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Commercial Crew Program astronauts Suni Williams, foreground, and Eric Boe practice docking operations for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Shared Accountability Lessons from Commercial Partnerships

“Trust, but verify” is the approach NASA and its commercial partners are adapting as part of the new shared accountability model for safe, affordable launch to low-Earth orbit.

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COPV tank snug inside sounding rocket. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Mitigating the High Risk of COPVs

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, such as hydrogen or oxygen tanks, are inherently high-risk spaceflight components that demand a lot of attention to detail.

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A test to begin qualifying the Orion parachute system for crewed flights was conducted in September 2016, one of eight integrated, qualification drop tests planned over a three-year period. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Capsule Parachute Assembly System

Parachutes are critical to safely returning the Orion spacecraft and its crew to Earth.

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Conceptual image of Laser Communications Relay Demonstration. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Future of Space Communications

Future space communications will be more flexible, scalable and affordable, thanks in part to an integrated architecture.

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High up in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers the final work platform, A north, into place for installation in High Bay 3 In January 2017. Installation of the final topmost level completed the 10 levels of work platforms that will surround NASA's SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft and allow access during GSDO processing for missions. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Integration Lessons

Longtime NASA Engineering Manager Chris Singer compares human spaceflight integration to marriage. Interface control documents and marriage licenses may be in place, but breakdowns will still occur if good relationships are absent.

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Signs from the Big Dig construction area. Photo Credit: Stephen Gore
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Common Threads Among Catastrophic Mishaps

Lessons noted but not heeded when precursor events and anomalies occurred have oftentimes been the culprit of historic mishaps.

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NASA Astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals the supply of fresh fruit that arrived at the International Space Station in August 2015. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Own the Onboard Perspective

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren provided a crew member’s perspective of human spaceflight lessons learned during a recent knowledge sharing forum.

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STS-58 Payload Commander Rhea Seddon spins the Spacelab Life Sciences rotating chair as Payload Specialist Martin Fettman serves as a test subject during a medical research mission in 1993. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Human-Centered Design

NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer James Polk shares lessons learned about the human element of spaceflight.

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NASA Astronaut and Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock works to install a system to extract more water out of the International Space Station atmosphere as part of the station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System. Photo Credit: NASA
Human Spaceflight Knowledge Sharing: Innovation at NASA

Innovation often starts with stopping to look around.

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