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Safety and Mission Assurance: Independent Yet Engaged
When I was a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, I worked closely with the engineers designing the first American version of the British Harrier, a vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) fighter, for two years before the first flight of the prototype. The main aim of my involvement, based on my own cockpit experience, was to keep the pilot's workload at a manageable level, especially during takeoff and landing. I worked with the engineers on the design of the head-up display, which projects vital information into the pilot's field of view, and the design of the throttle and stick to minimize circumstances that required the pilot to let go of them. Read more...
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A Relentless Focus on the Mission
As someone who has worn a lot of hats within NASA, I would be the last person to say that policies and procedures don't matter. They're absolutely critical if we're to do our jobs effectively. But it's not an accomplishment to put out a procedure or to reorganize. In this agency, there's only one kind of accomplishment that matters, and that is to carry out NASA's mission. Of course the mission can take several forms—a space flight, a research activity, a wind tunnel test. The point is that these are all outcome-focused activities, the purpose of which is to satisfy NASA's mission. They are the reason NASA exists, that Congress appropriates money to us, and that taxpayers support us. Our job is to execute the nation's civilian aerospace program. Period. Read more...
Interview with Rob Manning
Rob Manning was chief engineer for the 1997 Mars Pathfinder project and is currently chief engineer for the Mars Exploration Program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was one of the NASA practitioners asked to review and comment on a draft of the 7120.5D requirements and policies. Read more...
