Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 12 Feb 2001
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on February 12, 2001. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.
1. AA Reports
P/Cleggett: The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker landing
on Eros and the STS-98 mission docking with the International Space
Station (ISS) are getting excellent media coverage.
W/Gross: On February 8, 2001, a former employee of Alfredo J. Teran and
Associates, Inc., a NASA contractor at MSFC, was arrested by Special
Agents from the NASA Office of Inspector General, Office of Criminal
Investigations. The arrest resulted from a two-count indictment by a
Federal grand jury in the Northern District of Alabama-Birmingham. The
indictment alleged that the individual knowingly possessed material that
contained images of child pornography. The prosecution is being handled
by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Phillips, Birmingham. Ms. Gross stressed
that we cannot continue to have occurrences of these activities.
Management must reinforce to employees that individuals engaged in this
type of behavior will be prosecuted.
E/Reese: Acknowledgement was made of NASA recipients of the 2001 Black
Engineer of the Year Awards-
GRC/Donald Campbell, ARC/Vernol Battiste, GRC/Jo Ann Charleston, and
GSFC/Nigel Ziyad.
S/Weiler: The NEAR Shoemaker will attempt to land on EROS today. There
has been great success in getting images of the asteroid.
M/Hawes: The STS-98 mission to the ISS is going very well. The Destiny
laboratory is connected and a 2nd EVA is being performed today.
AC/Armstrong: Mr. Armstrong reminded the Associate Administrators that
Tennessee Technological University will be coming to NASA on Thursday to
discuss engineering and sciences activities.
2. AI/Dr. Mulville
1) The Senior Management Council (SMC) will meet this Friday,
February 16, to continue discussions on Strategic Planning.
2) The Program Management Council Quarterly Status Review is
scheduled for this Wednesday, February 14.
3) The Integrated Financial Management Steering Council will meet
this Thursday, February 15.
4) Dr. Mulville requested that the quantity of overdue actions be
brought down to within 10 percent which is the Headquarters goal.
3. Center Reports
DFRC/Petersen: The Center will be hosting the NASA Security Conference
this week.
GRC/Campbell: Under NASA’s Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology program,
Williams International and Honeywell recently received a formal briefing
of the program and are sc
heduled to complete component technology demo
plans by February 2002.
JSC/Abbey:
1) EVA #1 activities went well on Sunday, and the Destiny Lab
activation has proceeded per plan.
2) Destiny Lab activities today include activation of Guidance,
Navigation, and Controls software and working to spin up the Control
Moment Gyro System. Activities thus far have been per schedule.
3) STS-102 is rolling out to the pad and is scheduled to launch on
March 8.
4) The airlock has been sent over to NASA from Boeing and is being
prepared for launch in early June.
SSC/Estess:
1) The X-33 flight engine was tested last week.
2) Boeing will be conducting the second set of tests on the Common
Core Booster for an upcoming Delta launch.
4. Mr. Goldin
1) The mission is going well; people are paying attention to safety.
He noted that NASA is able to successfully launch the Space Shuttle
within a launch window of as little as 5 minutes.
2) The astronauts’ reacted professionally and safely to the ammonia
leak on the ISS.
3) Regarding safety, NASA’s goal is to be number one. However, we
still have lost time accidents. All Centers and especially Headquarters
must focus on safety measures.
4) Mr. Goldin is looking forward to Friday’s Senior Management
Council meeting. He has told OMB that NASA will support the
Administration and resolve issues within the guidance provided by OMB.
The meeting shall focus on the future vision of NASA which must be in
alignment with the goals of the new Administration.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE
COVER AND TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE MANA0GEMENT OFFICE.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO JILL HOOVER AT (202) 358-0905.