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Kennedy Space Center's NASA/Contractor Team-Centered Total Quality Management Seminar: Results, methods, and lessons learned

It is apparent to everyone associated with the Nation's aeronautics and space programs that the challenge of continuous improvement can be reasonably addressed only if NASA and its contractors act together in a fully integrated and cooperative manner that transcends the traditional boundaries of proprietary interest. It is, however, one thing to assent to the need for such integration and cooperation; it is quite another thing to undertake the hard tasks of turning such a need into action. Whatever else total quality management is, it is fundamentally a team-centered and team-driven process of continuous improvement. The introduction of total quality management at KSC, therefore, has given the Center a special opportunity to translate the need for closer integration and cooperation among all its organizations into specific initiatives. One such initiative that NASA and its contractors have undertaken at KSC is a NASA/Contractor team-centered Total Quality Management Seminar. It is this seminar which is the subject of this paper. The specific purposes of this paper are to describe the following: Background, development, and evolution of Kennedy Space Center's Total Quality Management Seminar; Special characteristics of the seminar; Content of the seminar; Meaning and utility of a team-centered design for TQM training; Results of the seminar; Use that one KSC contractor, EG&G Florida, Inc. has made of the seminar in its Total Quality Management initiative; and Lessons learned.

Kinlaw, Dennis C.↗

Get Away Special (GAS) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) user handbook

Information is provided for originators of Get Away Special Space Shuttle payloads. The information covers the following: pre-arrival preparations, shipping of payload and ground support equipment, travel, arrival at Kennedy Space Center, what to expect, facilities, viewing the launch, press briefings, gas field operations process, public tours, and do's and don'ts.

Source record↗

Kennedy Space Center’s Energy and Water Conservation Program

America Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Space Coast Section - Our presenter will be Jennifer Hill, PE, LEED AP, Energy Manager for NASA at Kennedy Space Center. Ms. Hill will present on the NASA KSC Energy Program, providing an overview of KSC’s energy program and of projects that have been implemented to reduce energy and water intensity, increase renewable energy usage, and to improve resilience in support of the NASA KSC Mission.

Jennifer Hill↗

NASA Kennedy Space Center: Contributions to Sea Turtle Science and Conservation

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a United States (US) federal agency that oversees US space exploration and aeronautical research. NASA's primary launch site, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located along the east coast of Florida, on Cape Canaveral and the western Atlantic Ocean. The natural environment within KSC's large land boundaries, not only functions as an extensive safety buffer-area, it performs simultaneously as a wildlife refuge and a national seashore. In the early 1960s, NASA was developing KSC for rocket launches and the US was establishing an awareness of, and commitment to protecting the environment. The US began creating regulations that required the consideration of the environment when taking action on federal land or with federal funds. The timing of the US Endangered Species Act (1973), the US National Environmental Policy Act (1972), coincided with the planning and implementation of the US Space Shuttle Program. This resulted in the first efforts to evaluate the impacts of space launch operation operations on waterways, air quality, habitats, and wildlife. The first KSC fauna and flora baseline studies were predominantly performed by University of Central Florida (then Florida Technological University). Numerous species of relative importance were observed and sea turtles were receiving regulatory review and protection as surveys by Dr. L Ehrhart (UCF) from 1973-1978 described turtles nesting along the KSC beaches and foraging in the KSC lagoon systems. These data were used in the first NASA Environmental Impact Statement for the Space Transportation System (shuttle program) in 1980. In 1982, NASA began a long term ecological monitoring program with contracted scientists on site. This included efforts to track sea turtle status and trends at KSC and maintain protective measures for these species. Many studies and collaborations have occurred on KSC over these last 45 years with agencies (USFWS, NOAA, NAVY), students, and universities (UCF, University of Toronto, Texas A&M, UF). This presentation will review the various studies and collaborations on sea turtles at KSC that include: nest distributions and success, stranding network development, aerial survey testing for nest counts, predator control assessments, the earliest baseline blood chemistry health determinations on nesting females, stress hormones in nesting females, multi-year study of hatchling sex ratios, genetics, species composition, abundance and distribution of in-water juveniles, turtle cold stun response, exterior lighting impacts and control, and satellite tag tracking of post-nesting turtles in the vicinity of near shore shoals and sand mining sites. Through these studies, monitoring, and recommendations, KSC has provided excellent stewardship and protection of the local environment. While conducting its space program mission, KSC has also made significant contributions of information for agencies charged with the conservation and management of these species

Provancha, Jane A.↗

Quantification of hydrochloric acid and particulate deposition resulting from Space Shuttle launches at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida, U.S.A.

