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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1996

Autonomy metrics

Space missions are currently being designed and developed to rely on increased spacecraft autonomy in order to achieve lower cost operations and to support the fleets of planetary spacecraft with limited deep space network resources. In relation to this, metrics are presented which quantitatively define spacecraft autonomy and will be used to: set measurable autonomy goals for future missions; evaluate and compare the benefits between competing automation technologies, and to compare autonomy between missions. The metrics measure the degree to which spacecraft and space mission designs lead to: longer periods of no-track; shorter track periods; reduced ground-orbit communications, and smaller operations workforces. The results of a survey applying these metrics to historic missions and to planned future missions are reported on, illustrating the differences between the autonomy achieved by previous missions and that predicted for future missions.

Carraway, John B.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Vision for Space Exploration

With last year's budget, NASA released a new Strategic Plan outlining a new approach to space exploration using a 'building block' strategy to explore scientifically valuable destinations across our solar system. At the same time that we released the Strategic Plan, our Nation and the NASA family also suffered the loss of the seven brave astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board emphasized the need for a clearer direction from which to drive NASA's human exploration agenda. On January 14, 2004, the President articulated a new vision for space exploration. You hold in your hands a new, bolder framework for exploring our solar system that builds upon the policy that was announced by the President after months of careful deliberations within the Administration. This plan does not undertake exploration merely for the sake of adventure, however exciting that may be, but seeks answers to profound scientific and philosophical questions, responds to recent discoveries, will put in place revolutionary technologies and capabilities for the future, and will genuinely inspire our Nation, the world, and the next generation. Our aim is to explore in a sustainable, affordable, and flexible manner. We believe the principles and roadmap set down in this document will stand the test of time. Its details will be subject to revision and expansion as new discoveries are made, new technologies are applied, and new challenges are met and overcome. This plan is guided by the Administration's new space exploration policy, 'A Renewed Spirit of Discovery: The President's Vision for U.S. Space Exploration,' a copy of which is provided on the following pages. NASA is releasing this plan simultaneously with NASA's FY 2005 Budget Justification. This plan is fiscally responsible, consistent with the Administration s goal of cutting the budget deficit in half within the next five years. I cannot overstate how much NASA will change in the coming years as this plan is implemented. I also cannot overstate how profound the rewards will be on this new course. With the support of Congress, the science community, the NASA civil and contractor workforce, and most importantly, the American public, we will embark on this very exciting future. When Christopher Columbus made his voyages across the Atlantic in the 15th and 16th centuries, his ships carried the inscription 'Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.' I look forward to joining you as we follow the light of the planets and the stars into the new worlds of the 21st century.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2020

Strategic Perspectives on the Future of Systems Engineering at NASA

NASA’s Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Infusion and Modernization Initiative (MIAMI) chartered a strategy group comprising early to mid-career NASA subject matter experts with diverse experiences to look into the future of systems engineering at NASA. The purpose of the group was to provide a vision for the future state of systems engineering practices and to develop a strategic plan to enable the evolution of the art up to 20 years in the future. The group used a design thinking approach to gather ideas and obtained insight into current engineering processes and domain outlook by interviewing engineers of varying expertise and experiences who had worked on teams of different sizes for missions large and small. The group built a roadmap to highlight future needs, projected capabilities, and technology and competency gaps and developed a strategic plan to ensure the expedient introduction of these capabilities. The resulting strategic plan recommends capability development and workforce strategies and provides guidance for Agency-wide SE policy. Artifacts, details, and raw data from the strategy team’s work are contained in NASA/TM-20205002911/SUPPL, Strategic Perspectives on the Future of Systems Engineering at NASA: Supplemental Information: Appendixes A to K.

