Status Report

Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 28 August 2000

By SpaceRef Editor
August 28, 2000
Filed under

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on August 28, 2000. Mr. Goldin did not attend
the meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

I/Cline: Ms. Cline reported that the Administrator is in Russia this week
with a Congressional delegation led by Congressman Walsh (R-NY). They met
with French and European Space Agency officials in Paris on August 25 and
26, and they are in Moscow today and tomorrow, August 28-29. The
delegation next visits St. Petersburg and will return to the United States
on Friday, September 1.

S/Withbroe: Dr. Withbroe reported that SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory) has found the 200th comet on its solar mission.

W/Gross: Ms. Gross reported on the following: 1) On August 22, 2000, an
individual pled guilty to one count of possession of U.S. Government
property, with the intent to convert it to his own use. He illegally
possessed and attempted to sell a heat shield tile from the NASA Space
Shuttle Challenger, in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 641, Theft of
Government Property. In the guilty plea, the individual received 2 years’
probation, which was the result of an incident on October 28, 1999, when he
offered for sale on “eBay,” a heat shield tile from the Space Shuttle
Challenger that he had recovered from the wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean 14
years earlier. At the time of the Challenger explosion in January 1986,
the individual was assigned to the USS Aubrey Fitch during the recovery
effort conducted by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. All of the debris was
to be retrieved and returned to a NASA hangar for use in reconstructing the
Challenger. This investigation was conducted by Special Agents of the NASA
Office of Criminal Investigations. 2) On August 17, 2000, a former
computer administrator with NYMA, Inc., a NASA contractor for the John H.
Glenn Research Center, was charged in a four-count Information with
producing and distributing child pornography, receiving child pornography
by computer, and possession of child pornography. Special Agents from the
NASA OIG’s Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Customs Service,
Office of Investigations, conducted the investigation. The prosecution is
being handled by the Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of
Ohio in Cleveland.

R/Reck: Mr. Reck reported that the next meeting in the Aerospace
Technology Enterprise Home and Home Government-Industry exchange meetings
will take place from August 29-31, 2000, in Chicago, IL. The meeting is
being hosted by the Chicago Department of Aviation and United Airlines.
The meeting will be attended by about 200 Government and industry
participants. There will be extensive tours of the Chicago O’Hare Airport
and United Airlines operations. The emphasis of the meeting is on
improving airline and airport operations and will mainly be focused on air
traffic management issues but will also include issues of noise and
emissions. The result of the meeting will be a better understanding by the
Government participants of the day-to-day issues faced by airports and
airlines and their view of the future. Airline and airport officials will
better understand the Government programs and capabilities and
opportunities for partnership.

P/Cleggett: Ms. Cleggett reported on the following: 1) The streak is
alive, thanks to concerns about global warming, tropical storm Debby, and
the western wildfires. 2) On Wednesday, August 30, there will be a release
from the Office of Space Science and GSFC on predicting drought.

Y/Asrar: Dr. Asrar reported that the Office of Earth Science is conducting
two major coordinated international field experiments that are taking
advantage of NASA space-based (e.g., Landsat, Terra, QuikScat) and
suborbital (ER-2, DC-8, and WB-57 aircraft) remote-sensing platforms. One
experiment is focused on understanding southern African climate, and
another one is focused on understanding the Earth’s surface changes in
Southeast Asia and Australia. ARC and DFRC are actively supporting the
deployment of aircraft and logistics associated with these experiments.

K/Thomas: Mr. Thomas thanked KSC for its hospitality last week in hosting
the Minority Business Resource Advisory Committee.

AO/Holcomb: Mr. Holcomb reported that the winner of the NASA Software of
the Year Award for 2000 is the Internet-based Global Differential GPS
software which was submitted from JPL. This software package provides
end-to-end, real-time positioning and orbit determination. The second
place award for 2000 is the Surface Movement Advisor software from ARC.
This software helps improve the situational awareness of the participants
in airfield surface operations, such as Federal Aviation Administration
tower controllers, ramp and airport operators, and commercial airlines.

2. AI/Dr. Mulville

Dr. Mulville reported on the following: 1) An Independent Assessment of
the Discovery Program will be discussed at the Program Management Council
Meeting on Thursday, August 31, from 1 to 4 p.m. 2) Due to the Labor Day
holiday, the next Senior Staff telecon will be held on Tuesday, September 5.

3. Center Reports

DFRC/Petersen: Mr. Petersen reported on the following: 1) The Center
hosted the Aerospace Technology Advisory Committee last week. The
briefings were excellent. 2) The Center held NASA’s Information Technology
Security Program Review last week.

GRC/Campbell: Mr. Campbell reported on the following: 1) The Center’s
chemical kinetics and sensitivity analysis code was originally developed
for efficient and accurate simulation of the complex reactions
characterizing combustion. In collaboration with Professors Joseph LaManna
of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Marco Cabrera of
Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, the code has been successfully
modified to model the physiological dynamics of the human body, in both
healthy and pathological states. This represents successful
interdisciplinary research and the transfer of GRC-developed technology to
the important area of computational biology. 2) The Ultra-Efficient Engine
Technology (UEET) Program, in conjunction with GRC’s Procurement Division,
sponsored a Small Business Forum on July 31, 2000, the purpose being
twofold-to inform interested small businesses of the goals and objectives
of the UEET Program, and to talk with the UEET prime contractor
participants regarding the subcontracting opportunities. The forum was
very successful, with 40 companies participating. 3) The second meeting of
the Integrated Planning Team (IPT) for the UEET Program was recently held
at GRC. The Team is comprised of the program managers from the seven
industrial partners, which include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General
Electric Aircraft Engines, Pratt & Whitney, Allison, Williams, and
Honeywell. A number of programmatic topics were covered, but a significant
amount of time was devoted to the intellectual property management approach
to be followed in UEET. The industrial inputs were critical to developing
a single intellectual property handbook that will be utilized by all
participants.

JSC/Garman: Ms. Garman reported on the following: 1) The Center had a
very successful Open House on Saturday, August 26, with about 350,000
attending. 2) The STS-106 Flight Readiness Review (FRR) will be conducted
at KSC on Tuesday, August 29. 3) At the time of the telecon, a memorial
service for Dr. Gilruth was being held at the Center and televised on NASA
TV.

MSFC/Saucier: Mr. Saucier reported on the following: 1) Art Stephenson is
on leave, and Carolyn Griner is on her way to KSC for the FRR. 2) A Board
of Directors meeting was held last week at MSFC. 3) There will be a
6-month surveillance audit for ISO on Wednesday and Thursday, August 30 and
31.

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.

Distribution


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. Soper
AJ/Ms. Bloxon
AO/Ms. Wissinger
AM/Ms. Barnes
AS/Ms. Simms
CIC/Ms. Grimes
CIC/Ms. Hoover
CIC/Ms. Coates
CIC/Ms. Fenner
CIC/Ms. Maynor

SpaceRef staff editor.