NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 16 January 1996

Subject: Senior Staff and Center Dir Date: Friday, January 19, 1996 8:29AM
Subject: Time: 8:19 AM OFFICE MEMO Senior Staff and Center Director’s… Date: 1/19/96
Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting January 16, 1996
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on January 16, 1996. Action assignments are bolded.
Mr. Goldin and Mr. Mott were not in attendance.

1. AA Reports
B/Holz: Mr. Holz thanked the Chief Financial Officers from each Center for their support and hard work during the furlough.
E/Westbrooks: Dr. Freeman’s last day will be this Friday, January 19. 1996.
G/Frankle: Mr. Frankle discussed the importance of recent contradictory rulings in two similar cases, involving a breach in launch service agreements. Code G is working to define the impact of these rulings and will ensure that information is provided to the Centers, once it is available. On December 28, 1995, President Clinton signed an Executive order that raised the pay for SES employees. However, this raise may subject SES-4’s to postemployment restrictions. Code G will issue further guidance concerning the order’s impact.
Y/Kennel: The Mission to Planet Earth experiments aboard STS-72 are doing well. The USAF has recalled one of its three ER-2’s to begin missions in support of operations in Bosnia.
B/Peterson: Guidance concerning the continuing resolution and the submission of data concerning the furlough’s impact upon the Agency’s new starts and continuing programs was issued to the AA’s and the Center Directors by Mr. Peterson. Responses are due to the Office of the Comptroller by noon, Thursday, January 18, 1996.
P/Boeder: STS-72 is receiving excellent coverage in the U.S. and Japan. The mission is meeting its goals, and the media is making good use of the mission’s video coverage. The press conference for the Galileo mission will be held on January 22, 1996. Ms. Boeder expressed her appreciation to the press conference’s participants for their efforts and patience. The original press conference had been cancelled due to the furlough. Mr. Goldin’s statement on the observance of the 10th anniversary of the Challenger accident has been issued to each of the Center Directors and each Center’s news room for use in responding to press inquiries. Mr. Goldin will begin a trip to Texas, Oregon, and California on January 16, 1996. He will be back in the office next week. The new photos from the Hubble Space Telescope have received a great deal of interest from the press. Code P is beginning to prepare for the budget press conference.
Z/Ladwig: A new book, “Exploring the Unknown”, has recently been published by the NASA History office. The book is a compilation of important policy documents of the space program and will be an excellent reference document. It is the first of a three- volume set. S/Diaz: During the furlough, the XTE launched successfully. Over the snow holiday, KOREASAT successfully launched. Code S is currently reviewing the launch dates for POLAR and NEAR.
I/Schumacher: A Russian technical team will meet January 18, 1996, at JSC to discuss the international Space Station program. General Director Koptev, the Russian Space Agency, and Khrunichev Director Kisleyov will be in Washington D.C. on January 25, 1996. The Gore-Chernomyrdin Committee will meet January 29 and 30, 1996. Space-related issues will be addressed during the morning of the 30th. Code I provided a point paper to the Vice President concerning Israel and U.S. cooperative space programs and astronaut training opportunities. Congressman Sensenbrenner is in Japan this week and will meet with the head of NASDA. Code I has forwarded a prioritized list of key agreements that were impacted by the furlough to the Department of State in order to assist in reestablishing some momentum.
2. AD/Dailey
A Senior Management meeting is still scheduled for the afternoon of January 23, and the day of January 24, 1996, at NASA HQ in MIC 7. The afternoon of the 23rd will be a Meyers-Briggs session. A memorandum from General Dailey, with the Myers- Briggs indicator and instructions for its completion, should have been received on January 16, 1996.
The next Senior Management Strategic Planning retreat will be rescheduled for March 1996. The current revision of the plan will be distributed January 16, 1996. Final comments and the signature page are due on January 19, 1996.
Code Z has been tasked with a short turnaround action to collect the input for Mr. Goldin’s speech that will address the Agency’s accomplishments of the past 3 years. The speech is intended to provide background of where we came from and the vision of where we are going.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/Munechika: Everything is prepared for the Galileo press conference on January 22, 1996.
DFRC/Szalai: The Center did not conduct any research flights last week, following the Agency’s return from the furlough. Research flights will commence this week with advance actuator evaluations on the F-18 Systems Research Aircraft, high- speed aerodynamic measurements on the F-16 XL#1, and laminar flow suction system activation on the F-16 XL#2.
GSFC/Rothenberg: A return to flight review on PEGASUS will be conducted this week to confirm a February launch. GSFC has a number of payloads aboard the current mission, all of which are doing well with the exception of the amateur radio experiment that failed during the release of SPARTAN.
JSC/Whetherbee: The STS-72 is prepared for the mission’s second EVA mission being conducted on January 17, 1996. A tier 2 subcontractor review, for the international Space Station program, is being held January 16, 1996. On Monday, January 22, 1996, a moment of silence and a fly-by will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Challenger accident.
KSC/Honeycutt: Last week, Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA) visited the Center.
LaRC/Holloway: The Center has been notified that Stanley Woodward has been named the Black Engineer of the Year for his technical accomplishments. He will receive the award this February at the Baltimore Convention Center.
LeRC/Campbell: Last week, a meeting took place with Williams Research concerning the general aviation and propulsion program in preparation for a HQ briefing.
MSFC/Griner: Last week, the Center was visited by NASDA representatives, who were very interested in the progress being made by the international Space Station program. Randy Brinkley, the Program Manager for the international Space Station program, was also at the Center. Testing has been successfully completed on the Super Light Weight Tank reinforcing the confidence in the existing welds and repaired areas. Ms. Griner expressed her appreciation to LeRC for its support for February’s Shuttle mission.
SSC/Estess: Defense Contract Management Command informed the Center that contractors working in the engine test facility at Stennis would require hazardous duty pay. This would create an increase of 25 percent in the salaries and poses a potential issue with civil service personnel that would not rate the hazardous duty pay for similar functions.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND TRACKED BY ADMINISTRATOR’S CORRESPONDENCE OFFICE. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO LORIE PESONEN AT 358-4525.