Anupa R Bajwa↗
NASA NTRS2003

Glenn's Strategic Partnerships With HBCUs and OMUs

NASA senior management has identified the need to develop a strategy for increased contracting with the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority universities (OMUs). The benefits to the institutions, by partnering with NASA, include developing their industrial base via NASA-industry partnerships, strong competitive advantage in technology-based research opportunities, and improved research capabilities. NASA gains increased contributed value to the Agency missions and programs as well as potential future recruits from technology-trained students who also constitute a pool for the nation s workforce. This report documents synergistic links between Glenn Research Center research and technology programs and faculty expertise at HBCUs and OMUs. The links are derived, based on Glenn technologies in the various directorates, program offices, and project offices. Such links readily identify universities with faculty members who are knowledgeable or have backgrounds in the listed technologies for possible collaboration. Recommendations are made to use the links as opportunities for Glenn and NASA, as well as industry collaborators, to cultivate stronger partnerships with the universities. It is concluded that Glenn and its partners and collaborators can expect to mutually benefit from leveraging NASA s cutting-edge and challenging research and technologies; industry's high technology development, research and development facilities, system design capabilities and market awareness; and academia s expertise in basic research and relatively low overhead cost. Reduced cost, accelerated technology development, technology transfer, and infrastructure development constitute some of the derived benefits.

Kankam, M. David↗
NASA NTRS2002

U.S. Aerospace and Aviation Industry: A State-By-State Analysis

President George W. Bush and the Congress created the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry to evaluate the current and future health of the industry as well as the challenges that lie ahead for the U.S. workforce and the economy. To accomplish our mission, we commissioned a study on the economic impact of the aerospace industry nationally and on a state-by-state basis, using the best available U.S. government data. This study sought to define the core of the aerospace industry. The resulting data represents that very core those jobs specifically tied to commercial and civilian aerospace. U.S. Aerospace and Aviation: A State-by-State Analysis examines the civilian and commercial aerospace and aviation industry by employment, wages, payroll, and establishments. The report found that the U.S. civilian and commercial aerospace and aviation industry employed over 2 million workers in 2001.

STATES (UNITED STATES)↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Forging the Forge

As part of the NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) effort to revitalize and recommit to our “Dare Unite Explore” vision for the future, the Center is exploring a new strategy to spread the innovation mindset and increase collaboration across the workforce. In order to maintain JSC’s leadership in human spaceflight, there is a need for working at the speed of commercial industry, breaking down silos between organizations, improving innovation and increasing workforce flexibility. Through brainstorming concepts and benchmarking other facilities, the leadership team evaluated several ideas, assessed constraints and derived that an “Innovation Team” was relatively easy to adopt. Modeled after productive teams like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Innovation Foundry and Glenn Research Center's Compass team, JSC is laying the foundation of a new innovation team called the Forge. This team is as much about getting employees tempered in the ways of innovative thinking as it is about refining design studies and hammering out proposals. By the dictionary definition of the verb, forge can mean either to move ahead slowly and steadily or to move with a sudden increase of speed and power. Driving cultural change in a large government organization like NASA often involves slow perseverance with small injections of momentum to forge ahead. Leveraging lessons learned from the Innovation Foundry and Compass, this paper describes how the collaborative, concurrent engineering framework was tailored to JSC’s needs, as well as the aspects that were considered given JSC’s operation-focused, Program-driven landscape. Our process to drive cultural change, the steps taken, and challenges encountered are discussed. The first two pilots of the teaming framework are described with initial results presented in terms of employee engagement and fostering innovation. We also describe the planned future work and next steps to continue to push the initiative forward. Long has the Center been resting on its operations heritage, now we are forging a new path to Dare to expand frontiers, Unite with our partners and Explore space to benefit humanity.

Culture Change↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Models for Facilitating Government-Funded Activities in the Post-ISS LEO Ecosystem

