NASA Staff Meeting Minutes 22 April 1996

Minutes of Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting April 22, 1996
The following documents the discussions addressed at the Senior Staff and Center Directors’ Meeting on April 22, 1996. Mr. Goldin was not in attendance. Action assignments are bolded.

1. AA Reports
B/Holz: Malcolm Peterson briefed members of Congress on April 22,1996, about the NASA budget. The Full Cost Accounting Working Group will meet at LeRC on April 24 and 25, 1996. A pre-Request for Proposal (RFP) briefing on the Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP) was presented to General Dailey on April 18, 1996. Mr. Holz has sent a letter to the Officials-in-Charge, discussing the Full Cost Accounting and Budget Steering Council and noting that the council’s first meeting should be no earlier than the end of May 1996.
X/Mansfield: The Honorable Paul Kiminski, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, has requested a briefing this week on the Advanced Transportation Plan.
R/Whitehead: Dr. Whitehead expressed his appreciation for the hard work that contributed to the successful Industry Information Technology Workshop that was held at ARC last week. Additionally last week, the Commercial Aircraft Group, which included the new Aeronautics Lead Center and the program managers, met with Boeing in order to determine future requirements. This was an important opportunity for the lead Center and managers to meet with this important customer. Congressman Sensenbrenner (R-WI) was at LeRC on April 22, 1996.
Y/Norton: After last week’s decision on the Common Spacecraft protest, that was made in NASA’s favor, efforts have begun to identify the impact of the 7-month delay to this program. NASA has received indications that CNES has accepted the terms and conditions of the interim agreement for the Topex/Poseidon follow-on mission. The GOES spacecraft has experienced an electronic static discharge which has caused the craft to go into a manual control mode. The situation is currently being evaluated with the intention to return it to its standard operation as soon as possible.
G/Frankle: The decision concerning the EOS Common Spacecraft contract has been issued in favor of NASA’s position.
E/Reese: National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education completed a Nationwide conference in Washington, DC, last week. NASA received recognition for its distinguished support for higher education. Betty White, who heads this initiative for the Agency, was one of five individuals recognized during the conference for her personal contributions. Mr. Reese expressed his appreciation to LaRC, GSFC, and Codes F, K, and X for their support of the conference.
L/Lawrence: On April 25, 1996, a hearing will be held before the House Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies Appropriations Committee, chaired by Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA). Mr. Goldin will be the primary witness.
P/Boeder: Ms. Boeder expressed her appreciation to JSC for a productive visit last week. NASA has received positive press coverage with the articles about the Shuttle’s discovery of sections of the Great Wall of China and those concerning the Hubble’s recent discoveries. Additionally, three NASA-related technologies–two from ARC and one from JSC, will be placed in the Technology Hall of Fame.
K/Thomas: The week of April 29, 1996, will be Small and Small Disadvantaged Business (SBD) Week. JPL has been named as the recipient of this year’s Eisenhower Award for their distinguished efforts in working with SDB’s and will receive this award on May 2, 1996.
Z/Ladwig: The NASA Advisory Council will meet on April 23 and 24, 1996. There have been some modifications to the agenda that was published on the homepage; however, all affected parties have been notified.
2. AD/Dailey
Based upon the findings in the Department of Justice’s vulnerability assessment of Federal agencies that was conducted following the Oklahoma City bombing, new security measures are being implemented at HQ. Effective May 1, 1996, all HQ employees are required to wear their name badges at all times. Additionally, as of April 19, 1996, the anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, badge-controlled access to the Administrator’s suite has been implemented.
The Agency Quality Conference was held on April 17, 1996. General Dailey expressed his appreciation to all of the attendees and those who worked so hard to make this a first class event. Next year, the event will be attended by all of the NASA Senior Management.
The NASA Advisory Council Meeting is April 23 and 24, 1996. The Agency Honor Awards Ceremony is May 14, 1996.
General Dailey reinforced that, consistent with our agreement in the Senior Management Meeting, the current HQ workforce planning activity does not impact the Centers. The HQ codes have been asked to submit their recommended plans on May 3, 1996.
3. Center Director Reports
ARC/Dean: The NASA/Industry Information Technology Workshop had 60 attendees from academia, industry, and other Government agencies. After the workshop, the attendees were asked to provide their comments, feedback, and recommendations. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. The SDB Advance Technology Meeting, that was held last week at the Center, went very well.
