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    The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) assures the safety and enhances the success of all NASA activities. Take a look around our website to learn what's happening in NASA's Safety and Mission Assurance community, including updates on disciplines, programs, policies and personnel.

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What's Happening in the SMA Community?

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New Tool for Developing Safety Assurance Cases

September 22, 2020
5-minute read

NASA projects go through the full life cycle, from concept to implementation to closeout, with a number of reviews along the way. These reviews ensure that the developed project can meet mission objectives and do so safely. The project must make a case for itself: show and explain why the system will work as intended. Enter, the safety assurance case, or simply safety case as it may be more commonly known. Researchers at Ames Research Center have been fine tuning their notion of the safety case and developing a tool to make its development easier.

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Andrew Demo

SMA Leadership Profile: Andrew Demo

September 10, 2020
7-minute read

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world,” said author Mary Anne Radmacher. For Ames Research Center’s newest Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Director Andrew “Drew” Demo, a lifetime of travel has taught him to appreciate diversity, exercise empathy and sensitivity, and build relationships — all essential building blocks to his leadership style.

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Help NASA Harness Digital Technology

September 02, 2020
2-minute read

In tune with the agency’s initiative to create solutions that enable seamless data flow and collaboration across centers, NASA is hosting its first virtual Digital Transformation Hackathon, Sept. 11.

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PHMSA Releases COVID-19 Extension of Enforcement Discretion Regarding Cylinders

August 18, 2020
1-minute read

The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently released “Notice of Extension of Enforcement Discretion Regarding Cylinders That Have Exceeded Their Periodic Requalification Test Date.” 

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NASA Safety Reporting

NASA Safety Reporting

Learn more about reporting safety concerns at NASA.
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Featured Safety Message


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Risk Versus Risk Trades

July 01, 2019

As explorers and scientists, we at NASA have been making risk trades since the beginning. This safety message illustrates risk trades such as taking one risk versus another risk, as compared to taking a risk to gain a benefit. Which option seems to give the best opportunity to succeed? When decisions are time-critical and you have minutes or seconds to decide, the first workable option based upon experience (training and operations), skill, and systems knowledge can save the day.

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Office of Safety and Mission Assurance

What We Do

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) assures the safety and enhances the success of all NASA activities through the development, implementation and oversight of agency-wide safety, reliability, maintainability and quality assurance policies and procedures. OSMA includes the Mission Support Division, Safety and Assurance Requirements Division, and NASA Safety Center, as well as the Independent Verification and Validation Facility.

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Policy Status Updates

Recently Published

Recently Published
Policy Title Effective Date    
NASA-STD-8719.12A Safety Standard for Explosives, Propellants, and Pyrotechnics Sept. 26, 2019 See NASA-STD-8719.12  
 NID XXXX.X Planetary Protection Categorization for Robotic and Crewed Missions to the Earth's Moon  July 9, 2020      
 NID XXXX.X  Biological Planetary Protection for Human Mission to Mars  July 9, 2020      
 NPR 8621.1D Mishap and Close Call Reporting, Investigating and Recordkeeping  July 6, 2020 See NASA-STD-8621.1D    
 NPR 8705.6D  Safety and Mission Assurance Audits, Reviews and Assessments April 27, 2020 See NPR 8705.6D    
NASA-HDBK-8709.22 Safety & Mission Assurance Acronyms, Abbreviations, & Definitions May 14, 2019 See NASA-HBDK-8709.22  
 NPR 8715.7B NASA Payload Safety Program April 27, 2020 See NPR 8715.7B    
NASA-STD-8739.14 NASA Fastener Procurement, Receiving Inspection, and Storage Practices for NASA Mission Hardware  June 2, 2020 See NASA-STD-8739.14    
NASA STD-8739.8A Software Assurance and Software Safety Standard June 10, 2020 See NASA-STD-8739.8    
NASA STD-8719.11B  Standard for Fire Protection and Life Safety Aug. 20, 2020 See NASA-STD-8719.11B  
» More Policy Updates

Currently in Review

Currently in Review
Policy Title  
NPR 8705.6E Safety and Mission Assurance Audits, Reviews and Assessments (Chapter 3 only)
NPR 8715 Draft 25 Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial Missions (Previous document number 8020.12)  
NPR 8715.1 NASA Safety and Health Programs See NPR 8715.1
NASA-STD-8739.6 Implementation Requirements for NASA Workmanship Standards See NASA-STD-8739.6
NPR 8705.4A
 Risk Classification for NASA Payloads
 See NPR 8705.4
NPR 8735.2
 Hardware Quality Assurance Program Requirements for Programs and Projects
 See NPR 8735.2
» More Policy Updates

Upcoming Reviews

Upcoming Reviews To see that latest draft of a policy or participate in a review, please send us a request.
Policy Title  
NPD 8700.1 NASA Policy for Safety and Mission Success See NPD 8700.1
NASA-STD-8719.7 Facility System Safety Guidebook  
NPR 8715.3 NASA General Safety Program Requirements (Chapter 6 only) See NPR 8715.3
NPD 8730.5 NASA Quality Assurance Program Policy See NPD 8730.5
STD or HDBK EEE Parts Selection, Screening, Qualification & Derating
NASA-STD-8719.13 Software Safety Standard See NASA-STD-8719.13
NASA-STD-8739.4 Workmanship Standard for Crimping Interconnecting Cables, Harnesses and Wiring See NASA-STD-8739.4
NPR Nuclear Flight Safety
NASA-STD-8719.24 NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Payload Safety Requirements
NASA-STD-8719.24 Annex Annex to NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Payload Safety Requirements  
NASA-STD-8739.1 Workmanship Standard for Polymeric Application on Electronic Assemblies See NASA-STD-8739.1
NASA-STD-8739.5 Workmanship Standard for Fiber Optic Terminations, Cable Assemblies, and Installation See NASA-STD-8739.5
STD Planetary Protection  
NPD 8020.7 Biological Contamination Control for Outbound and Inbound Planetary Spacecraft See NPD 8020.7
NASA-STD-8709.20 Management of Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Authority (SMA TA) Requirement  
NASA-STD-8719.22 Alternate Standard for Non-Code Metallic Pressure Vessels  
NPR XXXX.X Nuclear Flight Safety  
» More Policy Updates