The International Space Station National Lab (ISSNL) was established through Congressional authority in 2005 and has been managed by a nonprofit called the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) since 2011 to support research, development, education, and commercial activities in low-Earth orbit (LEO). NASA leadership is considering next steps for microgravity and orbital activities in LEO in preparation for the retirement of the International Space Station (ISS) and transition to Commercial LEO Destinations (CLDs) in the 2030 timeframe. Specifically, our study team within the NASA Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy addressed the question: What are potential models for an ISS National Lab facilitating government-funded or subsidized activities on a commercial LEO platform after the transition of the ISS to one or more private platforms? To inform the trade space of potential models, we conducted over 40 discussions with stakeholders internal and external to NASA and reviewed over 35 documents related to LEO legislation, commercialization, models, and activities. Following the extensive literature review and discussions with diverse stakeholders, we defined and evaluated six models, in addition to the current ISSNL model. We assessed each model across three possible future scenarios (dynamic, steady, and limited growth of the commercial LEO market and activities) and across five stakeholder-driven model evaluation criteria (ability to meet NASA’s needs, adaptability, opportunity for collaboration, market sustainability, and equity and accessibility). The six models in the future trade space were: • Government Research Broker: Customizable research efforts on transport vehicles and CLDs • Innovation Campus: Modern terrestrial campus with workforce focus • Anchor Tenant: Long-term, substantial agreement for leasing space on a single CLD • Fee for Service: Free market approach with NASA-sponsored grants and service/data buys • Matchmaker: Neutral third-party connecting users to platforms • Institute Network: Network of separate but related efforts to enable commercial scaling The Government Research Broker model performed best across the scenarios, followed by Innovation Campus, Anchor Tenant, and Fee for Service. While Matchmaker and Institute Network exhibited positive aspects, the two models performed most favorably in future scenarios with well-established communities and markets. The six models presented in this study are representative of the potential trade space and are illustrative examples. NASA leadership can adjust models as desired to align to their priorities more closely by using combinations of the unique model features provided in our analysis. The optimal model is likely a combination of features from multiple models. Building upon this work to best position NASA and the diverse stakeholders of LEO activities for success post-ISS, further work will explore the near-term impact of preparing for the transition of the ISS to CLDs by identifying opportunities for modifying the current ISSNL-CASIS partnership. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank the many reviewers and discussants, internal and external to NASA, that contributed to the work.

Erica Rodgers↗
NASA NTRS2019

Building a Field: The Future of Astronomy with Gravitational Waves

Harnessing the sheer discovery potential of GW Astronomy will require bold, deliberate,and sustained efforts to train and develop the requisite workforce. The next decaderequires a strategic plan to build - from the ground up - a robust, open, andwell-connected GW Astronomy community with deep participation from traditionalastronomers, physicists, data scientists, and instrumentalists. This basic infrastructure issorely needed as an enabling foundation for research. We outline a set ofrecommendations for funding agencies, universities, and professional societies to helpbuild a thriving, diverse, and inclusive new field.

Holley-Bockelman, Kelly↗
NASA NTRS2018

Thermal Protection Systems Technology Transfer from Apollo and Space Shuttle to the Orion Program

