February 26, 2010 Vol. 3, Issue 2

“We are about risk and innovation and taking chances,” NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told a packed auditorium at PM Challenge 2010.

Bolden talked extensively about the changes NASA faces based on the White House’s recently announced FY 2011 budget. Responding to concerns about the new direction of NASA’s human spaceflight program, he said, “To think that…NASA is getting out of the business of human space exploration is folly.” He noted the growing role that international partnerships will play in the future of human space exploration. “One of the things we’re going to do differently is we’re going to really involve the international partners,” he said. He encouraged NASA employees to engage with the challenges ahead. “Talk to each other. Listen to each other. Be open to new ideas.”

Johnson Space Center (JSC) Director Mike Coats welcomed attendees to the conference and spoke about the changes ahead for JSC in 2010. “This is a very emotional and dramatic year for many of us at the JSC,” he said, referring to the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program and the cancellation of the Constellation program. He said that NASA’s new human spaceflight program has the same goal but takes a very different direction. “Integrated project management will be more important than ever.”

Glenn Research Center Director Whitlow Wilson, who was recently named Associate Administrator for Mission Support, spoke about the challenges of project management in a research environment. “Is good enough better than perfect?” he asked rhetorically. Noting the tendency of researchers to seek “perfect” solutions, he cited cases at Glenn in which project managers led by defining success in project terms (including tight deadlines for deliverables), which helped researchers to understand the context of their efforts as project team members.

NASA Chief Engineer Mike Ryschkewitsch, speaking for Associate Administrator Chris Scolese, addressed the subject of risk in space exploration. In addition to cost, schedule, and technical risks, he highlighted the importance of political, social, and talent risks, which are typically driven by events outside the agency. He noted the difficulty that most people have assessing everyday risks (for example, misinterpreting the relative safety risks of flying versus driving), and said that NASA has to do a better job of communicating with the public about the risks of space exploration.

Keynote speakers from other organizations included European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and Project Management Institute President and CEO Greg Balestrero.

Dordain spoke about space exploration and the need for a global approach to it. “Space exploration is a process. It is not a destination,” he said. “It is an open-ended process.” Cooperation, he said, makes progress in exploration slower but more focused. “Cooperation is never easy,” he said, “but we have no alternative.” He applauded the recent U.S. decision to extend the life the International Space Station (ISS) until 2020, noting that ESA has received 45 proposals from scientists to conduct Earth observations from the station. Looking beyond the ISS, he identified a need for space-faring nations to set up a political forum to develop a global accord for space exploration. He asked, “Which partner will lead?” and then answered his own question: “I hope that partner will be the United States.”

Balestrero spoke about the increasing complexity of global projects. Referring to a recent trip to Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, the world’s first “carbon-neutral zero waste” city, he said that projects are now bound by four constraints rather than three: time, cost, scope and sustainability. Regarding spaceflight projects, he said that a primary challenge is making complexity routine. “There are ‘complicators’ and simplifiers,” he said. “I’m with the simplifiers.”