Endeavour touches down in darkness at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 14 days in space.
Photo Credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin O'Connell
When do you start retirement planning for a major program like the Space Shuttle?
The NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) has released a new online module dedicated to the lessons learned derived from the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Transition and Retirement (T&R) effort.
The module contains a narrative report, related documents, and video interviews with NASA employees that address important topics, including management, resources, planning, human capital, real property, personal property, environmental management, historical preservation, document management, and contract closeout. The report also chronicles unique lessons associated with decommissioning Space Shuttle Orbiters and transporting them to museums around the country.
The dedication, innovation, project management skills, and technical excellence of NASA’s SSP T&R team led to the successful identification, planning, accounting, and disposition of more than $12 billion in shuttle program assets. The team transitioned more than 300 government facilities, terminating operations, decommissioning equipment, packaging and shipping hardware, safely disposing of hazards, and vacating many of the facilities. Additionally, NASA identified, inventoried, deliberated, planned, and executed the disposition of more than one million government property items, including the transfer of more than $1.4 billion in assets to new NASA programs.
The story of the Space Shuttle Program is one with many lessons applicable to program/project managers and staff involved the closeout stage of a major program’s lifecycle.
Visit NASA’s Space Shuttle Program Transition and Retirement module.
