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NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 15 April 1996

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
April 15, 1996
Filed under ,

Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting April 15, 1996
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on April 15, 1996. Mr. Goldin was not in attendance. Action assignments are bolded.

1. AA Reports
B/Holz: The Full Cost Accounting Working Group will meet at LeRC on April 18, 1996. The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP) is close to being released. A meeting with General Dailey concerning the IFMP will occur on April 18, 1996. GAO and NASA are continuing their review of carryover balances. Malcolm Peterson is the NASA point of contact for this activity, and he reported that the entrance conference went very well. Wayne Drapper, as the chair of the working group, is heading the research effort at the Center level. This is an important effort, and everyone’s cooperation is very much appreciated.
M/Parker: On April 11 and 12, the HEDS Strategic Management Meeting was held at SSC. The orbiter is back at KSC.
E/Reese: Mr. Reese expressed his appreciation to SSC for hosting last week’s EEO Council on April 11 and 12, 1996.
R/Anderson: Mr. Anderson expressed his appreciation for the support the Centers have provided in developing the information technology plan. Dr. Whitehead, Dr. McDonald, Sam Venneri, and Mr. Anderson will participate in the April 18, 1996, industry briefing on this topic.
G/Frankle: The decision concerning the EOS Common Spacecraft contract protest contest is anticipated this week.
L/Lawrence: On April 17, 1996, a hearing will be held before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. The witnesses will include Wilbur C. Trafton, Roberta Gross, Richard Wisniewski, Gary Payton, and Daniel Tam.
P/Boeder: An excellent story appeared in the April 15, 1996, Washington Post, concerning the Origins program. On April 15, Mr. Goldin and Senator Mikulski (D-MD) will participate in an event concerning NEAR.
W/Gross: Ms. Gross explained that a review of NASA’s procedures to award recruitment and retention bonus had been concluded. The review had been initiated because of the inappropriate use of such initiatives at other Federal agencies. Ms. Gross was pleased to announce that the review showed that NASA had the appropriate controls in place. Ms. Gross expressed her appreciation to Code F for their outstanding support. This review was an example of the short turnaround inspections that Code W is able to perform, and Ms. Gross encouraged all interested codes and Centers to contact Mr. Cushing. Ms. Gross also briefed that Rockwell International agreed to plead guilty to the illegal hazardous waste storage and disposal in the explosion deaths of two scientists. Rockwell’s Rocketdyne division agreed to plead guilty to three felony counts, pay a $6.5 million fine, and give the FBI its internal investigation reports on the explosion that killed Otto K. Heiney and Larry A Rugh in July 1994.
S/Hudkins: Dr. Huntress is attending the NEAR event on April 15, 1996. During the event at Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) will present a check to Senator Mikulski (D-MD), representing the program’s $3.6 million underruns.
Y/Mann: An advanced, lightweight scientific instrument designed to produce visible and shortwave infrared images of Earth’s land surfaces has been selected as the focus of the first NASA New Millennium program. Code Y has been working on its homepage and has added the Science Strategic Plan, the Enterprise Strategic Plan, and will be adding an education section.
F/Armstrong: General Armstrong signed a memo last week to the Officials-In-Charge that addressed the implementation of changes in the performance appraisal system. These changes are based on the findings of an employee study team, lead by ARC and including union representation. It is hoped that concurrence to this plan can be received by April 19, 1996, to ensure implementation for the reviewing period that begins July 1, 1996. A new tool called Employee Express was briefed at the Administrative Issues Working Group meeting on March 28, 1996. Employee Express is an automated system, which was conceived by the Department of Health and Human Services, that allows employees to initiate or change certain discretionary personnel and payroll actions, using a touch-tone telephone or a touch-screen kiosk.
2. AD/Dailey
General Dailey expressed his appreciation to JSC for hosting his visit last week.
The Agency Quality Conference will be held April 17, 1996, at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. The next NASA Advisory Council Meeting is April 23 and 24, 1996. The Agency Honor Awards Ceremony is May 14, 1996.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/McDonald: Dr. McDonald is visiting HQ April 15, 1996. The initial reports concerning the joint ESA/NASA biology experiments, conducted during STS-76, are very positive.
GSFC/Diaz: Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) visited with GSFC employees on April 12, 1996, and has expressed an interest in visiting Wallops. On April 28, GSFC will host a Community Day.
KSC/Parish: Atlantis returned to KSC on April 13, 1996. STS-77’s rollout will be rescheduled to April 16, 1996, due to weather.
LaRC/Holloway: Transition of the NASA data automated computer center occurred February 26, 1996, without experiencing any delays in response time to the customers. $2 million dollars of hardware accompanied the center’s transition from LaRC to LeRC. LaRC received notification that it had been selected by the sanitation district to receive the Gold Prior-Treatment Award for 1995, indicating perfect compliance.
LeRC/Campbell: LeRC hosted the third Annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities Research Conference. The students and professors made poster presentations concerning the progress of LeRC research grants. LeRC received the Rocket-based Combined Cycle hardware last week to be tested at Plum Brook Station. Local Congressman Sherrod Brown is visiting April 15, 1996.
SSC/Estess: Mr. Estess stated that he had enjoyed hosting his guests last week — Mr. Trafton and the HEDS Management, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Holz and the EEO Council n April 11 and 12, 1996. Also this past week, Mr. Estess attended a dedication ceremony for the new teachers resource center on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. The weekend of April 13, SSC established information booths and exhibits at a local shopping mall. This coming weekend, April 20, the Space Station Trailers and exhibits will be established at another mall.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTERS CORRESPONDENCE OFFICE. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO LORIE PESONEN AT 358-4525.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.