Results are presented from studies designed to identify deposition patterns and quantify the ecosystem loading rates of exhaust constituents (which are primarily Al2O3 and HCl) from the Space Shuttle solid rocket motors in the area of the Kennedy Space Center launch pad. Results of measurements indicate that, under certain meteorological conditions, as much as 7.1 x 10 exp 3 kg of particulates and 3.4 x 10 exp 3 kg HCL can be deposited to the near-field environment beyond the launch pad perimeter fence during one STS launch.

Dreschel, Thomas W.↗

Ecological Impacts of the Space Shuttle Program at John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida

The Space Shuttle Program was one of NASAs first major undertakings to fall under the environmental impact analysis and documentation requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Space Shuttle Program activities at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the associated Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) contributed directly and indirectly to both negative and positive ecological trends in the region through the long-term, stable expenditure of resources over the 40 year program life cycle. These expenditures provided support to regional growth and development in conjunction with other sources that altered land use patterns, eliminated and modified habitats, and contributed to cultural eutrophication of the Indian River Lagoon. At KSC, most Space Shuttle Program related actions were conducted in previously developed facilities and industrial areas with the exception of the construction of the shuttle landing facility (SLF) and the space station processing facility (SSPF). Launch and operations impacts were minimal as a result of the low annual launch rate. The majority of concerns identified during the NEPA process such as potential weather modification, acid rain off site, and local climate change did not occur. Launch impacts from deposition of HCl and particulates were assimilated as a result of the high buffering capacity of the system and low launch and loading rates. Metals deposition from exhaust deposition did not display acute impacts. Sub-lethal effects are being investigated as part of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulatory process. Major positive Space Shuttle Program effects were derived from the adequate resources available at the Center to implement the numerous environmental laws and regulations designed to enhance the quality of the environment and minimize impacts from human activities. This included reduced discharges of domestic and industrial wastewater, creation of stormwater management systems, remediation of past contamination sites, implementation of hazardous waste management systems, and creation of a culture of sustainability. Working with partners such as the USFWS and the St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), wetlands and scrub restoration and management initiatives were implemented to enhance fish and wildlife populations at the Center. KSC remains the single largest preserve on the east coast of Florida in part due to NASAs commitment to stewardship. Ongoing Ecological Program projects are directed at development of information and knowledge to address future KSC management questions including the transition to a joint government and commercial launch facility, enhanced habitat management requirements for wetlands and scrub, potential impacts of emerging contaminants, and adaptation to climate change including projected sea level rise over the next 50-75 years.

Space Shuttle Program↗

Calculated maximum Hl ground-level concentrations downwind from launch pad aborts of the space shuttle and Titan 3 C vehicles at Kennedy Space Center

A quantitative assessment is described of the potential environmental hazard posed by the atmospheric release of HCl resulting from the burning of solid propellant during two hypothetical on-pad aborts of the Titan 3 C and space shuttle vehicles at Kennedy Space Center. In one pad-abort situation, it is assumed that the cases of the two solid-propellant engines are ruptured and the burning propellant falls to the ground in the immediate vicinity of the launch pad where it continues to burn for 5 minutes. In the other pad-abort situation considered, one of the two solid engines on each vehicle is assumed to ignite and burn at the normal rate while the vehicle remains on the launch pad. Calculations of maximum HCl ground-level concentration for the above on-pad abort situations were made using the computerized NASA/MSFC multilayer diffusion models in conjunction with appropriate meteorological and source inputs. Three meteorological regimes are considered-fall, spring, and afternoon sea-breeze. Source inputs for the hazard calculations were developed. The principal result of the calculations is that maximum ground-level HCl concentrations at distances greater than 1 kilometer from the launch pad are less than 3 parts per million in all cases considered.

