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High-Resolution Stereo Color Imager (HiSCI) (Alfred McEwan)

Alfred McEwen is a professor in the Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, and director of the Planetary Image Research Lab (PIRL). His research interests include volcanology, cratering, slope processes, and remote sensing of planetary surfaces.

This presentation will illustrate the techniques critical to managing resources of science projects led by principal investigators (PI). Those involved in Viking, Cassini, and past Mars missions will share their experiences about managing resources and margins successfully.

Critical resources traditionally include mass, power, schedule, cost, and, perhaps more provocatively, risk. (Risk is a resource in that decisions leading to increased or decreased risk will generally increase or decrease other resources.) Critical resources also include operational timeline and relationships (teaming). Timeline here differs from development schedule although considerations of adequate timeline for post-launch activities have design and implementation trade-space implications. Team building includes many items, such as establishing efficient communication paths and lines of authority, matching skills to tasks, and delegating appropriately. A common understanding and commitment to the goals of the mission, a shared understanding of priorities, and a basis of trust are hugely valuable “resources.”

Learn more about the Academy and PI Forums: http://appel.nasa.gov/knowledge-sharing/pi-team-masters-forums/