NASA Engineering and Safety Center

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center
(1)
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Agenda
• NESC Overview Mike Hagopian
• SPRT Overview Frank Bauer
• NESC Processes Bob Kichak
• NESC Pathfinders
• Rudder Speed Brake Bob Kichak
• X-43 Frank Bauer
• Calipso Mike Hagopian
• MER Frank Bauer
• Recent Activities
• Shuttle Anomalies Flowliner Mike Hagopian
• ISS CMGs Cassini Genesis Frank Bauer
• FPGAs Data Integrity Bob Kichak

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Overview
• Mike Hagopian

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• On July 15, 2003, Administrator OKeefe
  announced plans to create the NASA Engineering
  and Safety Center at Langley Research Center.

The Center will provide a central location to
coordinate and conduct robust, independent
engineering and safety assessments across the
Agency.
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Charter approved by Executive Council on August
  1, 2003
• Management Plan approved October 3, 2003
• Operational on November 1, 2003
• Four path-finder assessments conducted
• Several Independent Technical Assessments and
  Consultations on-going

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center
I named my spacecraft Sigma Seven. Sigma, a
Greek symbol for the sum of the elements of an
equation, stands for engineering excellence. That
was my goal engineering excellence. I would not
settle for less From Schirras Space by
Wally Schirra NESCs Goal is Engineering
Excellence We will not settle for less!
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC philosophy and culture
• Safety through Engineering Excellence
• Mission Success Starts with Safety
• Safety Starts with Engineering Excellence

• NESC will cultivate a Safety culture by providing
  knowledgeable technical leadership
• to perform independent in-depth technical
  assessments in an open environment
• with unequalled tenacity.

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center
What problem are we trying to solve?
The safety organization sits right beside the
(shuttle) person making the decision, but behind
the safety organization there is nothing there,
no people, money, engineering, expertise,
analysis. there is no there there Adm.
Harold Gehman
(1)
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Problem NASA lacks value added independent
  assessment of technical issues within its
  programs and institutions.
• Our safety philosophy has 3 tenets
• Strong in-line checks and balances
• Healthy tension
• Value added independent assessment
• Example Solutions Large complex problems are
  solved utilizing One NASA philosophy under
  emergency tiger team approach.
• Flowliner, BSTRA, Columbia Accident Investigation

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Challenge
• How do we maintain this One NASA Tiger Team
  approach to provide our programs and institutions
  much needed independent assessment?
• Proposed Solution
• Establish a NASA Engineering Safety Center
  (NESC)
• Establish a small NESC management office at LaRC

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Proposed Solution (contd)
• Decentralized organizational structure across all
  Centers reporting to the NESC management office
• Engineers need to be where the problems are to
  stay sharp
• Strong systems engineering function for
  independent trending and systems engineering
  analysis
• Small core of engineering experts for insight
  into respective programs
• Select and promote best engineers to dig for
  issues and trends

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Proposed Solution (contd)
• Use ready experts at each Center through formal
  task agreements
• Establish Super Problem Resolution Teams (SPRTs)
  by discipline
• Select recognized Agency discipline experts to
  lead SPRTs
• Pool senior engineering resources to attack
  trouble spots
• Overcome negative connotation of IA by offering
  our best technical expertise
• NESC gains its independence by being funded at
  the Agency level

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Proposed Solution
• Establish natural hierarchy of engineering
  progression
• Engineers must aspire to be in the NESC
• Challenging work, visibility, pay and promotion