DFRC/Szalai: Pratt & Whitney is sponsoring a media event for the ACTIVE program, that will include Pratt & Whitney corporate executives and should be covered by local and national media. The Center will host 100 daughters on April 25, 1996, for the annual Take Your Daughters To Work Day. Sons will be hosted in May. The Tether Review Team will be at DFRC for the next 2 weeks finalizing their report.
GSFC/Rothenberg: Last week, a consolidation contract for the Network Maintenance and Operations System (NMOS) and System Engineering and Analysis Support (SEAS) was signed. This contract should provide a savings of $40 million and will be highlighted at the Acquisition Reform Conference on June 24 and 25, 1996. Mr. Rothenberg joined Senator Milkulski (D-MD) for a series of meetings at Patuxent River Naval Air Station to discuss future opportunities for cooperation between the Navy and Wallops Flight Facility.
JPL/Stone: Last week, 10,000 signature post cards were received by JPL for inclusion in the Cassini Saturn probe mission. On October 1997 the probe will launch with digitized signatures stored on CD-ROM and mounted to the exterior of the spacecraft. The submission deadline is January 1, 1997.
JSC/Abbey: Good Morning America will interview Dr. Lucid on April 25, 1996.
Dr. Lucid is doing well aboard the Mir. The Mir is experiencing a coolant leak within its primary system and is currently employing the secondary system. The two cosmonaut crews that have been in training at JSC have returned to Russia. Anatoli Ya. Soloviev, who has been selected as the third member of the first station crew, has been assigned as the Star City representative to JSC. Priroda will launch April 25, 1996, and dock on April 26. JSC celebrated Earth Day on April 22, 1996. The President of CNES will visit the Center on April 22, 1996. A potential range conflict for the May 16, 1996, Shuttle launch is being evaluated. May 19, 1996, is currently the alternate launch date.
LARC/Holloway: LaRC received a letter from Hamilton Standard addressing an LaRC technology concerning fatigue and fracture technology on propellers. New inspection techniques have been developed that are being adopted by the FAA.
LERC/Kress: Congressman Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and L/Lynn Henninger visited the Center on April 22, 1996. Congressman Stokes (D-IL) and the Honorable Richard Riley, Secretary of Education, will also visit LeRC on the afternoon of April 22, 1996, for a briefing on the Mobile Aeronautics Education Laboratory. LeRC will be sending the Lab to the 1996 Oshkosh air show. LeRC is hosting the 25th SDB Conference this week.
MSFC/Littles: MSFC has two high-pressure fuel pump units under test. Unit 8 is undergoing a tear-down inspection after 2200 seconds. Initial results of this inspection are very positive. As part of MSFC’s recognition of Earth Day, a sycamore tree was planted at the Center. This tree is symbolic in that its seeds are offspring from the seeds carried on Apollo 14. Dr. Littles also noted that the Center’s recycling program, which was formally established in 1991 after a test period that began in 1989, has resulted in saving over 31,000 trees.
SSC/Craig: The National Rocket Propulsion Test Alliance, including representatives from NASA, DOD, the test centers, and Plum Brook met to discuss the final agreement of the MOA between DOD and NASA. The commanding officer of the Arnold Engineering Development Center and its senior civilian representatives visited SSC to discuss areas of mutual interest and explore future areas of mutual cooperation.
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.
Officials-in-Charge of Headquarters Offices:
B/Mr. Holz
C/Mr. Christensen
E/Mr. Reese (Acting)
F/Gen. Armstrong
G/Mr. Frankle
H/Ms. Lee
I/Mr. Schumacher
J/Ms. Cooper
K/Mr. Thomas
L/Mr. Lawrence
M/Mr. Trafton
O/Mr. Force
P/Ms. Boeder
Q/Mr. Gregory
R/Dr. Whitehead
S/Dr. Huntress
U/Dr. Holloway
W/Ms. Gross
X/Dr. Mansfield
Y/Dr. Kennel
Z/Mr. Ladwig
Directors, NASA Field Installations:
ARC/Dr. McDonald
DFRC/Mr. Szalai
GSFC/Mr. Rothenberg
JSC/Mr. Abbey
KSC/Mr. Honeycutt
LaRC/Mr. Holloway
LeRC/Mr. Campbell
MSFC/Dr. Littles
SSC/Mr. Estess
Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
Dr. Stone