Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 12 Mar 2001

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on March 12, 2001. Mr. Goldin did not attend the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

L/Cherry: There is a hearing scheduled on the International Space Station
(ISS) for March 28, 2001, before the House Science Committee. Mr.
Rothenberg will testify.

Y/Luther: Mr. Luther noted the great loss of Jack Estess, Director of the
Remote Sensing Research Unit at the University of California at Santa
Barbara, who died March 9, 2001. He was a great supporter of the Earth
Science Committee and served on the NASA Advisory Council. He will be
greatly missed.

P/Cleggett: 1) The Space Shuttle mission STS-102 is getting excellent
media coverage, propelling NASA into week 17 of its streak of coverage. 2)
Tomorrow, March 13, we have a space science update, featuring Chandra on
the role of black holes. 3) There will be a press release on the 75th
anniversary of the first liquid-fueled rocket launch successfully performed
by Dr. Robert H. Goddard.

I/Schumacher: The ISS Multilateral Coordination Board is meeting in Moscow
this week.

Z/McCormick: 1) The Society for History in the Federal Government has
selected the Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of
the U.S. Civil Space Program, Vol. IV: Accessing Space (NASA SP-4407) as
the winner of their Thomas Jefferson Prize. The Award will be presented at
the Society’s annual meeting March 15. The book is part of a six-volume
documentary history of the U.S. civil space program sponsored by the NASA
History Office. 2) The NASA Advisory Council will be meeting on March 15
and 16, 2001, at NASA Headquarters.

AE/Keegan: He and Mr. Sutton are entering a data-gathering phase of a
Senior Management Council meeting action.

W/Gross: On March 7, 2001, Rodney Leo King pled guilty before Municipal
Court Judge G. Rafferty, 18th Judicial District, Arapahoe County,
Englewood, CO, to theft of monies in excess of $15,000 a Class IV
Felony. King, a principal investor of Sprag tech, LLC (the Company), had
presented an alleged NASA-approved, exclusive (patent) licensing agreement
to two other investors of the company. When presenting the exclusive
licensing agreement, King stated that NASA had granted approval for the
patent and would issue the company a NASA contract based on the purported
signature of NASA’s General Counsel. However, NASA’s General Counsel did
not sign the agreement. Based on King’s presentation, one of the investors
provided King with a $27,000 check and relinquished an $8000
debt. Sentencing is scheduled for June 1, 2001. The investigation was
conducted by Special Agents of the NASA Office of Inspector General, Office
of Criminal Investigations, and Detectives from the Greenwood Village
Police Department, Greenwood, CO. Assistant District Attorney Natalie
Decker, Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office, Denver, CO, is handling
the case.

2. AI/Dr. Mulville

1) The Capital Investment Council will meet this afternoon to discuss
budget issues and critical NASA infrastructure needs. 2) The next Senior
Management Council meeting will be held on Thursday, March 29, at NASA
Headquarters.

3. Center Reports

GRC/Campbell: 1) A partnership has been established between NASA GRC and
the University of Michigan to conduct research in unsteady ejectors as
thrust augmentation devices for pulsejet engines. Undergraduate students
provide NASA with copies of their results and final reports. 2) On Friday,
March 2, 2001, GRC hosted a meeting of the National Research Council’s
Committee on Breakthrough Technologies for Commercial Supersonic
Aircraft. 3) The Electrochemistry Branch of the Power and On-Board
Propulsion Technology Division and the Commercial Technology Office are
entering into a Space Act Agreement with Fairview Hospital to assist in
their assessment and selection of fuel cell technology for backup power
requirements.

GSFC/Diaz: Seventy-five years ago, on March 16, 1926, Dr. Robert H.
Goddard successfully launched the first liquid fueled rocket. The launch
took place at Auburn, Massachusetts and is regarded by flight historians to
be as significant as the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. Goddard Space
Flight Center will hold events throughout the week to commemorate the occasion.

JSC/Parsons: 1) The launch of Space Shuttle STS-102 was spectacular. The
Shuttle docked with the International Space Station late Friday night. EVA
#1 was completed Saturday night all objectives were met. The Early
Communications Antenna was moved to make room for the installation of the
Lab Cradle Assembly in preparation for the SSRMS scheduled to go up on
STS-100. Operations are proceeding per plans. 2) The Space Shuttle
Program Manager is in Washington to meet with the Space Flight Advisory
Committee. 3) The delta DCR for the Pratt & Whitney High Pressure Fuel
Turbo Pump will be conducted in mid-March with the first flight scheduled
for STS-104 around June of this year. 4) SOMO supported the Eutelsat
Launch on March 8 with the Deep Space Network. Plans are in place to
support the Sea Launch with TDRSS on March 18. 5) SOMO kicked off a
meeting last week to look at the ISS/Shuttle Communication
Architecture. 6) The Center will be undergoing an ISO 9000 audit to the
new Year 2000 standard next week.

KSC/Bridges: 1) Endeavour will be moving in preparation for the rollover
from the Orbiter Processing Facility high bay 2 to the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB) for Space Shuttle STS-100 external tank mating
operations. Fuel Cell #1 removal and replacement was completed on
Saturday, March 10. The orbiter rollout review is scheduled for Friday,
March 16, with rollover scheduled for Saturday, March 17. 2) Suspect high
voltage Load Break Switches (LBS) in the VAB have resulted in all
processing operations being halted until LBS removal and replacement.

LaRC/Creedon: 1) On March 6, while integrated on the Russian Meteor
spacecraft, the SAGE III instrument experienced a failure of the azimuth
gimbal mechanism to move as commanded. To expedite recovery, actions are
underway to return the SAGE III instrument to the United States for
repair. 2) The third surveillance audit required for ongoing ISO 9001
registration of the Langley Management System (LMS) was completed on
Friday, March 9. No formal nonconformities were cited.

MSFC/Kennedy: Alex McCool has been recognized with a Special Achievement
Award by Design News Magazine.

SSC/Craig: Mr. Craig discussed last week’s successful testing of the Block
II engines.

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.