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Office of the Director
Director - Ralph Roe Deputy Director - Dr. Paul
Munafo Deputy Director for Safety - Larry
Crawford SMA Integration - John Tinsley
(HQ) Chief Astronaut - Dr. Steve Hawley
(JSC) Chief Scientist - Dr. David Leckrone (GSFC)
NESC Leadership Team/ NESC Review Board
LaRC
Principal Engineers Office
Systems Engineering Office
Management Technical Support Office
Ken Cameron Clinton Cragg Dr. Richard
Gilbrech Dr. Charles Harris
Manager Ralph Roe (Acting)
Manager - Stan Newberry
LaRC
LaRC
LaRC
NESC Chief Engineers Office
NESC Discipline Experts Office
GRC - Derrick Cheston ARC - Dr. Michael
Freeman SSC - Randy Galloway LaRC - Dr.
Michael Gilbert GSFC - Michael Hagopian JSC -
David Hamilton MSFC - Danny Johnston DFRC -
Michael Kehoe JPL - Matt Landano
(Acting) KSC - Tim Wilson
NASA Centers
NASA Centers
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center
Number of NESC Leadership Team personnel from
each Center
External - 2
3 leadership positions yet to be filled
GSFC - 5
GRC - 1
HQ - 2
LaRC - 6
ARC - 2
DFRC- 2
JPL - 1
MSFC - 3
SSC - 2
JSC- 4
KSC - 1
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Discipline Super Problem Resolution Team (SPRT)
NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Introduction and Staffing
• Frank H. Bauer

Mission Success Starts With Safety Safety
Starts With Engineering Excellence
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NASA lacks value added independent assessment
  of technical issues within its programs and
  institutions.
• NESC created to provide independent assessment of
  technical issues
• Scope
• Independent in-depth technical assessments
• Independent trend analysis
• Independent systems engineering analysis
• Mishap Investigations
• Support Programs
• Focus on High Risk Programs
• NESC independent assessment uses discipline
  experts from across NASA and Nation in Super
  Problem Resolution Teams

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NESC Principles of Operation

• Proactive Test and analysis of issues or trends
  not currently being addressed by the program
• Active Independent review of known risk areas
• Reactive Independent investigation of mishaps
  and close calls
• Set example for safety culture through
  engineering excellence
• Encourage/document /disposition dissenting
  opinions
• Measure performance with metrics

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NESC Personnel / Staffing

• NESC permanent staffing includes
• Principal Engineers located at NASA Langley
• NESC Chief Engineers (NCE) located at each NASA
  Field Center
• Systems Engineers located across the Agency
• NESC Discipline Experts (NDE) for specific
  disciplines located across the Agency
• Fluids/Life Support/Thermal, Flight Sciences,
  Guidance Navigation Control, Human Factors,
  Materials, Mechanical Analysis, Mechanical
  Systems, Non-Destructive Evaluation, Power
  Avionics, Propulsion, Software, Structures
• Chief Scientist Chief Astronaut
• NDEs, Chief Scientist Chief Astronaut are the
  leaders of National expert teamscalled Super
  Problem Resolution Teams (SPRT)

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SPRTs

• SPRTs are the backbone of the NESC
• SPRTs shall have membership from multiple
  sources
• NASA, industry, academia and other Government
  Agencies
• SPRTs will provide technical support of NESC
  assessments
• Independent expertise/reviews and leadership
• Independent test, analysis and evaluation not
  just technical opinions
• NESC Discipline Experts working with NASA
  leadership to identify SPRT membership for each
  specific discipline
• Changes/additions to SPRTs will be negotiated
  with the respective NASA Centers/organizations,
  as required

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Discipline Expert
• Super Problem Resolution Teams (SPRTs)

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SPRT Discipline Team Model
SPRTNESC Discipline Expert
Technical Team Support
Core Team Members
Sub-discipline Experts
SPRT Discipline Team
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Team Roles Responsibilities
Expectation Several discipline SPRTs running
concurrently

• Core Team Members
• Provide discipline leadership to SPRTs
• Knowledgeable of several sub-disciplines within
  SPRT (e.g. for GNC could be attitude control,
  gyros, star trackers)
• Possess majority of expertise (50-60) required
  to resolve SPRT problems
• Understanding of I/TAI processes so can
  effectively communicate these to sub-discipline
  experts when I/TAI started
• Attends bi-weekly SPRT team meeting
  face-to-face meetings
• Sub-discipline experts
• Provide drill down expertise in specific
  sub-discipline (e.g. for GNC could be gyro
  expert, star tracker expert, trajectory expert,
  etc)
• On-call to the team
• Attends face-to-face meetings (1-2x yearly)
• Technical Team Support Engineers
• GS-11-13 engineers
• Provide support to SPRT team by setting up
  meetings and teleconferences, take meeting
  minutes, participate in discussions (observers,
  not voting members)
• Enables junior experts to become part of the NESC
  process and serves vital team function

