NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 12 April 1996
Subject: Time: 11:02 AM OFFICE MEMO Minutes of Senior Staff and Center… Date: 4/12/96
Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting April 8, 1996
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on April 8, 1996. Mr. Goldin was not in attendance. Action assignments are bolded.
1. AA Reports
W/Gross: Ms. Gross explained that to assist NASA Senior Management in their efforts to monitor programs and the activities of their organizations she would periodically provide updates concerning ongoing audit-related and alleged criminal activities under investigation by the Inspector General’s office. Recently, the Electro-Optek Corporation and two of its officials agreed to settle a civil lawsuit and pay the Government $530,000 in cash and withdraw claims for $1.5 million for other work. Electro-Optek Corporation had applied for and received SBIR contracts for research already submitted to the Government and for which the Corporation had already been paid. A court order was used to freeze company assets and the bank accounts and real estate assets owned by the two officials. The two officials lost real estate to foreclosing during the investigation. The company performed SBIR research for NASA, DOD, and the National Science Foundation. A civil complaint was filed in Baltimore against EER Systems Corporation, its president, and vice president. The complaint alleges that EER Systems Corporation shifted up to $600,000 in costs from an overrunning fixed-price contract with the Coast Guard to NASA contracts and company overhead accounts, a portion of which NASA pays. If found liable, the Corporation faces treble damages of $1.8 million and fines and penalties of up to $11 million for false claims. The primary NASA contracts with EER Systems that are impacted by the improper activities are GSFC contracts.
Z/Accola: Information about the NASA Advisory Council can now be found on the Internet, to include biographies of the members and agendas of future meetings. The agenda for the meeting to be held April 23 and 24, 1996, will be the last agendas to be mailed. After this meeting, the agenda will be found on the NASA homepage.
P/Hess: There will be a press conference with Dr. Lucid and the other crewmembers of the Mir on April 11, 1996, at 11:05 a.m.
J/Cooper: Dr. Cordova will appear on channel 26 at 9:00 p.m. Effective April 8, 1996, American Express will begin exercising its contractual option to report Government cardholders with delinquent accounts to the national credit reporting bureaus. Cardholders of accounts that are at least 120 days delinquent have been canceled, and those with balances greater than $100 will be reported. Cardholders that currently meet the criteria listed above will receive a letter advising them that their account will be reported if the account is not made current in 45 days.
E/Reese: Mr. Reese is looking forward to working with the Equal Employment Opportunity Council representatives April 11 and 12, 1996, at SSC.
Y/Kennel: As of April 5, 1996, which was the official deadline for comments, there had been 774 downloads of the draft Earth Science System Pathfinder Announcement of Opportunity (AO). The current plan is to release the final version of the AO by the end of May. Also, Codes S, U, X, and Y met to discuss a common face for electronic grant submission. Brazil’s INPE has asked for an extension on the March 31, 1996, cut-off date for a continuation on the Microwave Humidity Sounder. A visit to GSFC in mid-April has been planned to follow discussions with Matra to determine if a flight on EOS-PM1 is advantageous to all concerned. On April 1, 1996, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) met to discuss cooperation on the Canadian Scisat program. The meeting was used to present the results of the Mission to Planet Earth’s study to fly various Earth Observing System instruments on the Scisat platform and to inform CSA that the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE)-III instrument was the most viable candidate for the first Scisat mission. At the close of the meeting, CSA agreed to assess flying the SAGE-II instrument. Their formal response will be provided at the next Joint Study Group meeting in early May 1996. CNES informed Dr. Kennel that after an internal budget reduction analysis, it was able to find enough savings in the SPOT and STENTOR programs to permit CNES to commit to the follow-on to Topex-Poseidon. Accordingly, CNES will be sending a positive response to our interim letter agreement in the very near future. Dr. Kennel recently returned from Rome, where he presented the integrated global observing strategy to the committee on Earth Observing Systems.
2. AD/Dailey
The Strategic Management Retreat, conducted April 2-3, 1996, went very well.
A memorandum documenting the decisions and outstanding actions from the retreat should be distributed this week.
The next NASA Advisory Council meeting is April 23 and 24, 1996.
June Edwards will be establishing a team to identify and analyze the various ways that NASA enters into agreements with outside groups, to include Space Act Agreements. All affected Codes and Centers will be represented on the team. The team will ensure that our NPD’s addressing such agreements are aligned with the Administrator’s guidance. General Dailey stressed the importance of this and encouraged participating organizations to support the team with good people and information.
The tragic accident that occurred in Croatia last week has placed a heightened emphasis on the accuracy of manifests for all NASA aircraft. General Dailey reinforced the necessity to ensure that manifests are correct and follow NASA procedures.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/McDonald: Dr. McDonald is visiting LaRC on April 8, 1996. Last week, Center representatives met with Boeing regarding the wind tunnel utilization strategy.
DRFC/Peterson: The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), while carrying the orbiter, aborted its return flight to KSC on April 6, 1996, due to an engine fire warning. The SCA landed without incident.
JSC/Abbey: The 747 did abort its flight to KSC. Representatives from Pratt & Whitney confirmed that an oil leak within one of the engines started the fire. The engine is being replaced, and the aircraft should be prepared to depart from Edwards AFB on April 11, 1996. Atlantis had a hydraulic leak that is being addressed. Eight cosmonauts, for a total of 4 crews, are at JSC for the next 2 weeks of training. April 12, 1996, is the 15th anniversary of STS-1. Russian President Yeltsin will award Norm Thagard the Medal of Friendship April 12, 1996. JSC will host two classes of the Senior Manager’s Safety Course, April 9 and 10, and April 10 and 11. General Dailey will address the class.
LaRC/Holloway: Dr. McDonald is visiting the Center this week. LaRC has completed the analysis of the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The endorsement states that the Center does not have any reservations concerning NASA’s use of this platform for future launches.
LeRC/Kress: Dr. Campbell is attending the funeral of Carl Stokes, former judge and Mayor of Cleveland, OH. Last week the Plains Dealer published a positive story that addressed the economic impact of the Center on this region of the country. Last week a team of Center representatives worked with Code O representatives to conduct a successful experiment using the TDDRS as a relay for launch telemetry data.
MSFC/Smith: Dr. Littles and Ms. Griner are in California this week conducting a series of meetings with the Shuttle contractors.
SSC/Estess: This week, SSC will be hosting Mr. Peterson and Mr. Holz. On April 11, 1996, Mr. Trafton will visit the Center. The NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Council will meet at the center on April 11 and 12.
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.