Dumbauld, R. K.↗

Real-Time Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station High-Resolution Model Implementation and Verification

Customer: NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP), Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO), and Space Launch System (SLS) programs. NASA's LSP, GSDO, SLS and other programs at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) use the daily and weekly weather forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) as decision tools for their day-to-day and launch operations on the Eastern Range (ER). For example, to determine if they need to limit activities such as vehicle transport to the launch pad, protect people, structures or exposed launch vehicles given a threat of severe weather, or reschedule other critical operations. The 45 WS uses numerical weather prediction models as a guide for these weather forecasts, particularly the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) 1.67 kilometer Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Considering the 45 WS forecasters' and Launch Weather Officers' (LWO) extensive use of the AFWA model, the 45 WS proposed a task at the September 2013 Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) Tasking Meeting requesting the AMU verify this model. Due to the lack of archived model data available from AFWA, verification is not yet possible. Instead, the AMU proposed to implement and verify the performance of an ER version of the AMU high-resolution WRF Environmental Modeling System (EMS) model (Watson 2013) in real-time. The tasking group agreed to this proposal; therefore the AMU implemented the WRF-EMS model on the second of two NASA AMU modeling clusters. The model was set up with a triple-nested grid configuration over KSC/CCAFS based on previous AMU work (Watson 2013). The outer domain (D01) has 12-kilometer grid spacing, the middle domain (D02) has 4-kilometer grid spacing, and the inner domain (D03) has 1.33-kilometer grid spacing. The model runs a 12-hour forecast every hour, D01 and D02 domain outputs are available once an hour and D03 is every 15 minutes during the forecast period. The AMU assessed the WRF-EMS 1.33-kilometer domain model performance for the 2014 warm season (May-September). Verification statistics were computed using the Model Evaluation Tools, which compared the model forecasts to observations. The mean error values were close to 0 and the root mean square error values were less than 1.8 for mean sea-level pressure (millibars), temperature (degrees Kelvin), dewpoint temperature (degrees Kelvin), and wind speed (per millisecond), all very small differences between the forecast and observations considering the normal magnitudes of the parameters. The precipitation forecast verification results showed consistent under-forecasting of the precipitation object size. This could be an artifact of calculating the statistics for each hour rather than for the entire 12-hour period. The AMU will continue to generate verification statistics for the 1.33-kilometer WRF-EMS domain as data become available in future cool and warm seasons. More data will produce more robust statistics and reveal a more accurate assessment of model performance. Once the formal task was complete, the AMU conducted additional work to better understand the wind direction results. The results were stratified diurnally and by wind speed to determine what effects the stratifications would have on the model wind direction verification statistics. The results are summarized in the addendum at the end of this report. In addition to verifying the model's performance, the AMU also made the output available in the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System II (AWIPS II). This allows the 45 WS and AMU staff to customize the model output display on the AMU and Range Weather Operations AWIPS II client computers and conduct real-time subjective analyses. In the future, the AMU will implement an updated version of the WRF-EMS model that incorporates local data assimilation. This model will also run in real-time and be made available in AWIPS II.

Numerical Weather Prediction↗

Failure Analysis at the Kennedy Space Center

History has shown that failures occur in every engineering endeavor, and what we learn from those failures contributes to the knowledge base to safely complete future missions. The necessity of failure analysis is at its apex at the end of one aged program (i.e. Shuttle) and at the beginning of a new and untested program (i.e. Constellation). The information that we gain through failure analysis corrects the deficiencies in the current vehicle to make the next generation of vehicles more efficient and safe. The Failure Analysis and Materials Evaluation section in the Materials Science Division at the Kennedy Space Center performs metallurgical, mechanical, electrical, and non-metallic failure analysis and accident investigations on both flight hardware and ground support equipment (GSE) for the Shuttle, International Space Station, Constellation, and Launch Services Programs. This presentation will explore a variety of failure case studies at KSC and the lessons learned that can be applied in future programs.

Salazar, Victoria L.↗

Building a Quality Controlled Database of Meteorological Data from NASA Kennedy Space Center and the United States Air Force's Eastern Range

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch (EV44) has provided atmospheric databases and analysis in support of space vehicle design and day-of-launch operations for NASA and commercial launch vehicle programs launching from the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), co-located on the United States Air Force's Eastern Range (ER) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The ER complex is one of the most heavily instrumented sites in the United States with over 31 towers measuring various atmospheric parameters on a continuous basis. An inherent challenge with large sets of data consists of ensuring erroneous data is removed from databases, and thus excluded from launch vehicle design analyses. EV44 has put forth great effort in developing quality control (QC) procedures for individual meteorological instruments, however no standard QC procedures for all databases currently exists resulting in QC databases that have inconsistencies in variables, methodologies, and periods of record. The goal of this activity is to use the previous efforts by EV44 to develop a standardized set of QC procedures from which to build meteorological databases from KSC and the ER, while maintaining open communication with end users from the launch community to develop ways to improve, adapt and grow the QC database. Details of the QC procedures will be described. As the rate of launches increases with additional launch vehicle programs, it is becoming more important that weather databases are continually updated and checked for data quality before use in launch vehicle design and certification analyses.

