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. 

When a mishap or close call occurs, there’s always a human component to consider. It’s not about blame, but rather understanding the circumstances around the incident and how they can be avoided in the future to prevent recurrence.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Program Manager Raynor Taylor received a NASA Yes-If Challenge Coin for raising a safety concern while visiting a NASA center. Since he brought up the concern, project personnel have created a clear path forward to practice better safety measures.

NPR 8705.2, Human Rating Requirements for Space Systems was updated to reflect current agency policies. Revision C included changes to improve accountability throughout the Human-Rating certification process, clarification of the scope of human-systems integration analyses, clarifications regarding the failure tolerance requirement and more explicit involvement of the crew safety representatives.

Check out the November 2017 issue of Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN).