Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 09-18-2000

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on September 18, 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 he would be meeting with the SEB (Source
Evaluation Board) at MSFC to receive the Board’s evaluation of proposed
Core Financial Management software products that are being considered for
NASA’s restructured Integrated Financial Management Improvement Program.

E/Hall: Ms. Hall reported that the Minority University Space
Interdisciplinary Network’s (MU-SPIN) 10th annual users’ conference was
held September 11-16, 2000, at Morris Brown College and the Atlanta
Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. MU-SPIN assists minority
institutions in developing computer networks and using the Internet in
their research and education activities. Codes E, S (Space Science), and Y
(Earth Science) sponsor the project. The Science Communications and
Technology Branch at GSFC manage the project. The conference was well
attended by faculty and students, as well as by NASA Headquarters and GSFC.
Ms. Hall thanked and congratulated the MU-SPIN Project Director Mr. James
Harrington, and staff, for a job well done.

M/Hawes: Mr. Hawes reported that launch preparations are going well.

Q/Gregory: Mr. Gregory reported on the following items: 1) The Office of
Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) conducted an Integrated Mission
Assurance Review on the NOAA-L mission which is scheduled for launch this
week (on a Titan II at Vandenberg). Based on the minimum success criteria,
the SM&A concluded that there are no unresolved safety issues, and that
there is a high probability of minimum mission success.

Y/Asrar: Dr. Asrar reported on the following items: 1) The NOAA-L is on
target for launch on September 20 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB). 2)
He congratulated GSFC for receiving one of six National Federal Acquisition
Awards for the NASA Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition. 3) The ESE (Earth
Science Enterprise) “For Kids Only” Web site was selected by Pirelli
International for dissemination of scientific and cultural information on
the Internet. Pirelli International is an Italian-based company that makes
cables and systems for telecommunications and energy transmission. Pirelli
selected the Web site from Popular Science magazine where NASA’s “For Kids
Only” Web site was chosen as one of the five best science learning sites
and as, overall, among the 50 best. Like the Popular Science contest, this
is a worldwide competition.

L/Kerwin: Ms. Kerwin reported on the following items: 1) The NASA
authorization bill passed in the House 399 to 17, and the bill is now in
the Senate. 2) The Senate Appropriations Committee discussed the FY 2001
bill last week. 3) NASA has received clearance on the extension of its
Buyout Authority for 4 more years.

2. AI/Dr. Olsen

Dr. Olsen reported on the following items: 1) She is acting in behalf of
Dr. Mulville who will be participating in meetings in Budapest, Hungary,
this week. 2) Tuesday through Sunday (September 19-24), Mr. Brian Keegan
will be Acting Associate Deputy Administrator.

3. Center Reports

DFRC/Petersen: Mr. Petersen reported that, last week, DFRC hosted about
300 former NASA employees and their spouses for a tour and evening events.
The 9th NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) reunion was
highly successful.

GSFC/Diaz: Mr. Diaz reported that everything is going well with the NOAA-L
launch. Bill Townsend is at Vandenberg AFB this week for the launch.

JSC/Abbey: Mr. Abbey reported on the following items: 1) The undocking of
the Space Shuttle from the ISS (International Space Station) was a success,
and the Space Shuttle is on schedule for landing on Wednesday, September
20, at 2:50 a.m. 2) Preparations are underway for the October 5 launch of
STS-92. 3) Space Station is doing well on orbit. 4) The Flight
Readiness Review is scheduled for next week.

MSFC/Saucier: Mr. Saucier reported on the following items: 1) Mr.
Stephenson is on travel. 2) The X-34 and the MC-1 (Fastrac) engine were
successfully mated. MSFC completed a highly successful full-duration test
of the Fastrac engine. 3) The SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine)
High-Pressure Fuel Turbo Pump completed a very successful Design
Certification Review at SSC. 4) MSFC will celebrate its 40th Anniversary
on September 21.

SSC/Craig: Mr. Craig reported on a variety of SSC’s test activities that
include the TRW pintle engine, the Pratt and Whitney Unit 14 test, and the
aerospike engine test. He also discussed SSC’s successful completion of
the ISO/DNV audit last week and tomorrow’s benchmarking visit to the Naval
Air Museum at NAS Pensacola to assist in the ongoing planning for the
expanded SSC visitors center.

NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND
TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANAGEMENT OFFICE. SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO VANESSA COATES @ (202) 358-0906.

Officials-in-Charge of NASA Headquarters Offices:

AA/Mr. Heffernan

AI/Dr. Mulville

AB/Ms. Tagg

AC/Gen. Armstrong

AE/Mr. Keegan

AJ/Mr. Tam

AM/Dr. Nicogossian

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. Olsen (Acting)

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. Stewart

AB/Ms. Saldana

AC/Ms. Landrus

AE/Ms. Moore

AI/Ms. Shaeffer

AI/Ms. Blinebury

AI/Ms. Soper

AJ/Ms. Bloxon

AM/Ms. Barnes

AO/Ms. Wissinger

AS/Ms. Simms

CIC/Ms. Grimes

CIC/Ms. Hoover

CIC/Ms. Coates

CIC/Ms. Fenner

CIC/Ms. Maynor

CIC/Ms. Doyle