This paper describes how the Orion program is utilizing the Thermal Protection System (TPS) experience from the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs to reduce program risk and improve affordability to meet NASA's future manned exploration missions. The Orion program successfully completed the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) mission in 2014 and is currently assembling, integrating, and testing the next spacecraft for the Exploration Mission (EM-1) to meet the flight test objectives of an unmanned orbital mission to the moon and return to earth in 2019. The Orion spacecraft production operations are located in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) providing an affordable and seamless delivery approach of vehicles directly to the launch site eliminating spacecraft transportation and additional checkout testing. Innovative vehicle design, manufacturing and test operations approaches are maturing and evolving with each Orion vehicle build to support the challenging NASA exploration mission requirements beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) while reducing program cost and schedule impacts. An example of Orion's evolution is the incorporation of an improved heat shield design, assembly and testing approach to meet the higher re-entry velocities for a lunar return for the EM-1 mission. The EFT- 1 heat shield was based on the Apollo heat shield manufacturing processes and was assembled at a supplier location and then transported to KSC for final integration. The EM-1 heat shield is now manufactured, assembled, tested, and installed into the spacecraft at the O&C facility reducing program cost and production schedules. The transition of the Space Shuttle TPS capabilities has enabled Orion to provide a human rated capsule design using proven materials and processes established over years of orbiter re-entry missions. The Orion Crew Module (CM) TPS configuration is derived from the Apollo CM approach utilizing improved materials and processes developed from the Space Shuttle program. The Orion EFT-1 heat shield utilized the Avcoat ablative material from Apollo which was injected into a honeycomb substrate and has been updated for EM-1 incorporating a block configuration bonded to a composite shell structure. This approach utilizes the proven Avcoat material for the heat shield ablator and is utilizing derived bonding and inspection methods and techniques from the Space Shuttle tile experience. The Orion back shell TPS configuration is based on Space Shuttle tile designs using proven tile materials and coatings. The Orion forward bay cover utilizes the high temperature tiles similar to the back shell tiles and low temperature blankets derived from the Space Shuttle program reducing weight impacts. Space Shuttle Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) is installed in the Orion capsule to control the interior temperature environment providing a light weight design. These TPS design approaches have performed successfully on the Orion first flight test on EFT-1 and are incorporated in the configuration for the next flight test for EM-1. Completion of these two flight tests will certify the TPS for the Orion program for human rated exploration missions and has reduced the development cost to the Orion program. In addition to transitioning the Space Shuttle TPS design configurations to Orion, the supporting manufacturing infrastructure, manufacturing processes, and inspection methods are also incorporated into the Orion assembly operations at KSC. This has avoided significant startup schedule and costs impacts of new capabilities and development of support operations necessary to fabricate, install, inspect, and validate the TPS installations for the Orion spacecraft. The Thermal Protection System Facility (TPSF) which supported the Space Shuttle program provides the heat shield Avcoat blocks and the back shell AETB-8 tiles for Orion program. Extending the existing Space Shuttle TPS operations at KSC provides onsite support to the Orion spacecraft assembly operations. A significant benefit to the Orion program is the transition of the Space Shuttle technician work force at KSC. This highly skilled workforce was able to transition to the Orion program and immediately support the TPS installation operations. They brought with them the human rated manufacturing and assembly operations culture that was critical to the Space Shuttle success avoiding the retraining cost and schedule impacts of a new workforce to Orion. The technician skills certification program from the Space Shuttle was found to be compatible with the Lockheed Martin technician certification programs enabling a seamless training process utilizing process similarity avoiding the cost of retraining the work force to Orion standards. The existing workforce is certificated for multiple processes enabling reassignment of technicians to other tasks in the Orion AI&P operations reducing the overall touch labor manpower requirements. Additional benefits of using the Space Shuttle workforce is the incorporation of the lessons learned from Space Shuttle processes to improve the Orion TPS processes. This has resulted in a continuous evolution of TPS processes to improve the producibility and reduce the program cost for the TPS for the Orion program. Transitioning the Apollo and Space Shuttle TPS designs, processes, and technician workforce has been instrumental in enabling Orion to successfully meet the program challenges for NASA's exploration missions of the future.

Stewart, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2023

Understanding Workforce Agility at NASA Kennedy Space Center

NASA leads the world in space research and provides other government agencies, educational institutions, and companies opportunities to explore, launch, and conduct research in and around space. NASA has 11 formal locations based around the United States, and each has different goals and objectives to help NASA meet its overall mission. 2004, President George Bush announced a new vision for the Space Exploration program. During his grand announcement, he discussed that the Space Shuttles would retire due to the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, where the crew and the space vehicle were lost. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) would no longer manage the day-to-day operations of maintaining the US Space Shuttle fleet. Our NASA teams would continue working to finish the Space Shuttle program's mission to build the International Space Station. Afterward, NASA would transition to develop and test a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle. The third goal was to return to the moon by 2020 as the launching point for missions beyond, to get humans from lower Earth orbit to the moon and Mars. (Secretary, 2004) The KSC engineering workforce had to prepare to transition from Operational support of the Space Shuttle program to the design and development of over 50 subsystems for the future SLS and Orion Launch Systems at the Kennedy Space Center. These subsystems developed at the Kennedy Space Center Engineering Directorate followed a comprehensive design process that required several different product deliverables during various phases for each subsystem. (Schafer et al., 2013) What allowed these systems to be successful? What enabled NASA KSC to complete over 130 Artemis 1 Design Certification and System Acceptance Reviews, closing over 21,656 Requirements to deem the Artemis 1 rocket ready for launch? Little is known about the NASA engineering workforce agility characteristics that enabled the organization to transition from the Space Shuttle program that ended in 2011 and launch the Artemis Program's SLS rocket on November 16, 2022.

