Keith’s note: According to this press release NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases 2023 Annual Report. According to the ASAP Report: “The current budget environment has significant implications for mission and safety risk. NASA has a very full mission plate. To the extent that their budget request is not fully funded, the leadership will need to acknowledge and make critical decisions with respect to program content or schedules, which will need to be adjusted to meet fiscal realities. Attempting to do all planned efforts on expected timelines will introduce unacceptable and unmanaged risk. The Agency will need to rely on its developed strategic vision, objectives, and architecture to establish well-defined priorities to ground its endeavors in reality – taking fully into account the risk-benefit tradeoffs. It is equally critical that the Agency be transparent about these realities and choices with its stakeholder and workforce. Stakeholders must come to understand and respect realistic expectations and schedules, and the Agency cannot bow to external pressure to exceed rational anticipations. The workforce must be confident that NASA leadership’s expectations are reasonable and authentic. The Agency is blessed with a workforce that has traditionally given one hundred percent to achieving difficult goals. If those talented and dedicated personnel are cognizant that they are embarked on a journey that is not just challenging and risky, but not realistically achievable, there will be both a serious erosion of morale and an undermining of the essential safety culture. On the assumption that NASA will make the tough choices to execute safely and effectively within budgeted resources, an even greater challenge resides in the budget uncertainty resulting from Congress’ consistent inability to provide timely and definitive appropriations. The ambiguity within which NASA must plan and execute its mission is deeply troublesome. It causes distraction from the focus on the “real work,” including safety, adds untold hours and days of unproductive labor, and (perhaps most important) hampers the ability to make timely decisions that ultimately impact safety and mission assurance. Given that it is unlikely that Congress will provide appropriate and timely budget clarity, NASA will be compelled to deal with this ambiguity. NASA should be candid and clear about – and Congress and other stakeholders should open their eyes to – the consequences of dealing with budget uncertainty.”

To Understand Low-Earth Orbit, Look to Mt. Everest “Getting to low-Earth orbit is a lot like climbing Mt. Everest. It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult, expensive and risky. As experience grows, the difficulty of reaching the destination drops steadily, and the risk becomes more manageable.” “…the commercial era of Everest expedition rises with the ability of the general public to pay commercial outfitters to climb Everest at a fraction of […]

Space Station Incident Demands Independent Investigation, Jim Oberg, IEEE Spectrum “How close the station had come to disaster is an open question, and the flight director humorously alluded to it in a later tweet that he’d never been so happy as when he saw on external TV cameras that the solar arrays and radiators were still standing straight in place. And any excessive bending stress along docking interfaces between the […]

Boeing Employees Mocked F.A.A. and ‘Clowns’ Who Designed 737 Max, NY Times “The most damaging messages included conversations among Boeing pilots and other employees about software issues and other problems with flight simulators for the Max, a plane later involved in two accidents, in late 2018 and early 2019, that killed 346 people and threw the company into chaos. The employees appear to discuss instances in which the company concealed […]

Keith’s note: From a retired NASA employee and long-time NASAWatch reader: “Keith, the attached photo was just too instructive to pass up. Let me explain. This is at the Gilruth Center at JSC. I believe that it visually shows the risk averse nature of NASA and says something about space politics. I.e., one stop sign wasn’t enough. A second one is safer. And then a sign explaining what a stop […]

Keith’s note: According to sources at NASA MSFC the contractor performing software safety tests found massive errors in the SDF test cases (no hardware testing, just software). The quality check of the test cases was given a stand down order by George Mitchell. Mitchell is Andy Gamble’s deputy on SLS flight software safety. Mitchell had already told the contractor that they were not allowed to impact the testing or ask […]

Keith’s 4 November update: In a recent meeting the new NASA MSFC QD34 CSO said that SLS Launch commit criteria aren’t being tested with software. Sources report that upper management asked why. SLS Flight Software Safety Issues at MSFC (Update)

Experts concerned by SpaceX plan to fuel rockets with people aboard, Reuters “It was unanimous … Everybody there, and particularly the people who had experience over the years, said nobody is ever near the pad when they fuel a booster,” [Chair Tom] Stafford said, referring to an earlier briefing the group had about SpaceX’s proposed fueling procedure. SpaceX needs NASA approval of its launch system before it can put astronauts […]

Keith’s 31 October update: NASA MSFC Internal Memo: Key Personnel Announcement -Teresa Washington is retiring, NASA MSFC “Upon the upcoming retirement of Teresa Washington, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Marcus Lea to the Senior Executive Service (SES) position of Director, Office of Human Capital (OHC). As OHC Director, Mr. Lea will be responsible for the entire scope of the Center’s workforce strategy and planning, organization and leadership […]

NASA Has To Fight The Forgetting, NBC “[Space workers] need the consequent inescapable ache of fear and the gnawing of doubt that keeps asking, over and over, if they’ve covered all angles and done all they can. And if their stomachs do not knot up, and mouths go dry, as they confront such decisions perhaps they need new jobs. They do not need comforting myths about “valuable sacrifices” and “space-is-very-very-hard” […]