Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 13 Nov 2000

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on November 13, 2000. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

L/Kerwin: Ms. Kerwin reported on the following items: 1) Election
update: In the JPL area, Adam Schiff has defeated Rep. James E. Rogan; in
the LaRC area, Republican Jo Ann Davis has defeated Lawrence Davies for the
seat occupied by the former Herb Bateman; and in Florida, former Rep. Bill
Nelson, Democrat, has defeated Rep. Bill McCollum to occupy the seat of
retiring Senator Connie Mack. 2) As of today, the Senate lineup is 50 to
51 Republicans, 49 to 50 Democrats, depending upon final vote counts. 3)
Current House lineup is Republicans 221 or 222, and Democrats, 211 or 212.

Y/Asrar: Dr. Asrar reported that the first New Millennium Earth Observer
(EO-1) and the Argentina SAC-C satellites are ready for launch on a Delta
II on November 18 at 10:24 PT from Vandenberg Air Force Base,
California. These two satellites will form a midmorning constellation with
EOS Terra and Landsat satellites observing Earth’s land, atmosphere, and
oceans in a new way. (Note: The SAC-C is now scheduled for launch on
November 21.)

W/Gross: Ms. Gross reported on the following items: On November 9, 2000,
the Boeing Company of Seattle, Washington, and United Space Alliance (USA)
of Houston, Texas, agreed to pay $825,000 and to give up their rights to
$1.2 million in unpaid invoices to settle allegations relating to false
claims submitted to NASA between 1986 and 1992. The suit alleged that
Rockwell Space Operations Company (RSOC) knowingly passed along the
fraudulent costs of its subcontractor, Omniplan Corporation, under the NASA
Space Shuttle and Space Station Programs. Between 1986 and 1993, RSOC
certified to NASA that all Omniplan costs were reasonable, allowable, and
allocable to the space agency contracts. The United States alleged that
the RSOC invoices included large amounts of fraudulent costs. According to
the suit, Omniplan commingled personal expenses with its corporate
accounts, including operating a pizza delivery company out of a building
that RSOC was billing to NASA. Omniplan also established phony companies
in order to inflate building and equipment lease costs. RSOC also charged
NASA improper costs based upon Omniplan’s general and administrative rates
that included significant amounts of unallowable personal expenses, such as
costs relating to personal homes, a ski lodge, expensive jewelry, and
numerous vacations to Argentina, Nepal, and Singapore.

AS/Olsen: Dr. Olsen reported that the Science Council is meeting today
(scheduled for 2 p.m. but occurring at 2:15 p.m.) to discuss the University
Initiative.

2. Dr. Mulville:

Dr. Mulville reported on the following items: 1) The Quarterly Status
Review for the Program Management Council will be held on Thursday,
November 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. in room 9H40. 2) As a reminder, the December
Senior Management Council meeting has been rescheduled for Friday, December
8. The meeting will be held at NASA HQ.

ARC/Bingham: Ms. Bingham reported that ARC is participating in an
Emergency Response exercise with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management
Agency), DoD, and the local communities this week. This exercise simulates
the response following a major earthquake.

JSC/Abbey: Mr. Abbey reported on the following items: 1) The P6 (solar
array) will be loaded into the Orbiter on November 16. 2) The STS-97
launch is on track for November 30. 3) In preparation for the following
mission (which will add the Lab to the ISS), the next Orbiter will be moved
to the pad on December 21. Space Station is doing well on-orbit. The crew
has today off; but they are well ahead of schedule on stowage and other
onboard tasks.

SSC/Estess: Mr. Estess reported on the following items: 1) The Common
Booster Core (CBC) integration into the B1 stand is scheduled for this
week. 2) Stennis Space Center had their second successful public test
firing last week (November 9) with over 2700 people in attendance.

3. Mr. Goldin:

Mr. Goldin stated that NASA (Code R) is working with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to resolve problems with safety in air traffic
management systems. This important subject involves us all, including our
families. On that same note, he referred to an article in the Washington
Post about safety-related problems in air space systems. The issues
concern the lack of frequencies to accommodate in-air data communication
with pilots. NASA is working with the FAA on improvement in air traffic
management. Funding for this effort is a priority, and NASA is developing
the technology to address this problem. Mr. Goldin was recently with a
number of CEO’s who operate in the commercial sector. The CEO’s were
surprised to learn about how NASA can help solve this problem. Regarding
the budget for FY 2001 2002, Mr. Goldin identified several problem areas
that need to be resolved.

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.