Workforce Agility↗
NASA NTRS2013

US Rocket Propulsion Industrial Base Health Metrics

The number of active liquid rocket engine and solid rocket motor development programs has severely declined since the "space race" of the 1950s and 1960s center dot This downward trend has been exacerbated by the retirement of the Space Shuttle, transition from the Constellation Program to the Space launch System (SLS) and similar activity in DoD programs center dot In addition with consolidation in the industry, the rocket propulsion industrial base is under stress. To Improve the "health" of the RPIB, we need to understand - The current condition of the RPIB - How this compares to past history - The trend of RPIB health center dot This drives the need for a concise set of "metrics" - Analogous to the basic data a physician uses to determine the state of health of his patients - Easy to measure and collect - The trend is often more useful than the actual data point - Can be used to focus on problem areas and develop preventative measures The nation's capability to conceive, design, develop, manufacture, test, and support missions using liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors that are critical to its national security, economic health and growth, and future scientific needs. center dot The RPIB encompasses US government, academic, and commercial (including industry primes and their supplier base) research, development, test, evaluation, and manufacturing capabilities and facilities. center dot The RPIB includes the skilled workforce, related intellectual property, engineering and support services, and supply chain operations and management. This definition touches the five main segments of the U.S. RPIB as categorized by the USG: defense, intelligence community, civil government, academia, and commercial sector. The nation's capability to conceive, design, develop, manufacture, test, and support missions using liquid rocket engines and solid rocket motors that are critical to its national security, economic health and growth, and future scientific needs. center dot The RPIB encompasses US government, academic, and commercial (including industry primes and their supplier base) research, development, test, evaluation, and manufacturing capabilities and facilities. center dot The RPIB includes the skilled workforce, related intellectual property, engineering and support services, and supply chain operations and management. This definition touches the five main segments of the U.S. RPIB as categorized by the USG: defense, intelligence community, civil government, academia, and commercial sector.

Doreswamy, Rajiv↗
NASA NTRS2011

MIT January Operational Internship Experience 2011

This slide presentation reviews the 2011 January Operational Internship experience (JOIE) program which allows students to study operational aspects of spaceflight, how design affects operations and systems engineering in practice for 3 weeks. Topics include: (1) Systems Engineering (2) NASA Organization (3) Workforce Core Values (4) Human Factors (5) Safety (6) Lean Engineering (7) NASA Now (8) Press, Media, and Outreach and (9) Future of Spaceflight.

DeLatte, Danielle↗
NASA NTRS2003

Development of a safe ground to space laser propagation system for the optical communications telescope laboratory

Furthering pursuits in high bandwidth communications to future NASA deep space and neat-Earth probes, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is building the Optical communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) atop Table Mountain in Southern California. This R&D optical antenna will be used to develop optical communication strategies for future optical ground stations. Initial experiments to be conducted include propagating high-powered, Q-switched laser beams to retro-reflecting satellites. Yet laser beam propagation from the ground to space is under the cognizance of various government agencies, namely: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (ISHA) that is responsible for protecting workforce personnel; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responsible for protecting pilots and aircraft; and the Laser Clearinghouse of Space Command responsible for protecting space assets. To ensure that laser beam propagation from the OCTL and future autonomously operated ground stations comply with the guidelines of these organizations, JPL is developing a multi-tiered safety system that will meet the coordination, monitoring, and reporting functions required by the agencies. At Tier 0, laser operators will meet OSHA safety standards for protection and access to the high power lasers area will be restricted and interlocked. Tier 1, the area defined from the telescope dome out to a range of 3.4-km, will utilize long wave infrared camera sensors to alert operators of at risk aircraft in the FAA controlled airspace. Tier 2, defined to extend from 3.4-km out to the aircraft service ceiling in FAA airspace, will detect at risk aircraft by radar. Lastly, beam propagation into space, defined as Tier 3, will require coordination with the Laser Clearinghouse. A detailed description of the four tiers is presented along with the design of the integrated monitoring and beam transmission control system.

