The July 2024 issue of Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN) is now available.

NASA mission programs and projects rely upon the U.S. industrial base and transnational supply chains of commercial, non-profit, and government organizations to develop and operate complex, high-value, and innovative systems for the nation. NASA prime contractors and sub-tier suppliers are subject to a dynamic array of risks that threaten the timely, affordable provisioning of products and services as required for NASA mission success.

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) recently updated its Planetary Protection (PP) policy, available on the COSPAR PP website. The COSPAR Panel on PP subcommittee proposed and drafted this new policy.

NASA recently released NASA-STD-7919.1, NASA Commercial Aviation Services (CAS) Standard, which provides the technical requirements for commercial aircraft flight operations. It is effective as of July 10, 2024.

Amy Baker, Planetary Protection project manager for the SETI Institute, is set to retire at the end of June 2024. In recognition of her contributions to the Office of Planetary Protection and NASA’s mission, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance would like to honor her achievements and acknowledge her important work in support of the agency.

When conducting missions, balancing performance, risk, cost and schedule is a constant challenge.

A recently released report from an expert review panel formed under the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act (ACSAA) of 2020, Section 103 determined that there is much work to be done to improve the safety culture at Boeing.

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance’s Ground-Based Pressure Systems Working Group recently completed an update to the agencywide SATERN training course SMA-HQ-WBT-229, Flexible Hose Operations Safety. 

NASA recently published NPR 8715.6E, Orbital Debris Mitigation. This NPR defines the roles, responsibilities and procedural requirements concerning the implementation and review of orbital debris mitigation measures by NASA and NASA-sponsored missions.

NASA adopted AS9100, Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations into its quality policy in 2005 and has continued its use in the quality policy baseline through its last D revision that occurred in 2016.