ms. Maynor