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Ombudsman Program
There to Help: NASA’s Ombudsman Program

By Ruth McWilliams and Rex Elliott “Chris” works on a project with a tight deadline as part of a small team at a fairly remote site. The new head of his group has been with NASA for six months, after a long hiring process that resulted in the selection of an external candidate.

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Ronnie Barnes, of the Aerospace Composite Model Development Section at Langley, assembles one of forty-four arc-jet models for the Mars Science Laboratory entry, descent, and landing instrumentation program.
Is Your Project Viable?

By Keith L. Woodman and Paul W. Krasa Requirements change. Policies change. Personnel change. Projects are constantly exposed to internal and external challenges, and an inability to respond has been many a project’s demise.

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A Vital Project Resource
Knowledge Topics: A Vital Project Resource

By Don Cohen To put it in the simplest terms, social capital is the value of the connections between people.   NASA projects require a variety of resources. Money, of course. Appropriate technical and management skills.

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The refurbishment of the VAB will include removing seven Apollo-era platforms from high bay 3 and replacing them with modern versions that can be relocated and reconfigured for multiple launch vehicles.
Refurbishing the VAB

By Jose Lopez The challenge is twofold. First, as with any aging structure, much of the piping, HVAC, fire-protection, electrical, communications, and other systems are outdated or beyond their intended lifespan.

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Students fill a balloon for the team’s project test flight with the Rocket University payload launch and recovery lab.
RU Ready for the Future? Rocket University Helps Pave the Way

By Steven Sullivan and Chris Iannello Good systems engineers can handle technical leadership and systems management.

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Titanic Disaster Hearings held at the Waldorf Astoria New York, April 19, 1912.
Sinking the Unsinkable: Lessons for Leadership

” … my purpose is to ascertain what lessons this disaster teaches us … ” —Senator I. Raynor, May 28, 1912, during the U.S. Senate Inquiry on Titanic Disaster On April 15, 1912, the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic sank during its maiden voyage only 2 hours and 40 minutes after hitting an iceberg.

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The People Behind the NASA Engineering Network
The People Behind the NASA Engineering Network

By Manson Yew   This article has been several years in the writing. Sure, part of the reason it took so long was lack of time; part of the reason was fear of putting words out there, though I had no problem talking about the NASA Engineering Network (NEN).

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The unpiloted Japanese Kounotori 2 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV2) approaches the ISS, delivering more than four tons of food and supplies to the space station and its crew members.
The Challenge of Collaboration

Based on an interview with Lyn Wigbels The International Space Station (ISS) is a technological marvel. The size of a football field, with a mass of almost one million pounds, it has been continuously inhabited by astronauts and cosmonauts for more than ten years.

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Kepler’s focal plane consists of an array of forty-two charge-coupled devices (CCDs). Each CCD is 2.8 cm by 3.0 cm with 1,024 by 1,100 pixels. The entire focal plane contains 95 megapixels.
Kepler: The Long Road to Other Worlds

By Kerry Ellis Navigating to alien planets similar to our own is a universal theme of science fiction. But how do our space heroes know where to find those planets?

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