Status Report

NASA Lessons Learned: Space Shuttle and International Space Station/Workforce/ Critical Skills Availability

By SpaceRef Editor

October 1, 2003

Filed under NASA Public Lessons Learned System (PLLS) Database, Space Shuttle, US

PLLS Database Entry: 1236

Lesson Info

Lesson Number: 1236
Lesson Date: 17-jun-2002
Submitting Organization: HQ
Submitted by: David Lengyel

Subject/Title/Topic(s):

Space Shuttle and International Space Station/Workforce/ Critical Skills Availability

Description of Driving Event:

Availability of critical workforce skills and capture of knowledge of existing workforce.

Lesson(s) Learned:

The safety of NASA’s human space flight programs will always be dependent on the availability of a skilled, experienced, and motivated workforce.

Recommendation(s):

Accelerate efforts to ensure the availability of critical skills and to utilize and capture the experience of the current workforce.

Evidence of Recurrence Control Effectiveness:

Capturing the experience of the current workforce by continuing to hire and train young engineers is vital to the long-term safety of the Space Shuttle Program (SSP). NASA, USA, and the State of Florida have developed the Aerospace Technician Certification program, which provides a 2-year curriculum (4-year program in development) towards a space quality standard. Similar certification programs are in work for other aspects of SSP work. A Mentoring Program, focused on further development of technical and managerial skills, is also in place. The Prime Contractors have various hiring, training, and mentoring programs to facilitate skill development and retention. The International Space Station (ISS) is early in the operational phase and has sufficient NASA civil service personnel to assist in the training and mentoring of new Boeing engineers. Further documentation is readily available on key subsystems and some hardware is still being procured. This will also allow an opportunity for new Boeing engineers to learn ISS systems in detail. In summary, this is an excellent time in the ISS program history to transfer and train new personnel and set in place a lower sustaining cost structure.

Applicable NASA Enterprise(s):