SAFETY AND MISSION SUCCESS THROUGH ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE

1. SAFETY AND MISSION SUCCESS THROUGH ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE Ralph R. Roe, Director NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Mil-Aero Programmable Logic Devices MAPLD 2005 Washington, DC September 7, 2005

2. BACKGROUND 2003 2004 2005 November Operational August 91st Assessment July NESC Created October Mgmt Plan Approved The NESC provides a strong technical team to coordinate and conduct robust, independent engineering and safety assessments across the Agency

3. NESC MODEL • Simple, straightforward concept • Bring together some of NASA’s best engineers with experts from industry, academia, and other government agencies to address our highest risk, most complex issues • Decentralized organizational structure across all Centers reporting to the NESC management office at LaRC • Engineers need to be where the problems are to stay sharp

4. NESC MODEL (cont’d) • Small core of engineering experts at Centers for insight into respective programs • Recognized Agency discipline experts leading Super Problem Resolution Teams (SPRT) • Use “ready” experts from across NASA, Industry, Academia and other government agencies to staff SPRT’s • Tap “ready” experts to attack “trouble spots”. Institutionalize the Tiger Team approach • Strong Systems Engineering function for proactive trending and identification of problem areas before failures occur

5. 13 NESC Super Problem Resolution Teams (SPRTs) NESC ORGANIZATION NASA HQ Chief Engineer Representative NESC Office of the Director NASA HQ Representative NESC Management & Technical Support Office NESC Systems Engineering Office NESC Principal Engineers Office NESC Discipline Expert Engineers and Independent Technical Authority Discipline Warrant Holders Office NESC Chief Engineers Office (One per Center)

6. University 4% 20 DoD NASA 5 1% 427 84% 49 Industry 10% 3 DOE Labs 1% SUPER PROBLEM RESOLUTION TEAM (SPRT) COMPOSITION

7. GRC - 56 GSFC - 50 WFF - 1 ARC - 31 HQ - 7 LaRC - 42 IV&V - 2 DFRC- 13 JPL - 35 MSFC - 57 WSTF- 3 SSC - 13 JSC- 91 KSC - 26 NESC ORGANIZATION Locations of NASA Personnel Participating in NESC SPRTs

8. Institute of Nuclear Power Operations National Institute of Aerospace Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories PARTNERSHIPS

9. NESC RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) • Measuring how much an organization has contributed is not a simple task. • Traditional ROI does not truly measure value added by the NESC. • The most significant contribution of the NESC is the immeasurable benefit of bringing together NESC experts with Program experts to solve complex problems. • The results are: • Better, safer technical solutions • Stronger checks and balances • Well-informed decision making

10. EXAMPLES OF NESC VALUE-ADDED Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Testing • NESC working with the NASA Office of Logic Design (OLD) on FPGA testing, analysis, and evaluation. • Independent test program of FPGA reliability conducted by NESC • Testing and methodology development is an Agency-wide activity supported by NESC

11. EXAMPLES OF NESC VALUE-ADDED Space Shuttle Orbiter Main Propulsion System Flowliner • NESC provided an analytical solution backed by laboratory tests and high fidelity inspection techniques that eliminated the need for a planned engine test program. • Cost Avoidance (>$20M) Gimbal Joint Bellows Slots in Flowliners Risk of foreign object debris into SSME Flowliner at interface to SSME low pressure turbopump Crack in OV-102

12. EXAMPLES OF NESC VALUE-ADDED Orbiter Composite Over-wrapped Pressure Vessels (COPV) • NESC research led to the discovery of data that indicated a significant reduction in life and reliability of Orbiter COPV • Data was not readily available to Program experts working day-to-day operations. • Results brought about a better understanding of the risk and avoided a potential catastrophic failure.

13. EXAMPLES OF NESC VALUE-ADDED Rotating Service Structure (RSS) Stress Analysis • NESC team provided peer review of United Space Alliance stress analysis of the Space Shuttle launch pad RSS • NESC brought forward industry best practices which avoided unnecessary modifications to the launch pad.

14. EXAMPLES OF NESC VALUE-ADDED Cassini/Huygens Probe Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) • NESC team independently modeled the Entry, Descent and Landing of the Huygens probe. • This modeling provided a better, more in-depth understanding of the risks for probe EDL. • No change was made in the mission but Agency leadership had better information to make an informed go, no-go decision just prior to probe release.

15. Intertank Flange Section Dome Foam Insulation Intertank Hat Stiffeners Intertank Acreage Foam Insulation Inner Mold Line Void Y-Joint Liquid Hydrogen Fwd Dome Bolt Liquid Hydrogen Tank Flange Closeout Insulation Liquid Hydrogen Tank Acreage Foam Insulation TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTSReturn to Flight External Tank Human Factors Feedline Bellows Ice Elimination Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Foam Dissection Data

16. TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTSReturn to Flight Wing Leading Edge (WLE) Attachment Hardware Integrity RCS Thruster Cracks Math Models Attachment Hardware WLE Cure-in-Place Ablative Applicator Tile Repair Rudder Speed Brake Actuator

17. TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTSReturn to Flight BUMPER Micro- Meteoroid/Orbital Debris IV&V T-0 Umbilical Interface Recurring Anomalies - Solid Rocket Booster Hold Down Post Stud Hangup Body Flap Actuator Post Proof NDE OF Module Welds

18. The NESC has built a strong technical team to be used as a NASA-wide technical resource. The NESC is an investment in technical excellence and safety. NESC would like to encourage broad participation from national experts on our teams. Learn more about NESC @ nesc.nasa.gov SUMMARY