February 26, 2010 Vol. 3, Issue 2

There are three keys to avoiding the pitfalls of heritage hardware, according to Wayne Hartford of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Genesis capsule impacted into the Utah desert. Photo Credit: NASA

Heritage can be a dream or a nightmare, a blessing or a curse. For every success such as LCROSS, there is a cautionary tale such as Genesis. Heritage offers an answer to scarce resources and provides a tangible solution when the reality of the project is fuzzy or virtual.

But beware of complacency, warns Wayne Hartford, manager of the Diviner Lunar Radiometer instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. If not managed carefully, heritage can become a liability. There are three factors that determine success when dealing with heritage hardware, he explained: reproducibility (can you build or reproduce it?), compatibility (will it work with your spacecraft?), and adaptability (how modifiable is the piece of heritage?).

The most valuable type of heritage is heritage staff — people who actually worked with the hardware or instrument and can share knowledge and experience, said Hartford. As the agency’s workforce ages, however, this might not always be available and this must be factored into the decision to use heritage pieces.

Any project manager dealing with heritage should be proactive in thoroughly researching documentation, thinking critically about the plan, resisting assumptions, and developing a “Plan B.” Heritage hardware may prove technically inferior to newer options, provide diminishing returns, or fail completely. Ultimately, heritage is a case-by-case decision, but in every case it is important for project managers to remain diligent. Resisting the temptation to take heritage for granted can mean the difference between success and failure.