Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting 6 Nov 2000
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on November 6, 2000. Mr. Goldin attended the
meeting. Action assignments have been placed in brackets [ ] for easy
identification.
1. AA Reports
B/Holz: Mr. Holz reported on the following: 1) Mr. Holz reminded all that
input from the Centers and Institutional Program Offices (IPO) regarding
their identification and prioritization of Facility projects for the
Facility Initiative are needed in preparation for making a worthwhile
discussion on this topic at the next Capital Investment Council (CIC)
meeting on Monday, November 13. 2) Mr. Holz also reported that his office
needs to receive the Enterprise and Functional offices’ FY 2000 Performance
Report data which was requested to be submitted by October 20.
P/Cleggett: Ms. Cleggett reported that NASA received great coverage in the
media for the launch and docking of the Expedition One crew. This makes
week 22 of the streak.
Y/Luther: Mr. Luther reported that the Earth Observing (EO-1) satellite
and SAC-C, an international cooperative mission between NASA and the
Argentine Commission on Space Activities (CONAE), are scheduled for launch
from Vandenberg Air Force Base no earlier than November 18.
Q/Greenfield: Dr. Greenfield reported that Code Q conducted an integrated
mission assurance review with cognizant Safety Mission Assurance
Directors. Although the EO-1 mission is medium-risk, project management
has taken steps to enhance the probability that the mission will be a
success. Fault trees and Probabilistic Risk Assessments were conducted and
resulted in changes to the mission operations plan.
F/Novak: Ms. Novak reported on the following: 1) NASA’s buyout authority
has been modified and extended for 2 more years, through September 30,
2002. This new legislation gives us the ability to use buyouts to reshape
the workforce, without losing a Full Time Equivalent for each buyout. Ms.
Novak sent a memo to IPO’s on Friday, November 3, asking for Center buyout
plans by December 8, which NASA will submit to OMB for approval. Ms. Novak
encourages everyone to use this buyout opportunity, wherever it makes
sense, to help get the skills needed. 2) The Administrator has agreed for
the Agency to proceed with the expanded use of NASA Excepted Authority
(NEX). Code F will be developing Memorandums of Agreement for this
expanded use of NEX in collaboration with the IPO’s. A total of 300
Critical Shortage Technical Positions will be phased in over 3 years. They
must be outside hires, and appointments must be time limited up to 4
years. Code F will provide a model agreement and request further input for
inclusion in final agreements for the Administrator’s approval.
At this point, Mr. Goldin interjected with an action to Mr. Rothenberg
regarding the cancellation of the Interim Control Module (ICM). [Mr.
Rothenberg is to look at the total picture, have an integrated strategy,
and provide a plan to the Administrator in 30 days.]
J/Sutton: Mr. Sutton reported that listings of facilities projects were
provided to the Center Directors at the last Senior Management Council
(SMC) meeting at which time they were asked to prioritize them. These were
due last Friday, November 3. He has received responses from Codes R and Y;
they are working with Codes M and S to bring this together for the November
13 CIC meeting and in preparation for information for OMB.
U/Swain: Dr. Swain reported that Code U has finished the Essentials of
Biology course and that over 4000 people took the course. Code U received
a letter from Daniel DiMicco, President and CEO of NUCOR in Charlotte, NC,
supporting the research on steel solidification in microgravity.
AO/Holcomb: Mr. Holcomb thanked GSFC for setting up the CIO face-to-face
meetings held at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). CMU addressed
Information Technology Security programs, computer security and
robotics. The Software Engineering Institute had information exchanges
concerning software engineering and computer security regarding the
Computer Emergency Response Team. It was a very productive meeting.
C/Christensen: Mr. Christensen encouraged the AA’s to complete an
Administration Initiative that he had sent them on actions to be taken to
ensure that our programs are accessible to those with limited English
proficiency.
2. AI/Dr. Mulville
Dr. Mulville reported on the following: 1) An Independent Annual Review
for the Earth Explorers program will be presented at today’s Program
Management Council meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Program Review Center
(9H40). 2) The CIC will meet on Monday, November 13, from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
in MIC-7. Code B is in the process of preparing the agenda. 3) As a
reminder, the December SMC meeting has been rescheduled for Friday,
December 8. The meeting will be held at Headquarters. Please submit your
suggested topics to be discussed to Dr. Mulville’s office by Monday,
November 13.
3. Center Reports
DFRC/Petersen: Mr. Petersen reported that the Proteus aircraft flew to a
peak altitude of nearly 63,000 feet and over 55,000 feet with a
1000-kilogram payload. DFRC designed and installed the systems required
for the full pressure suits worn by the crew for these high-altitude flights.
JSC/Parsons: Mr. Parsons reported on the following: 1) The Space
Operations Management Office is conducting an Architecture Study to look at
the Agency’s future communications needs (the next 20 years) at JSC and
will present some of the results to the Space Operations Council on
Tuesday, November 21 in Washington. 2) On November 9, there will be a
Broadcast Quality ViTS telecon originating from MSFC as a demonstration
from an action given by Mr. Goldin at the last SMC. 3) There are
discussions about slipping the launch date by 1 day due to having a Day 3
rendezvous versus a Day 4 rendezvous. This is being worked over the next
few weeks, and a decision will be made at a later time. 4) The STS-97
Flight Readiness Review will be on Friday, November 17, at KSC. 5)
Inspection 2000 was held at JSC November 1-3 and was a great success.
KSC/Bridges: Mr. Bridges reported that the Center had excellent success
with the first consolidated Community Appreciation Day on November 4, which
included Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Estimated attendance was 44,000
people for this special event which opens facilities normally closed to the
public.
LaRC/Creedon: Dr. Creedon reported that on October 24-26, the Center and
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport cosponsored the Runway
Incursion (RI) Prevention Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems briefings and
in-flight demonstration at DFW. Over 100 industry, Government (including
representatives from the White House, LaRC Senior Staff, and senior Federal
Aviation Administration officials), and academic partners from more than 30
organizations had the opportunity to talk with NASA and industry
researchers and see both ground and flight demonstration of three
technologies being developed as part of the NASA Synthetic Vision Systems
Project–1) an onboard RI monitoring system integrated with ground-based RI
avoidance technologies, 2) hold-short advisory landing technology, and 3)
synthetic vision tactical display concepts (head-up and head-down).
MSFC/Stephenson: Mr. Stephenson reported on the following: 1) They are
looking forward to the demonstration on Thursday, November 9, with Mr.
Goldin. 2) The Chandra X-ray Observatory Team has been selected as the
winner of the 2000 National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Trophy for Current
Achievement for its successful start to its operation, including its
confirmation of the presence of super massive black holes at the center of
our galaxy. The trophy will be presented on November 9 at the NASM.
4. Mr. Goldin
Mr. Goldin stated that there would be a press release today on the new NASA
Office of Security Management and Safeguards, which will report directly to
the Administrator. Security is crucial to NASA’s ability to meet its
safety priorities and encompasses a variety of functions. This new
organization will serve as the single point of focus on security matters
for the Agency as well as representing NASA at the national level on
security policy. Establishing this office demonstrates again the Agency’s
commitment to safety and is a result of a FBI study requested by NASA to
improve NASA’s security operations.
The successful launch of the International Space Station Expedition One
crew was rewarding. The Russians have confidence in the safety and
reliability of their launch system, and we have a lot to learn from their
experience. NASA can also learn a lot from the Russians’ experience in
long-duration space flight. For example, NASA does task training, whereas,
the Russians train with more flexibility and can deal better with unplanned
changes. This program needs a common set of systems and procedures,
including those with the International Partners.
