[ Graphics ] [ Group Work Images ]
Our graphics facilitator created visual representations of individual presentations, panel discussions, and group dialogue. The visualizations helped communicate the thematic messages emerging throughout the sessions. Special thanks to Nora Herting of Synesthesia Graphics.
Opening Remarks and Introductions
Ed Hoffman, Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
Ed Hoffman spoke about what the goals of the Masters Forum, the depth of expertise available within NASA, and the different ways in which we learn.
Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4
“The Technology Leap in Satellite Servicing”
Frank J. Cepollina Deputy Associate Director Hubble Space Telescope Development Office
Frank Cepollina is known as the “Father of On-Orbit Servicing” for his decades of leadership in repairing and upgrading satellites in orbit. The most famous of these is the Hubble Space Telescope. He is responsible for the on-orbit servicing and the development of new science instruments and replacement hardware that allow Hubble to stay on the cutting edge of technology throughout its long life, and he discussed how these experiences can help NASA better prepare for future missions and its Vision for Space Exploration.
Expanding on Management Lessons of the 1960s
Stephen B. Johnson, Systems Engineer, Ares Project, Constellation, MSFC
Howard McCurdy, Professor, American University
Stephen B. Johnson and Howard E. McCurdy described the motives and issues leading to the managerial innovations developed at the start of the space program by the U.S. Air Force, by the U.S. Army’s (later NASA’s) Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Army Ballistic Missile Agency (later Marshall Space Flight Center), and in the human space flight program through Apollo. These include what we now call project management, systems management, configuration management, and systems engineering. They also discussed some of the managerial issues facing NASA today and how NASA can use and expand on the lessons of the 1960s to address them.
Jump-Starting the Future: Apollo Legacy, Shuttle Lessons
G. Lee Norbraten, Transition Manager, Space Shuttle Program, JSC
The current NASA strategic initiative to return to the moon and go beyond has its heritage in both the Apollo and the Space Shuttle programs. The legacy of Apollo lies in the physics: the shape and size of the spacecraft and the path to the moon and back remind us strongly of Apollo because the laws of physics have not changed over the past forty years. The lessons of the shuttle lie in the programmatics’ the delicate balancing of cost, schedule, and technical constraints in an environment where consensus is hard to reach and even harder to maintain. G. Lee Norbraten examined how the heritage of both the Apollo and shuttle programs provides a proper foundation for the future of human space flight. He also reviewed the current status of the Space Shuttle program, including the issues presented by its planned retirement in 2010.
Case Study: Redesigning COBE
Matthew Kohut, InFact Communications/NASA APPEL
The designers of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite proposed to provide hard evidence to support long-standing hypotheses about the nature of the early universe. COBE’s instruments were built to measure two types of radiation ‘diffuse infrared and microwave radiation’ that many physicists, including COBE Project Scientist John Mather, believed to be artifacts of the big bang, the moment when the universe burst into existence. COBE was slated to launch on the shuttle in 1989 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. By the time Deputy Project Manager Dennis McCarthy joined Project Manager Roger Mattson’s team in 1983, the scheduled launch was a full six years away. The loss of Challenger seventy-three seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, changed everything. The shuttle was NASA’s primary means of delivering payloads to space ‘the Agency had stopped relying on expendable launch vehicles such as Delta or Atlas rockets’ and as a result the supply of alternatives had dwindled. The morning after the accident, McCarthy called a meeting of everyone involved with the project: “I pulled everybody together, and we decided to keep going. My job was to get this into space, whatever the way.” This case study examined how COBE met this challenge and succeeded in its mission.
Roundtable Discussion
Angelo (Gus) Guastaferro, Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership
Denny Holt, NASA retiree
Scott Hubbard, Stanford University and NASA retiree
Frank Martin, 4-D Systems and NASA retiree
Jim Odom, SAIC and NASA retiree
The panel discussed the past, present, and future of space exploration through the examination of four basic mission elements. Jim Odom reflected on the rocket science of our business by taking us back to the early days at Marshall Space Flight Center to today’s thrust to the Constellation program. Frank Martin walked us through astrophysics programs with heavy emphasis of the Great Observatories to the Hubble repair mission, leading to the current planning on the James Webb Space Telescope. Scott Hubbard covered the planetary program with special emphasis on the Mars program from early Mariner to Viking and the Mars Rovers to the Mars Science Lab. Denny Holt covered the history and current day plans in human exploration development from Mercury to Constellation. Gus Guastaferro facilitated the panel and chaired an extended Q&A session.
Reflections from a Former Masters Forum Participant WIIFY
Gary Wentz, Chief Engineer, Science and Mission Systems, MSFC
Gary Wentz shared his experience as a former Masters Forum participant and talked about what the new participants could expect to come away with from their own experience.
The People Side of Project Transition
Stephen N. Simons, Associate Director for Lunar Systems, GRCM
All project transitions involve change, but when change involves a reduction of several hundred jobs it can be both very personal and very profound. This session discussed how one manager worked through the transition to descope a project, work with the affected NASA and contractor personnel, and still deliver the remaining products. Leaders and managers often assume that when necessary changes are decided upon they will simply happen. However, unless the transition process is handled successfully by managers, all that careful decision making and detailed planning will matter very little. This presentation reminded us that while change can happen overnight, much more is required to manage the human side of change, often referred to as the transition. The presenter discussed basic project management transition strategies and lessons learned about what it takes to lead employees through complex and difficult changes with renewed energy and purpose.
Project Management: Are You Using the Right Stuff?
Steve Goo, Vice President Program Management and Business Excellence, Integrated Defense Systems, Boeing
Steve Goo described the Boeing Program Management Best Practices, an integrated management system the company has refined over the past ten years to enable programs of all sizes achieve high levels of performance and customer satisfaction. He discussed the importance of staying focused on the fundamentals, sharing lessons learned, and balancing new technologies with proven methods of program management as well as the essential elements of leadership and creating a culture of success.
Looking at the World Through Rose’s Colored Glasses
Tina Beard, Project Manager, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, ARC
Taking the stance of others can create an amazingly wholesome environment. All employees want to work in a collaborative culture, to receive recognition and trust, to understand how their work fits into the critical path, and to know what the future has in store. Tina Beard discussed practical tools and research-based techniques to help managers create motivated, productive teams.
Learning from Space Entrepreneurs
William Pomerantz, Director, X PRIZE Space Projects
On October 4, 2004, Brian Binnie piloted SpaceShipOne above 100 km, marking the third time ever ‘and the second time in as many weeks’ that a civilian astronaut had taken a privately built craft to outer space. In doing so, Binnie and SpaceShipOne captured the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for Mojave Aerospace Ventures. Prizes like the Ansari X PRIZE and later efforts like the NASA-funded Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE exist to focus public attention and apply innovative new ideas to targeted technical problems. Equally, if not more, important are the innovative program management practices that come into play when extremely small and motivated teams put their own money on the line to win a prize. Program mangers at NASA and other government agencies can take important cues from the teams competing for prizes.