Jim Nicholson: Tapping into NASA’s Technical Expertise
Jim Nicholson worked as the Chief Engineer for the Cygnus Spacecraft at Orbital ATK for COTS. Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems (COTS) was a NASA-industry partnership to develop safe, affordable, reliable space transportation access to Low-Earth Orbit. NASA was the lead investor in the COTS project, much different from traditional government-owned and operated systems. The COTS lessons are applicable to similar capability development projects and may not be suitable for traditional government contracts. Click the following link to view the entire COTS Critical Knowledge home page http://www.nasa.gov/content/cots-critical-knowledge-0
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Shuttle Software AnomalyCase Study–A few minutes after the Shuttle Endeavour reached orbit for STS-126 on Nov. 14, 2008, mission control noticed that the shuttle did not automatically transfer two communications processes from launch to orbit configuration. Primary communications continued to use S-band frequencies after they should have transferred to the more powerful Ku-band. The link between the shuttle and its payload — the Payload Signal Processor (PSP)–remained configured for a radio link rather than switching.
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Overview on Organizational Silence (SMA-OV-WBT-131)The course is for all NASA personnel and defines the basic knowledge, types, factors and consequences behind organizational silence; identifies organizational silence conditions; and describes tactics and steps to combat organizational silence.