Brenton, James C.↗

An analysis of maximum horizontal wind speeds and associated parameters recorded at NASA's 150-Meter Ground Winds Tower facility at Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Continuous horizontal wind speed measurements were processed and classified as a function of tower level (10, 18, 60, and 150 meters) and period of reference day, month, season: winter (October through March) and summer (April through September), and annual. Tabulations were made of the daily maximum horizontal wind speed, time of ocurrence, and five associated parameters: mean horizontal wind speed, maximum vertical gusts (i.e., updraft and downdraft), and mean and instantaneous directions. Analyses using these data included means, extremes, standard deviations, and frequency distributions. Comparisons of intensity of maximum horizontal wind speeds determined in this year of data are made with maximum values recorded at Kennedy Space Center during another non-hurricane-occurrence year (1967) and with values during 1966 through 1972 when six hurricanes affected the area after the Ground Winds Tower facility became operational. Wind flow in the lowest 150 meters of the atmosphere was measured for the identification of hazards involved in wind shear encounter relative to ascent and descent of the space shuttle and conventional aircraft.

Alexander, M. B.↗

Converter Compressor Building, SWMU 089 Monitoring Well 21 Area Implementation Work Plan Kennedy Space Center, Florida

This Implementation Work Plan (IWP) was prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc., for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract 80KSC019D0011/80KSC019F0070, for the implementation of a bioremediation Interim Measure (IM) at the Converter Compressor Building (CCB) site located at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The location of CCB within KSC is shown on Figure A-1. CCB has been designated as Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 089 under KSC’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program. The overall Corrective Action Objective (CAO) for CCB is to reduce concentrations of trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethene (tDCE), and vinyl chloride (VC) to less than State of Florida Groundwater Cleanup Target Levels (GCTLs). The objective for the IM associated with this IM is to reduce groundwater concentrations for the contaminants of concern (COCs) to less than their Natural Default Attenuation Concentrations (NADCs) within the Monitoring Well 21 Area (herein referred to as MW21 Area) via bioremediation injections to support transition to long term monitoring (LTM). This IWP describes the activities that will be performed for the treatment of the MW21 Area. The Revision 1 CCB MW21 Area Interim Measure Work Plan (IMWP; NASA, 2024), which was approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) on December 26, 2024, was used as the design basis for this IWP.

Mark Jonnet↗

Oceanic Storm Characteristics Off the Kennedy Space Center Coast

Natural cloud-to-ground lightning may behave differently depending on the characteristics of the attachment mediums, including the peak current (inferred from radiation fields) and the number of ground strike locations per flash. Existing literature has raised issues over the yea"rs on the behavior of lightning over ocean terrain and these phenomena are not yet well understood. To investigate lightning characteristics over differing terrain we will obtain identical observations over adjacent land and ocean regions during both clear air and thunderstorm periods comparing the electric field behavior over these various terrains. For this, a 3-meter NOAA buoy moored 20NM off the coast of the Kennedy Space Center was instrumented with an electric field mill and New Mexico Tech's slow antenna to measure the electric fields aloft and compared to the existing on-shore electric field mill suite of 31 sensors and a coastal slow antenna. New Mexico Tech's Lightning Mapping Array and the Eastern Range Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Surveillance System, along with the network of high-speed cameras being used to capture cloud-to-ground lightning strikes over the terrain regions to identify a valid data set and verify the electric fields. This is an on-going project with the potential for significant impact on the determination of lightning risk to objects on the ground. This presentation will provide results and instrumentation progress to date.

Wilson, J.↗

Analysis and Assessment of Peak Lightning Current Probabilities at the NASA Kennedy Space Center

This technical memorandum presents a summary by the Electromagnetics and Aerospace Environments Branch at the Marshall Space Flight Center of lightning characteristics and lightning criteria for the protection of aerospace vehicles. Probability estimates are included for certain lightning strikes (peak currents of 200, 100, and 50 kA) applicable to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, during rollout, on-pad, and boost/launch phases. Results of an extensive literature search to compile information on this subject are presented in order to answer key questions posed by the Space Shuttle Program Office at the Johnson Space Center concerning peak lightning current probabilities if a vehicle is hit by a lightning cloud-to-ground stroke. Vehicle-triggered lightning probability estimates for the aforementioned peak currents are still being worked. Section 4.5, however, does provide some insight on estimating these same peaks.

