NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 24 April 1995
Subject: Time: 10:21 AM OFFICE MEMO staff meeting minutes 4/24/95
Date: 4/25/95 Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting April 24, 1995
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on April 24, 1995. Action assignments are bolded. Mr. Goldin was not in attendance.
1. AA Reports
G/Frankle: The 1995 Chief and Patent Counsel Conference was held at Stennis Space Center April 17 to 21, 1995. Mr. Frankle thanked Roy Estess and other members of the Stennis staff for making the Conference a success.
K/Thomas: The Minority Business Resource Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for April 26 at LaRC.
E/Freeman: NASA Headquarters has 10 discrimination complaints pending, including 1 multifiler; the Field Installations have a total of 4.
L/Heninger: The Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space (Chairman Burns, R-MT), Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on Space Shuttle, RLV, and Safety is scheduled for May 16 (enclosure).
J/Cooper: Ms. Cooper is requesting assistance from the Headquarters codes in the scheduling and use of Mission Management aircraft, specifically, NASA 1. Requests for use of the plane are not being generated in a timely manner, and employees that are scheduled to travel on NASA 1 are making decisions at the last minute not to travel on NASA 1, failing to notify the scheduler, and therefore, jeopardizing the cost effectiveness of NASA 1. Gen. Dailey interjected that we must continue to be sensitive to the proper use of Mission Management aircraft, because if we do not maintain the proper control and use, we will be subject to losing the aircraft. Travelers should check with the aircraft scheduling office before making commercial airline reservations to ascertain availability of obtaining a seat on NASA aircraft. Ms. Cooper stated that a pilot program is under way at NASA Headquarters, GSFC, and LeRC to use a central scheduling system. Plans are to expand to other Centers.
2. AD/Dailey
The amount of overdue correspondence has increased. The Senior Management Meeting scheduled for May 10 to discuss the Zero-Base Review with Mr. Goldin, will be held in another room location. It will be announced later. Deputies are also invited to attend the meeting. All attendees should have received a package from the April 18 meeting–requested data submissions should have been submitted to Dick Wisniewski on April 21. The NASA Advisory Council is meeting at NASA Headquarters on May 25 and 26. Gen. Dailey thanked Stennis and Michoud for hosting his visit last week.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/Munechika: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested that ARC’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) assist in the Oklahoma City rescue efforts. Nine ARC personnel (6-rescue, 1 security, 1 safety, and 1 administrative type) departed for Oklahoma City today (April 24). The DART team will be replacing some of the task force workers who have been working many long hours since the disaster. On April 26 to 28, the entire Project Reliance Team, which is examining common operational practices among the Code R Research Centers, will be at ARC. The team is chaired by Kristen Hessenius from LaRC.
DRFC/Szalai: Drs. Whitehead and Mansfield are visiting DFRC. The sonic boom propagation tests have been completed in support of the High Speed Research program. The SR-71 produced the shock waves that were probed near the aircraft with the F-16XL#1, probed at lower altitudes by the Ames YO-3A, and measured with ground arrays. The data will be used to validate propagation codes. Dryden’s life-support staff have developed a means to use a larger parachute in ejection seats in many F-18’s and the T-45. This work is an outgrowth of the X-31 accident, in which the small parachute was considered a contributor to the injuries suffered by the pilot. Propulsion-controlled aircraft simulations at ARC, on the advanced concepts simulator, have been evaluated by Boeing, FEDEX, UAL, Douglas, and NASA pilots over the past 2 weeks. Delta Airlines has decided to alter their training syllabus for failure cases, based on their exposure on the simulator.
GSFC/Klineberg: NOAA-J has moved from the AstroTech facility to the Hazardous Payload Facility–launch on schedule. The TDRS F-7 is ready for June 8 launch. Some problems were encountered during qualification testing of Pegasus motors over the weekend. The STEP-3 launch is scheduled for May 19, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer launch remains on scheduled for July 2, and the Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer/Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) launch will not occur this year. The SWAS is in thermal vacuum today–SWAS could be launched this year if a launch vehicle was ready. In concert with Earth Day, NASA GSFC hosted its “Community Day” on April 23–over 4,000 people attended.
JSC/Huntoon: JSC senior managers are attendng a 2-day safety training course at Ellington AFB. Representative Gene Green (D-TX) is visiting JSC today (April 24). Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) will be visiting JSC later in the week. The definite launch date for STS-71 and 70 are pending, based on the Specktr launch date. General Glasgov also was at JSC last week to review protocols that will be used on STS-71.
KSC/Honeycutt: OV-104, Atlantis, is scheduled to go to the pad on April 26; OV-103, Discovery, is scheduled to go to the VAB on May 3; and OV-102, Columbia, is in the OPF. TDRS (on Discovery) is scheduled to go to the transport canister on April 28; SPARTAN is scheduled to be delivered to KSC on April 28.
LaRC/Beach: Representative Robert (Bobby) Scott (D-VA) is scheduled to visit LaRC today (April 24).
LeRC/Campbell: The Mission Readiness Review for GOES-7 has been completed– launch vehicle looks fine.
SSC/Estess: Gen. Dailey’s visit to Stennis last week was a resounding success, as was Mr. Goldin’s visit on April 12 and 13. On April 21, SSC hosted a visit by Gennady P. Biryrekov, Director, Design Bureau of Transportation in Moscow. Former Senator John C. Stennis (D-MS) died on April 23. His body will lie in state at the Old Capitol Building in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 25. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. on April 26. SSC will be holding appropriate remembrances via Center TV on April 26.
GSFC/Klineberg: Dr. Klineberg advised that this was his last telecon and that he enjoyed his 25 years with NASA. Gen. Dailey interjected that he was looking forward to his party on April 27 and, on behalf of the Agency, expressed his best wishes. Gen. Dailey characterized Dr. Klineberg as the constant voice of question who kept us straight.
