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NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 20 February 1996

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
February 20, 1996
Filed under ,

Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting February 20, 1996
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on February 20, 1996. Action assignments are bolded. Mr. Goldin was not in attendance.

1. AA Reports
B/Holz: Code B is conducting an evaluation in response to Mr. Goldin’s concerns about the Agency’s unobligated balances, unliquidated obligations, delinquent outlays, undisbursed funds, and uncollected funds. Information will be requested from the HQ’s Codes that will enable Code B to define the issues and explain why this phenomena has occurred. It is Code B’s intention to provide Mr. Goldin the ability to answer any congressional inquiries on this issue during the hearings that will begin mid-March.
B/Peterson: The annual budget press conference will be handled differently than in previous years. OMB has stated that there will not be 1 day designated for the Federal agencies to announce their budgets. Their guidance for the scheduling of this year is to brief the press when NASA is ready. Code B is working with Code L and Code P to identify a date in late February or mid-March to schedule such a press conference.
Y/Mann: The UARS satellite went into a safehold on February 2, 1996. The spacecraft is back on line with all instruments operational.
U/Holloway: Code U is looking forward to the launch of the USMP-3 mission aboard STS-75 on February 2, 1996.
Z/Accola: Mr. Ladwig held a meeting of all of the HQ Code and Center policy points of contact on Friday, February 16, 1996. It was felt that this meeting was a good way to keep the participants apprised of the current policy issues.
Q/Gregory: The launch of STS-75 has been approved.
S/Huckins: This will be an exciting week for Code S. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission successfully launched on Saturday, February 17, 1996. The Delta rocket gave the craft a good ride, and the spacecraft is healthy. NEAR will pass by the Moon on February 20, 1996, and will use the Moon to calibrate its systems in preparation for its 35-month transit to the asteroid. This is the first mission of the Discovery series. The second event will be the reflight of the Tethered Satellite System-1 aboard STS-75 on February 22, 1996. The launch date for Polar has slipped 1 day to February 23, 1996. There is a 60 percent chance of launching from Vandenberg AFB in California due to weather.
L/Lawrence: On March 12, 1996, the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space will conduct a hearing on the status of Space Station. The House Subcommittee on VA-HUD-IA will conduct a hearing March 20 on the status of the Shuttle and Station programs. The last two hearings on the schedule will be the annual budget posture hearings–on March 26 before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, and on April 25 before the House’s Subcommittee on VA-HUD-IA. The hearing schedule is now available on the Code L Homepage.
P/Boeder: The NEAR mission received good press coverage this weekend. It was a good balance that addressed the mission’s chances for success and its potential benefit to science. JPL did a great job preparing a briefing to address the ability to predict geomagnetic storms that have the potential to disrupt power grids. This is a great story of how NASA’s technology can directly assist the public by providing the power companies with advance warnings to allow them to anticipate potential disruptions and plan accordingly.
E/Reese: Mr. Reese will begin visiting the Centers to meet with the Center’s management. Mr. Reese expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the HQ employees who worked so hard on the Headquarter’s Diversity Council. Mr. Reese stated that he would make sure that everyone was recognized for their efforts.
C/Christensen: Mr. Christensen provided the HQ AA’s with a copy of the letter that will be mailed to Headquarters employees addressing the HQ Alternative Career Transition (ACT) Program. On February 21, 1996, the HQ wall-to-wall inventory will begin. The inventory will be completed February 22, 1996.
2. AD/Dailey
John Lynn’s last day at HQ will be Friday, February 23, 1996. Ron West will officially assume the duties as CIO as of March 3, 1996.
The next Strategic Planning Retreat has been rescheduled for March 27 and 28, 1996, at NASA HQ. The Strategic Plan has been sent to the printer and should be ready for distribution at the beginning of March.
The memorandum to the Officers in Charge, discussing the responsibilities and terms for developing implementation plans based upon the Zero-Based Review, has been signed. Included within this memorandum is a copy of a plan submitted by MSFC. This plan is provided for your information and may be used as seen fit.
The HQ wall-to-wall inventory will be conducted February 21 and 22, 1996. To meet this aggressive schedule, the support of all HQ employees is requested to ensure that all rooms, desks, and storage areas are accessible during the inventory.
Shuttle safety remains the number one priority of the Agency. There are many initiatives currently underway, and it is imperative that everyone remain focused on safety and not allow themselves to become distracted.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/Rosen: Dr. Munechika is travelling to KSC on February 20, 1996. ARC has met a significant milestone in the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST) program. This program is a software tool designed to help air traffic controllers manage aircraft more efficiently and reduce delays by up to 20 percent. The system is being evaluated at the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport Terminal Radar Control Facility and began testing this month. Initial results indicate a 25 percent increase in landing rates. Representatives from BDM recently provided a 2-hour briefing on privatization and lessons learned from some of their recent initiatives.
DRFC/Szalai: The F-15 ACTIVE with advanced axi-symmetric thrust vectoring nozzles flew a functional check flight last week. A nose gear problem caused an early termination of the flight. The program is a joint activity with Pratt and Whitney and the U.S. Air Force.
JPL/Stone: Dr. Stone provided an overview of JPL’s initiative to bring its support contractors into the Laboratory’s Just-In-Time (JIT) acquisition program. Last week, several Hewlett-Packard Vice Presidents were briefed on the initiative to support the JIT program with direct electronic ordering. Hewlett-Packard has not had such a capability, and JPL received positive responses from the briefing.
JSC/Abbey: The launch of STS-75 has been approved for 3:18 p.m. on February 22, 1996. JSC is continuing to prepare for the launch of the next Mir docking mission, currently scheduled for March 31, 1996.
KSC/Thomas: A fuel cell that had required earlier attention has been accepted, and the launch of STS-75 has been approved. Polar is scheduled to launch on February 23, 1996, but may be impacted by weather.
LeRC/Kress: Mr. Campbell is meeting with the union this morning. Hughes Electronics is sponsoring a conference on March 18 and 19, 1996, that will include 100 investment bankers. Currently, the commercial satellite industry has a significant number of private investments.
MSFC/Griner: Dr. Littles is at KSC for L-2. Ms. Griner expressed Dr. Littles’s appreciation to all of the those who had travelled to MSFC to attend and participate in Mr. Bridwell’s retirement dinner on February 14, 1996. STS-75 mission support reports ready for flight. The Honorable Lionel S. Johns, Assistant Director for Technology, the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, visited the Center on February 13, 1996.
NOTE: ACTION ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE TRANSMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER AND TRACKED BY THE HEADQUARTER’S CORRESPONDENCE OFFICE. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS MAY BE ADDRESSED TO LORIE PESONEN AT 358-4525.

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