1、Lessons Learned Entry: 1606Lesson Info:a71 Lesson Number: 1606a71 Lesson Date: 2005-08-11a71 Submitting Organization: ARCa71 Authored by: Donald R. MendozaSubject: Risk Management: Balancing Domain Expertise Between NASA and Contractor Abstract: The contractors primary area of expertise with respect
2、 to heat transfer was in an environment different than required (atmospheric versus space flight). Thus, their initial design approach using analogies to atmospheric flight did not capture the true heat transfer issues. The Project discovered the flaw in design approach and supplied the contractor w
3、ith NASA expertise and tools to remedy the situation. Description of Driving Event: The Project was aimed at developing an X vehicle for space flight. However, its Contractor was predominantly a ballistic missile developer with little expertise in space flight. Therefore, the contractors original ap
4、proach to heat transfer issues when designing the thermal protection system was based on analogy to atmospheric flight and focused on one specific type of heat transfer. NASAs experience indicated this was the wrong approach and that a different type of heat transfer was the dominant effect for spac
5、e flight. Because there was a close working relationship with the contractor, the Agency was able to steer the contractor in the right direction. NASA provided appropriate design tools, which were based on detailed physics instead of just engineering correlations, to address the real heat transfer m
6、echanism. NASA also had the expertise and detailed tools for verification, neither of which the contractor had, and used these to do detailed analysis of selected test cases. This incident touches on an unresolved question within the Agency, which is critical in such situations - what should be the
7、Governments role in interaction with contractors? The Agency has periodically changed between insight and oversight for this relationship. Lesson(s) Learned: Provided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-1. Atmospheric flight physics are not always
8、 a good analogy for or applicable to space flight.2. Mission partnerships need to include the most up-to-date domain expertise. a. Vendors with expertise and tools for one domain dont necessarily have the expertise, tools, or process to apply to other domains. The combined expertise between NASA and
9、 the contractor transfer into another domain and need assistance from NASA. 3. Transferring all of the risk to the contractor during design, with insufficient Agency oversight/insight, may actually increase the overall mission risk as designs resulting from this arrangement may be found to be insuff
10、icient in later parts of the mission life-cycle (when they are more difficult and expensive to fix). a. Frequent shifts between insight and oversight can lead to no sight as responsibilities and accountabilities get lost in the shift. Recommendation(s): 1. In choosing a contractor, their domain expe
11、rtise should be assessed against the requirements of the new environment. The contractor should be required to have a plan for using both analogy and new expertise for problem solution.2. In cases where the domain expertise lies solely within the Agency, requirements for how that expertise gets tran
12、sferred to a contractor and how implementation is verified need to be included in new missions. a. The Agencys involvement needs to be at a level that is consistent with minimizing the risk to the overall mission meaning the Agency may have to own and share responsibility for the mission design. 3.
13、The requirements for insight and oversight should be established in the contract, be described in the project plan and be commensurate with the amount of risk. a. The Agency should develop guidelines for the appropriate amount of oversight and insight with respect to the resources and politics at ri
14、sk. b. The requirements established by this process should not be affected by periodic changes in the Agencys management. Evidence of Recurrence Control Effectiveness: N/AProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-Documents Related to Lesson: NP
15、R 7120.5Mission Directorate(s): a71 Exploration Systemsa71 Sciencea71 Aeronautics Researcha71 Space OperationsAdditional Key Phrase(s): a71 Program and Project Managementa71 Risk Management/Assessmenta71 Safety & Mission AssuranceAdditional Info: Approval Info: a71 Approval Date: 2006-04-18a71 Approval Name: dkruhma71 Approval Organization: HQProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-
