NASA Chief of Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Russ DeLoach recently presented two “Yes, If” coins to Johnson Space Center’s Chief of Aviation Safety Trent Kingery and Fire Protection engineer Tyler Champagne for their commitment to NASA’s Safety Culture. 

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.

Attendees of the Range Commanders Council’s 117th Range Safety Group Technical Interchange Meeting last November discussed the growing relevancy of autonomous flight systems in the Range Flight Safety community, as well as related policy changes needed to accommodate the new interest. In addition, they discussed resource protection, a launch vehicle failure, and upcoming policy and risk criteria changes related to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The meeting was hosted by the Missile Defense Agency at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and attended by representatives from government agencies and industries with ties to and interest in the U.S. National Test Ranges.

As more NASA programs and projects begin using Unmanned Aircraft Systems to achieve their missions, the agency must carefully implement policies and controls to ensure safety.