laser safety↗
NASA NTRS2005

Hawaii Space Grant Consortium

The Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium is composed of ten institutions of higher learning including the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, the University of Guam, and seven Community Colleges spread over the 4 main Hawaiian islands. Geographic separation is not the only obstacle that we face as a Consortium. Hawai'i has been mired in an economic downturn due to a lack of tourism for almost all of the period (2001 - 2004) covered by this report, although hotel occupancy rates and real estate sales have sky-rocketed in the last year. Our challenges have been many including providing quality educational opportunities in the face of shrinking State and Federal budgets, encouraging science and technology course instruction at the K-12 level in a public school system that is becoming less focused on high technology and more focused on developing basic reading and math skills, and assembling community college programs with instructors who are expected to teach more classes for the same salary. Motivated people can overcome these problems. Fortunately, the Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium (HSGC) consists of a group of highly motivated and talented individuals who have not only overcome these obstacles, but have excelled with the Program. We fill a critical need within the State of Hawai'i to provide our children with opportunities to pursue their dreams of becoming the next generation of NASA astronauts, engineers, and explorers. Our strength lies not only in our diligent and creative HSGC advisory board, but also with Hawai'i's teachers, students, parents, and industry executives who are willing to invest their time, effort, and resources into Hawai'i's future. Our operational philosophy is to FACE the Future, meaning that we will facilitate, administer, catalyze, and educate in order to achieve our objective of creating a highly technically capable workforce both here in Hawai'i and for NASA. In addition to administering to programs and educating the public in the traditional sense, we also work to facilitate partnerships between other departments (geology & geophysics, engineering, geography, astronomy), state and federal government agencies in Hawai'i, and private industry. In some cases, we are the catalyst for new partnerships between private agency sponsors and education projects or for new joint research and education projects between industry and the University faculty.

Flynn, Luke P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Integrated Assessments of the Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: An Overview of AgMIP Regional Research in South Asia

South Asia encompasses a wide and highly varied geographic region, and includes climate zones ranging from the mountainous Himalayan territory to the tropical lowland and coastal zones along alluvial floodplains. The region's climate is dominated by a monsoonal circulation that heralds the arrival of seasonal rainfall, upon which much of the regional agriculture relies. The spatial and temporal distribution of this rainfall is, however, not uniform over the region. Northern South Asia, central India, and the west coast receive much of their rainfall during the southwest monsoon season, between June and September. These rains partly result from the moisture transport accompanying the monsoonal winds, which move in the southwesterly direction from the equatorial Indian Ocean. Regions further south, such as south/southeast India and Sri Lanka, may receive rains from both the southwest monsoon, and also during the northeast monsoon season between October and December (with northeasterly monsoon wind flow and moisture flux), which results in a bi- or multi-modal rainfall distribution. In addition, rainfall across South Asia displays a large amount of intraseasonal and interannual variability. Interannual variability is influenced by many drivers, both natural (e.g., El Ni-Southern Oscillation; ENSO) and man-made (e.g., rising temperatures due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations), and it is challenging to obtaining accurate time-series of annual rainfall, even amongst various observed data products, which display inconsistencies amongst themselves. These climatic and rainfall variations can further complicate South Asia's agricultural and water management. Agriculture employs at least 65 of the workforce in most South Asian countries, and nearly 80 of South Asia's poor inhabit rural areas. Understanding the response of current agricultural production to climate variability and future climate change is of utmost importance in securing food and livelihoods for South Asia's growing population. In order to assess the future of food and livelihood security across South Asia, the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) has undertaken integrated climate-crop-economic assessments of the impact of climate change on food security and poverty in South Asia, encompassing Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. AgMIP has funded, on a competitive basis, four South Asian regional research teams (RRTs) and one South Asian coordination team (CT) to undertake climate-crop-economic integrated assessments of food security for many districts in each of these countries, with the goal of characterizing the state of food security and poverty across the region, and projecting how these are subject to change under future climate change conditions.