Johnson, D. L.↗

Industrial Engineering Lifts Off at Kennedy Space Center

When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began the Space Shuttle Program, it did not have an established industrial engineering (IE) capability for several probable reasons. For example, it was easy for some managers to dismiss IE principles as being inapplicable at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). When NASA was formed by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, most industrial engineers worked in more traditional factory environments. The primary emphasis early in the shuttle program, and during previous human space flight programs such as Mercury and Apollo, was on technical accomplishments. Industrial engineering is sometimes difficult to explain in NASA's highly technical culture. IE is different in many ways from other engineering disciplines because it is devoted to process management and improvement, rather than product design. Images of clipboards and stopwatches still come to the minds of many people when the term industrial engineering is mentioned. The discipline of IE has only recently begun to gain acceptance and understanding in NASA. From an IE perspective today, the facilities used for flight hardware processing at KSC are NASA's premier factories. The products of these factories are among the most spectacular in the world: safe and successful launches of shuttles and expendable vehicles that carry tremendous payloads into space.

Barth, Tim↗

Interim Measures Report for the Headquarters Building Area Location of Concern (LOC) 2E East SWMU 104 John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida

The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment portion of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), requires identification and evaluation of all known Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and Locations of Concern (LOCs) located on Kennedy Space Center (KSC) property. The KSC Headquarters Building Area (KHQA) has been identified as SWMU 104 under KSC's RCRA Program. This report summarizes the Interim Measure (IM) conducted by Geosyntec Consultants (Geosyntec) for NASA under Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract NNK12CA13B at the KHQA to mitigate potential exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-affected media at the eastern side of LOC 2E. The IM activities were conducted in June and July 2015 to remediate PCBs above the FDEP Residential Direct-Exposure (R-) Soil Cleanup Target Level (SCTL) of 0.5 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) established by Chapter 62-777, Florida Administrative Code. The IM was performed in accordance with the IM Work Plan (IMWP) approved by the FDEP, dated August 2012. IM activities were conducted in accordance with the KSC Generic PCB Work Plan (NASA 2007).

Sager, Eric D.↗

An evaluation of rain chemistry data for the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida and the University of Central Florida, Orlando

Concern over the effects of Space Shuttle launches prompted the initiation of a rather intense environmental monitoring program. The program included a precipitation monitoring network with 13 precipitation collection sites which were operated for various time periods to baseline precipitation chemistry at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). One additional site was also established as a remote background site on the Univ. of Central Florida (UCF) campus. One of the 13 sites was converted to a National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) station. Collections and analyses of samples were performed using a number of methodologies during the monitoring period. An evaluation of the data for comparability and utility for acid rain research was performed using the anion/cation, measured conductivity, calculated conductivity, Cl/Na, and Mg/Na ratios. Data collected at all KSC sites between 1977 and 1981, from 1983 to 1985 at the NADP site and at UCF to 1985 are comparable and appropriate for determining acid rain trends. Examination of those comparable data showed a fairly stable pH between 1977 and 1982 and an increase of 0.2 pH units which was observed as an incremental increase between 1982 and 1983 at KSC and UCF.

Madsen, Brooks C.↗

Kennedy Space Center: Creating a Spaceport Reality from the Dreams of Many

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane only 20 feet above the ground near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Who would have guessed that the bizarre looking contraption developed by brothers in the bicycle business would lay the ground work eventually resulting in over a million passengers moved daily in a sky filled with the contrails of jets flying at over 30,000 feet in elevation and over 500 miles per hour. Similarly, who would have guessed that the destructive nature of V-2 rockets of Germany would spark the genesis of spaceflight to explore our solar system and beyond? Yet the interest in using the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) continues to grow. Potential customers have expressed interest in KSC as a location for testing new rocket engines, servicing the world's largest airborne launching platform for drop-launch rockets, developing multi-use launch platforms that permit diverse customers to use the same launch platform, developing new spacecraft, and implementing advanced modifications for lifting 150 metric ton payloads to low earth orbit. The multitude of customers has grown and with this growth comes a need to provide a command, control, communication, and range infrastructure that maximizes flexibility and reconfigurability to address a much more frequent launch rate of diverse vehicles and spacecraft. The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program Office at KSC is embarking upon these developments to realize the dream of a robust spaceport. Many unique technical trade studies have been completed or are underway to successfully transition KSC into a multi-user customer focused spaceport. Like the evolution of the airplane, GSDO is working to transform KSC infrastructures that will turn once unthinkable space opportunities into a reality for today.

Gray, James A.↗