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NESC SPRTs on ITA/Is
NESC Director / Review Board (NRB)
NESC Chief Engineers (NCE)
NESC Discipline Experts (NDE)
NESC Principal Engineers (NPE)

• ITA/I Team NESC led team of independent experts
  conducts independent test, analysis and
  inspection on selected requests
• Primarily Led by NPE
• Could be NDE or NCE
• Comprised of Discipline SPRT experts

Independent Technical Assessment /
Inspection (ITA/I) Team
Super Problem Resolution Team (SPRT) Core

• SPRT Tech Experts Roster of focused discipline
  experts with skills / capabilities in a
  particular field of the discipline
• Conduct Test, Analysis, Evaluations in their
  field of expertise in support of NESC ITA/Is
• Readily Accessible
• Considered the Best of the Best
• Matrix support to NESC as Requested
• On Call to Support an IAT/I
• Time / resources covered by NESC PWC

• SPRT Core 10 to 20 experts with broad based
  experience and knowledge across the range of the
  discipline
• Regular SPRT Telecons (bi-weekly
• Peer Review of IAT/I Products
• Think Tank for Discipline
• Annual Working Group Meetings
• Low Level Continuous Support to NESC
• Time Covered via NESC PWC
• On Call to Support an IAT/I

SPRT Tech Experts (NASA)
SPRT Tech Experts (Other Govt. Agency)
SPRT Tech Experts (Industry)
SPRT Tech Experts (Academia)
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Benefits to being an SPRT Member

• Provides an opportunity to interact with the best
  of the best in NASA, Industry, Academia and other
  Government Agencies
• Challenging assignments interaction with
  discipline experts
• Invaluable Experience gained helping resolve
  NASAs critical issues
• High Impact / High Feedback / High Visibility /
  Job Satisfaction
• Growth through addressing broad spectrum of
  technical issues and gaining experiences within
  chosen discipline
• Problem Resolution Team is a challenging
  experience
• Recognition and Interaction within technical
  discipline

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Benefits to being an SPRT Member (cont.)

• Exposure to other NASA programs, projects,
  cultures, methods, business practices across the
  agency
• Potential career development experiences and
  opportunities
• NESC is pursuing human resource initiatives and
  benefits to supporting NESC
• Provides a review team for Programs and Projects
  members to identify their own project concerns
  and issues for the SPRT to review and decided if
  further study/review is required

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Organization Benefits of Supporting NESC

• Provides employees opportunity to interact with
  the best of the best in NASA, Industry, Academia
  other Government Agencies
• Comprehensive expertise obtained through NESC
  agency level experience broadens employees
  technical experience
• Across full spectrum of discipline
• Provides a better employee through this
  experience
• Teaches method for problem resolution and how to
  obtain corrective actions
• Lead Participation in a OneNASA initiative
• Exposure to other NASA programs, projects,
  cultures, methods, business practices across the
  agency
• Broadens employee horizons via wide network of
  interaction
• Gains experience outside employees own work area
• Potential for NESC funding
• Recognition of Discipline Expertise within your
  center/organization

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• NESC Processes
• Bob Kichak

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes
• Independent Technical Assessments
• Technical Inspections
• Technical Support
• Technical Advocacy
• Selection Prioritization
• NESC Review Board
• Knowledge Capture and Communication
• Mishap Investigation
• Dissenting Opinions
• Awards

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes
• All requests are catalogued and tracked through
  disposition
• Multiple sources for requests
• Insight of NESC members
• Participation in program boards and panels
• Independent trend analysis
• Senior NASA Managers
• Program/Project Managers or team members
• Institutional Engineering and SMA
• NASA employees
• NESC Anonymous Reporting System
• Phone calls/emails
• NSRS

