Genesis Failure: Lessons Not Learned

NASA Genesis Mishap Report – Executive Summary

“Faster, Better, Cheaper Philosophy – As demonstrated by several failures, NASA’s use of the Faster, Better, Cheaper philosophy encouraged increased risk taking by the Projects to reduce costs. Although NASA Headquarters had solicited and selected Genesis under the Faster, Better, Cheaper paradigm, the way JPL chose to implement the Genesis Mission substantially reduced their insight of the technical progress of the project. This precluded them from ensuring that the Project was executed within the range of previously successful mission implementation practices, thereby adding additional risk. The Discovery Program Office accepted these arrangements implicitly by way of the selection and subsequent management review processes.

The potential pitfalls of this approach became clear when the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions failed.”