Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 30 May 2000

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on May 30, 2000. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.

1. AA Reports

P/Cleggett: Ms. Cleggett reported that this Friday, June 2, at 10:00 PST,
there will be a press conference to announce a multimedia partnership from
ARC. Code P will brief officials at the next Senior Staff meeting.

M/Rothenberg: Mr. Rothenberg reported on the successful Space Shuttle
mission (STS-101) and congratulated the team.

R/Reck: Mr. Reck reported that Code R is heavily involved in preparing
information on the impact of the FY 2001 budget reductions that were
recommended by the House Subcommittee markup last week. Mr. Venneri will
be back in the office on Thursday, June 1.

J/Sutton: Mr. Sutton reported on the following: The General Accounting
Office (GAO) investigators (at the request of the Subcommittee on Crime,
Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives) purchased counterfeit
law enforcement-type badges on the Internet and created credentials using
off-the-shelf computer graphic packages. They used these counterfeit
credentials to enter 19 Federal buildings and 2 airports (Reagan Washington
National and Orlando). They had a 100-percent success rate. This included
NASA Headquarters. The investigators bypassed metal detectors and, using
various pretexts, entered the building. At least one of the investigators
always carried a satchel. Proposed legislation is now likely to try to
curb the availability of badges for sale and increase the penalties for
impersonation. NASA’s reaction to this situation is as follows: a)
Agencywide, NASA is in the process of a complete badge and credentials
inventory to make sure that none of our own (meaning the NASA security
offices) are adrift; b) We are reiterating NASA policy that law
enforcement credentials alone are not sufficient for entry onto NASA
installations. Except for emergency situations, law enforcement personnel
are treated like any other NASA visitor (signed in and escorted). Center
Directors should ensure adherence to this longstanding policy.

L/Heffernan: Mr. Heffernan reported on the following: 1) Results from the
May 23, 2000, House Appropriations Subcommittee markups are as follows:
-$322 million below the President’s budget, -$290 million space launch,
-$49 million Aviation Systems Capacity, -$9 million SATS (Small Aircraft
Transportation System), -$20 million Living with a Star, +$25 million Life
and Microgravity Sciences, +$15 million UEET (Ultra Efficient Engine
Technology) Program, +$4.6 million Epscor, and +$1.0 million Office of
Inspector General. 2) June 6 is the Full Committee Appropriations markup.
3) Congress is in recess. Congressional staff will be visiting NASA
Centers on the following dates: May 30 to WFF and LaRC, May 31 to GSFC,
May 31 and June 1 to MSFC, and on June 2– Representative Rohrabacher
(R-CA) to ARC. On June 1, NASA’s Chief Scientist will visit the University
of Missouri.

C/Christensen: Mr. Christensen reported on the GAO audit (as noted in
J/Sutton’s report) that was conducted several weeks ago which revealed that
GAO agents were able to bypass metal detectors and gain access to the
Administrator’s suite. As a result, effective some time this week, the
Code-A suite doors will be locked. HQ employees will be able to enter the
suite during the workday using their badge.

2. Center Reports

ARC/Berry: Mr. Berry reported that Mr. McDonald is in Washington, DC, for
the Applications in Medical Health Care Field event.

GRC/Campbell: GRC was honored by the Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) North Coast
Chapter of Ohio with its Distinguished Organization/Business of the Year
Award on Monday, May 22, 2000. The award recognized GRC’s work with public
education. Mr. John Hairston, Director of External Programs, accepted the
award on behalf of GRC. The Distinguished Service to Education Award was
presented to Ms. Marlene Kersman, Coordinator of Cleveland Area Very
Special Arts, with whom Ms. Sally Harrington, Community and Media Relations
Office, and Ms. Deb Coutler, Office of Equal Opportunity, work each year on
the Very Special Arts Festival. GRC hosted this year’s festival which was
attended by 1,247 people, including 814 children and adults with
disabilities, their chaperones, and volunteers, in GRC’s hangar on May 12.

GSFC/Diaz: Mr. Diaz reported that controllers at GSFC began test burns for
reentry of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). Tonight will be the
first major burn. Sunday morning, June 4, will be the rapid burn. During
that time, the CGRO is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in an
isolated area of the Pacific Ocean, southeast of Hawaii.

JPL/Stone: Dr. Stone reported that JPL will have an Open House on Saturday
and Sunday, June 3 and 4.

JSC/Abbey: Mr. Abbey reported on the following: 1) STS-101 was a
tremendous success; the crew will return to JSC today. 2) Atlantis is now
in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), being turned around for the next
Shuttle flight which is slated for launch no earlier than September 8. 3)
Zarya and Unity are doing well onorbit. 4) The Proton booster is on its
way to Baikonur for the Service Module launch on July 12.

LaRC/Couch: Ms. Couch reported that LaRC is looking forward to the visit
of Mr. Abbey and his staff from JSC tomorrow and also to Dr. Mulville’s
visit on Monday, June 5.

MSFC/Saucier: Mr. Saucier reported on the following: 1) The TABES
(Technical and Business Exhibition and Symposium), the Tennessee Valley
Economic Summit, and the Von Braun Forum were taking place this week and
would end June 1. 2) The Shuttle propulsion systems (for which MSFC is
responsible) performed well with no anomalies on this last mission.

SSC/Craig: Mr. Craig reported that the Grand Opening of the newly
redesigned visitors center last week at SSC was very successful.

3. Dr. Mulville:

Dr. Mulville reported on the following: 1) Next Monday, Dr. Mulville will
be at LaRC for a Center visit and then will be participating in the NASA
Advisory Council meeting. 2) The Independent Annual Review and the
Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) are topics of the Program Management Council
(PMC) meeting scheduled for June 8. 3) The next softball point of contact
meeting is scheduled for May 31, from 3 to 4 p.m. in ACR-2.

4. Mr. Goldin:

Mr. Goldin began by offering congratulations for the successful Shuttle
mission, STS-101. It is a tribute to the men and women of NASA that they
do such an outstanding job in accomplishing difficult and challenging
missions. Mr. Goldin cautions that we should not get over confident about
the missions. We should spend the time to anticipate problems.

He then discussed some fundamental issues related to the Vegetation Canopy
Lidar (VCL) spacecraft. The satellite relies on very high-energy density
lasers to determine and measure the height of vegetation. Understanding
the technology of solid-state, high-energy density lasers is critical to
the success of this mission. Problems associated with these lasers have
been identified in previous space systems, and NASA should learn from past
experience to identify and support technology risk-reduction activities
critical to mission success. NASA leadership must understand core
technical issues related to NASA missions. Does each Associate
Administrator (AA) and Center Director understand the technology behind
their respective activities? Managers should take the necessary steps to
understand and identify potential problems and learn from past mistakes.
Once AA’s and Center Directors understand core problems, a team of experts
should be assigned to address the problem and provide recommendations to
resolve them. He asked the PMC to challenge the programs and projects and
ask, “Do you really believe what you have recommended will meet the mission
objective with acceptable risk?” Mr. Goldin stressed that each AA and
Center Director should understand the limitations and processes of their
respective activities.

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. Nicogossian

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. M. Roberts

A/Ms. S. Roberts

AB/Ms. Saldana

AC/Ms. Landrus

AE/Ms. Moore

AI/Ms. Shaeffer

AI/Ms. Blinebury

AI/Ms. Soper

AO/Ms. Wissinger

AS/Ms. Simms

CIC/Ms. Grimes

CIC/Ms. Hoover

CIC/Ms. Coates

CIC/Ms. Fenner

CIC/Ms. Maynor

CIC/Ms. Doyle