Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting – May 29, 2001

The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and
Center Directors’ Meeting on May 29, 2001. Action assignments have been
placed in brackets [ ] for easy identification.

1. AA Reports

Q/Lloyd: 1) Mr. Lloyd presented the weekly safety topic. In NASA’s
mission, some of its employees must work with Explosives, Propellant, and
Pyrotechnics (EPP). The concept of accepted risk for EPP operations can
never be eliminated. Different risk levels are permitted for different
categories of personnel or facilities that might be exposed to the
hazard. NASA primarily uses the concept of Quantity Distancethe greater
the quantity of EPP, the greater the distance required to protect exposed
people and facilities. In short, prescribed separation distances
effectively enhance the safety of people and facilities. Quantity Distance
requirements provide for the minimum acceptable level of safety. As NASA’s
goal is to provide for the maximum level of safety, consistent with
operational needs, an increase to these minimum distances is always
advisable if space can be made available. This is a case of “more is
better.” 2) Mr. Gregory chaired an Integrated Mission Assurance Review for
the HESSI mission on May 14.

AM/Williams: For the health topic of the week, Mr. Williams discussed
gender differences, as they relate to health and the differences in
diseases, e.g., ovarian cancer, prostate cancer. Gender-unique patterns of
disease have emerged, and research efforts to more fully address questions
of basic biological differences between males and females that
significantly affect health are increasing. Many diseases are expressed
differently between the sexes, e.g., hereditary disorders, autoimmune
diseases, and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and stroke are only a few
examples. CVD warrants special attention, since it is the leading cause of
death in the United States and accounts for more then one-third of deaths
among women in the United States. CVD symptoms begin 10 to 20 years later
in women than in men. Women are more likely to present atypical symptoms
of heart disease, i.e., shortness of breath, while men experience chest
pain. Men have more collateral circulation, so areas of heart muscle
damage from a coronary event tends to be less. Evolving technology will
enhance understanding of sex-based differences at the cellular and
molecular level and beyond, throughout the span of life.

P/Brown: Mr. Brown is beginning site visits to all the NASA Centers.

I/Schumacher: 1) Mr. Schumacher thanked the Enterprises for assisting with
the visit of a delegation from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). 2)
Preparations continue for the ISS Partner Use Conference in Berlin next
week. 3) Dr. Blumberg from Headquarters and Dr. McDonald of ARC will lead
a NASA delegation that will welcome the United Kingdom as an Astrobiology
Institute affiliate.

K/Thomas: Last week, GSFC hosted a successful Small Business
Conference. This week, Congressman Mollohan (D-WV) is hosting a Small
Business Conference.

B/Varholy: The Mercatus Center has published a survey of Departments and
Agencies on the GPRA approach.

C/Christensen: 1) The Headquarters picnic will be held June 9. 2) Those
attempting to reach NASA Headquarters after normal business hours, may call
202-358-1616 to get assistance.

2. AI/Dr. Mulville

1) The next Senior Management Council Meeting will be held on Friday,
June 22, at NASA Headquarters. 2) The 2001 HQ softball tournament
officially begins this week.

3. Center Reports

ARC/McDonald: The Center has 10 defibrillators in various locations and
has been accredited with saving the life of an employee.

DFRC/Petersen: The Center is preparing for the launch of an experimental
hypersonic air-breathing free-flight vehicle, the X-43A Hyper-X, on
Saturday, June 2. The program seeks to demonstrate airframe-integrated,
“air-breathing” engine technologies that promise to increase payload
capacity for future vehicles, including hypersonic aircraft (faster than
Mach 5).

GRC/Campbell: Dr. John Adamczyk has been selected to receive the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Air Breathing Propulsion
Award for 2001.

JSC/Estess: JSC is working toward the June 20 launch date of Space Shuttle
STS-104. (Note: The launch has now been rescheduled to no earlier than
July 2.)

KSC/Bridges: The Center hopes for rollout of STS-104 to the pad on Sunday,
June 3.

MSFC/Kennedy: The Center will host the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
this week.

SSC/Craig: 1) Last week’s test schedule included 30 minutes of tests
conducted on both the SSME and commercial hardware. 2) The Common Booster
Core was removed from its test position and shipped to KSC last week. 3)
The Hydrogen Peroxide Enrichment Skid was installed on E3.

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.