mountains↗
NASA NTRS2021

NASA Strategy for Technology Development

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) provides the strategy and leadership that integrates NASA’s technology development and open innovation activities to advance American aeronautic, science, and space exploration objectives. OCT performs an agency-level technology coordination role, coordinating with the NASA Mission Directorates, field centers, and other government agencies to align the agency’s technology investments to meet mission requirements while filling gaps, anticipating future needs, and minimizing duplication of effort. OCT provides the strategy and coordination that guide NASA's technology and innovation activities through Strategic Technology Integration, Digital Transformation, the Science and Technology Partnership Forum, and Innovation. The Strategic Technology Integration team informs policy, requirements, and strategy for NASA’s technology development activities in support of the Chief Technologist by coordinating with NASA mission directorates, other government agencies, and external organizations. As part of these efforts, OCT develops the NASA Technology Taxonomy and the NASA Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan. Digital Transformation will increasingly change the way NASA operates and will enable the agency’s missions to be completed more efficiently and effectively. It will allow current and future employees to use their talents in more innovative ways. The Science and Technology Partnership Forum is a strategic forum, with principal partners at the United States Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. It was established to identify synergistic efforts and technologies in order to leverage those synergies and influence portfolios across space agencies in areas deemed pervasive and ready for collaboration. NASA's Innovation efforts are designed to transform diverse ideas into value and are guided by a framework that is focused on the agency’s people, processes, partnerships and portfolio. The innovation framework is used to connect the workforce to tools, strategies and activities to increase the pace of innovation. OCT translates National space policies into NASA technology strategies and coordination across the agency and interagency communities to guide NASA's technology and innovation activities to achieve capabilities needed for future missions. This chapter provides insight into the value of analyzing future states to inform technology developments to plot the strategic direction of NASA’s space technology program.

Erica Rodgers↗
NASA NTRS2008

Seven Key Principles of Program and Project Success: A Best Practices Survey

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Organization Design Team (ODT), consisting of 20 seasoned program and project managers and systems engineers from a broad spectrum of the aerospace industry, academia, and government, was formed to support the Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) Program and the Constellation Systems Program. The purpose of the ODT was to investigate organizational factors that can lead to success or failure of complex government programs, and to identify tools and methods for the design, modeling, and analysis of new and more-efficient program and project organizations. The ODT conducted a series of workshops featuring invited lectures from seasoned program and project managers representing 25 significant technical programs spanning 50 years of experience. The result was the identification of seven key principles of program success that can be used to help design and operate future program organizations. This paper presents the success principles and examples of best practices that can significantly improve the design of program, project, and performing technical line organizations, the assessment of workforce needs and organization performance, and the execution of programs and projects.

Bilardo, Vincent J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Investing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds to Advance Capability, Reliability, and Performance in NASA Wind Tunnels

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) is implementing five significant ground-based test facility projects across the nation with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The projects were selected as the best candidates within the constraints of the ARRA and the strategic plan of ATP. They are a combination of much-needed large scale maintenance, reliability, and system upgrades plus creating new test beds for upcoming research programs. The projects are: 1.) Re-activation of a large compressor to provide a second source for compressed air and vacuum to the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at the Ames Research Center (ARC) 2.) Addition of high-altitude ice crystal generation at the Glenn Research Center Propulsion Systems Laboratory Test Cell 3, 3.) New refrigeration system and tunnel heat exchanger for the Icing Research Tunnel at the Glenn Research Center, 4.) Technical viability improvements for the National Transonic Facility at the Langley Research Center, and 5.) Modifications to conduct Environmentally Responsible Aviation and Rotorcraft research at the 14 x 22 Subsonic Tunnel at Langley Research Center. The selection rationale, problem statement, and technical solution summary for each project is given here. The benefits and challenges of the ARRA funded projects are discussed. Indirectly, this opportunity provides the advantages of developing experience in NASA's workforce in large projects and maintaining corporate knowledge in that very unique capability. It is envisioned that improved facilities will attract a larger user base and capabilities that are needed for current and future research efforts will offer revenue growth and future operations stability. Several of the chosen projects will maximize wind tunnel reliability and maintainability by using newer, proven technologies in place of older and obsolete equipment and processes. The projects will meet NASA's goal of integrating more efficient, environmentally safer, and less energy consuming hardware and processes into existing tunnel systems. These include Environmental Protection Agency-approved refrigerants, energy efficient motors, and faster, flexible tunnel data systems.

Sydnor, Goerge H.↗