Status Report

Presentations and instructions given to NASA employees regarding NASA Safety and Mission Success Week

By SpaceRef Editor
November 11, 2003
Filed under , , ,

“Administrator Sean O’Keefe has designated the week of November 17-21 as NASA Safety and Mission Success (S&MS) Week.

The purpose of the week is to designate a period of time in which everyone (civil service and contractor employees) across the Agency can engage in a dialogue on the lessons to be learned from the CAIB Report. This is not meant to be a stand down week, instead discussions will be held as a part of regularly scheduled meetings (e.g. staff meetings).

  • In the next few days, you will receive a hard copy of the CAIB Report and an electronic version of the CAIB Agency Wide Action Team (CAWAT) matrix. The matrix provides comprehensive review of the Recommendations, Observations, and Findings (R-O-F) discussed in the CAIB Report and identifies a subset which have Agencywide applicability, it was produced by an executive team led by Al Diaz, GSFC Director.
  • Please take some time to read the CAIB Report and the CAWAT matrix and think about how the R-O-Fs are relevant to you and your job.
  • Be prepared to share your impressions and suggestions in a discussion with your work group during S&MS Week. The Agency is exploring alternative means of accepting input from employees who are not available for group discussions that week. “

(Source: Memo from Randy Stone to NASA JSC Employees regarding NASA Safety and Mission Success Week)










Download CAIB Agency Wide Action Matrix (PDF)



Download (Powerpoint)



Download (Powerpoint)

“The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) Report Recommendations, Observations, and Findings provided NASA with insight that is
enabling us to produce a guide for moving forward, not only with the Return to Flight effort, but also in areas that impact other parts of the
Agency.

In September 2003, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe chartered a NASA executive team, led by Mr. Al Diaz, Director, Goddard Space Flight
Center, to address the broader implications of the CAIB Report and to identify those Recommendations, Observations, and Findings (R-O-F)
from Volume I of the CAIB Report that apply beyond the Shuttle Program and across the Agency. Other members of the Team include: Dr.
Ghassem Asrar, Associate Administrator for Earth Sciences, NASA Headquarters; Dr. Julian Earls, Director, Glenn Research Center; Mr. Scott
Hubbard, Director, Ames Research Center; Mr. Jim Kennedy, Director, Kennedy Space Center; and Ms. Vicki Novak, Assistant Administrator
for Human Resources, NASA Headquarters.

The Team conducted a comprehensive review of the CAIB Report R-O-Fs and identified a subset of those that have implications beyond the
Shuttle Program. A determination was made for each R-O-F as to its NASA-wide applicability. If the item directly dealt with safety,
management, organization, engineering, policy, or communication as an
Agency issue, then it was deemed to have broad NASA applicability. In the
judgment of the Diaz Team, when there was indirect item applicability, but
known programs outside of human spaceflight in which the particular R-O-F
could be applied, then that item was also deemed to have broad NASA
applicability. Individual organizations may determine that additional R-O-Fs
apply to them. This will be especially true for programs that conduct aircraft
operations or support development of new aerospace vehicles (e.g., Orbital
Space Plane). These organizations are encouraged to address the additional
R-O-Fs in the same way that the Diaz Team, Return To Flight (RTF) Team
and Continuing Flight Team (CFT) have done.” (Source: CAIB Agency Wide Action Matrix)

SpaceRef staff editor.