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes (contd)
• NESC Selection Process
• Initial request screening completed by Systems
  Engineering Office
• Coarse filter screen
• Two-person rule for rejections/referrals
• Second screen completed by NESC Chief Engineer
  (NCE)
• Research request
• Conduct risk assessment (NARMA)
• Board presentation with recommendation
• NESC Review Board makes final decision by team
  consensus
• Accept and support with NESC resources
  (assessments inspections)
• Otherwise, re-direct to another NASA Org
• Close-loop notification to customer

Independent Funding
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes (contd)
• Assessment and Inspection
• Teams
• Led primarily by NESC Principal Eng or NESC
  Discipline Experts
• Comprised of engineers from discipline Super
  Problem Resolution Teams (SPRTs)
• NASA, industry, national labs, academia and other
  government agencies
• Independent from program or project
• Communication
• Initial program/project notification
• POC identification
• In briefs, exit briefs, status reports, and
  formal engineering reports

Independent Team Members
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes (contd)
• Reports
• Written technical engineering reports
• Based on independent test, analysis, and data
  review
• Will include findings, observations,
  recommendations, and actions
• Reviewed and approved by NESC Review Board peer
  review
• Only products that have been peer reviewed by the
  NESC Review Board will use the NESC logo and
  header
• Program/project responsible for corrective action
  and/or reclamas
• NESC can provide support if requested
• NESC must concur in corrective action plans and
  will follow-up as appropriate

This briefing is for status only and does not
represent complete engineering data analysis
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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Processes (contd)
• Knowledge Capture and Communication
• A list active NESC assessments, inspections and
  support activities will be posted to the web site
• Customers will receive periodic status reports
• NESC will share results of investigations and
  inspections
• Programs and projects will have chance to respond
  to findings and recommendations prior to
  releasing reports
• Final reports will be posted to web site
• Lessons learned will be presented at quarterly
  leadership briefings

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Pathfinders

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Path-Finder Assessments
• Orbiter Rudder Speed Brake Actuator Braycote
  Grease
• Requested by Space Shuttle Program Manager
• Assessed the potential breakdown of Braycote
  grease in the rudder speed brake actuators
• Discovered planetary gear assembly installed
  backwards
• X-43A
• Requested through a dissenting opinion email to
  the NESC
• Specific technical concerns with several
  aerodynamic issues in return to flight approach
• Worked with project manager to ensure concerns
  are addressed and properly dispositioned
• X-43A a resounding success

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• NESC Path-Finder Assessments (contd)
• CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared
  Pathfinder Satellite Observations
• Requested by GSFC Deputy Center Director/Center
  Director
• Assessed human safety risks associated with the
  possibility of leakage through threaded
  mechanical fasteners in a mono-propellant system
• Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Flight Operations
• Requested by JPL Safety and Mission Assurance
  Office
• Provided human factors review of flight
  controller operations and review of entry,
  descent and landing phases---several
  recommendations provided to the MER team to
  improve ops
• Assisted in data review following landing of
  first rover to determine potential impacts to
  second rovers entry, descent and landing phases

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Recent Activities
• Shuttle Anomalies Flowliner Mike Hagopian
• ISS CMGs Cassini Genesis Frank Bauer
• FPGAs Data Integrity Bob Kichak

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NASA Engineering and Safety Center

• Summary
• NASA established small decentralized NASA
  Engineering Safety Center (NESC)
• Utilizes existing senior engineering expertise at
  the Centers, reporting to NESC management office
  at LaRC---One NASA
• Gain independence by funding at Agency level and
  reporting to Langley Center Director and Codes D
  and Q
• Provide value added independent assessment by
  having the best technical expertise available
  where it is needed most
• Safety through Engineering Excellence
• Maintain the organization through a natural
  hierarchy of engineering progression
• See the NESC web site for more information
  http//nesc.nasa.gov