By Matthew Kohut “Fast” is the word that best describes Tom Simon’s experience working at Marshall Space Flight Center on the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT), a microsatellite designed to carry six small experiments into space.
By Nick Chrissotimos The three main areas that can lead a project down a slippery slope are team dynamics, technical development issues, or those things outside the project’s control—external support, problems, or direction.
By Howard Ross Intentionally igniting a fire inside the Space Shuttle might seem like a bad idea, but done safely and correctly, it could answer all sorts of seemingly simple questions, such as, “Would a candle burn in zero gravity?”
In February 2011, Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership Director Ed Hoffman sat down with Rudi Schmidt, from the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA’s Rob Manning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as part of the Academy’s Masters with Masters series.
By ASK Editorial Staff In March 2011, some two dozen representatives from space agencies and related organizations around the world meet in the top-floor conference room of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Paris headquarters.
By Don Cohen As a NASA astronaut, Steven Smith has flown on four shuttle missions and taken seven spacewalks to carry out Hubble telescope repairs and install the S-Zero Truss in the International Space Station (ISS).
By Kathy Laurini The year is 2050. The vicinity around Earth has become a vibrant economic sphere. Physical sciences and medical research in space are driving innovations that enable companies to offer new products that improve our quality of life.
By Ed Hoffman “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” —Charlie Parker In the early 1980s, I was involved in conducting a study to determine the effectiveness of a new initiative promoting a more participative organization, interviewing employees and managers.
Don Cohen, Managing Editor Every NASA project is a collaboration. A few, like the microsatellite development at Marshall Space Flight Center (see “FAST Learning”), are carried out by a small group at one location, but still depend on the cooperative efforts of engineers, scientists, and managers with different skills and responsibilities.
