At the recommendation of the NASA Metrology and Calibration (MetCal) Program, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance cancelled NPD 8730.1, Metrology and Calibration and transferred the content to a new NASA standard, NASA-STD-8739.12, Metrology and Calibration, which went into effect Jan. 23, 2018. NPD 8730.5, NASA Quality Assurance Program Policy will carry the remaining MetCal policy language that was not transferred to NASA-STD-8739.12.

The Safety Culture Working Group revised two Safety Culture SATERN courses that provide training for NASA employees and contractors.

Both courses, “Orientation to NASA Safety Culture” and “Safety Culture for Supervisors,” cover the definition of Safety Culture, the NASA Safety Culture five factors, and responsibilities of both the participants and supervisors for supporting the agency’s Safety Culture.

The February 2018 edition of Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN) is now available and includes the article "Two Anomalous Events in GEO," republished here.

This issue also includes articles on space debris sensor launch updates, SEM analysis results from post-flight inspection of the PMA-2 cover, a review of the CubeSat study project and a photo feature documenting the Space Debris Sensor installation.

The NASA Range Flight Safety Program updated NPR 8715.5, Range Flight Safety Program and released the newly created NASA-STD-8719.25, Range Flight Safety Requirements, which went into effect on Feb .2 and Feb. 5, respectively. The creation of the standard and subsequent changes to the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) support an agency effort to ensure NPRs focus on policy and process, while standards contain technical requirements.

Cellphones have become ubiquitous, and while their benefits are apparent, the risks are sometimes more hidden.

After experiencing two incidents of cellphone interference with sensitive hardware, Goddard Space Flight Center’s Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Chief Engineer Jesse Leitner raised the concern to the Goddard SMA Risk Advisory Board as a potential cross-center risk. 

Researchers wrapped up nine NASA Software Assurance Research Program-sponsored research projects aimed to benefit Software Assurance processes across the agency and presented the results to the Software Assurance Working Group (SAWG). After select proposed initiatives were chosen in 2016, researchers were given a year to develop, analyze, test, record findings and present results to the SAWG. Two of the projects were multi-year studies that continued from the prior year.

It is essential that NASA engineers use proper precautions when working with Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) sensitive hardware, as poor ESD control practices could be the difference between success and failure for a mission. ESD control is a fundamental component of NASA’s workmanship policy, which is why NASA requires operators to verify ESD personnel grounding systems (e.g. wrist or heel straps that are continuously connected to common point ground) are properly functioning before they enter an ESD Protected Area (EPA) or come within one meter of an ESD sensitive item. 

A new Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) methodology could lead to shorter, but more frequent missions at NASA. Mike Xapsos, a research physicist in the Radiation Effects and Analysis Group and member of the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, has developed an improved method for evaluating the performance of a microelectronic device in space, which closes the gap between design specifications and on-orbit performance.

“At NASA, we should allow computers to do what computers are good at, so people can do what people are good at.”

This perspective, explained by MBSE Pathfinder Study Co-Lead Jessica Knizhnik, is the main motive behind a Pathfinder study, sponsored by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, to investigate how Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Model-Based Engineering (MBE) techniques can be applied by NASA projects. 

NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Quality Initiatives Program sponsored a half day workshop on Quality Assurance in Additive Manufacturing (AM) at Aerospace Corporation Headquarters in El Segundo, California. The workshop, held in association with Aerospace’s Manufacturing Problem Prevention Program — or MP3 — and Additive Manufacturing Guidance Development Workshop, focused on the theme of “Quality Strategies for AM.” Speakers at the NASA AM portion included NASA centers, national labs and AM manufacturing industry representatives, as well as industrial risk analysis companies.