In today’s complex aerospace and defense programs, the cost of late-stage quality interventions continues to be a major contributor to schedule delays, rework and elevated risk. The white paper “Contracting Quality Early in the Program Lifecycle,” prepared by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) in collaboration with industry and government quality leaders, advocates for a critical shift: embedding Quality Assurance (QA) requirements at the very start of a program.

The Government-Industry Data Exchange Program’s “Know Your Part” campaign promotes this valuable tool to NASA engineers and procurement professionals to ensure that we use the best parts on our spacecraft and technology.

Revision A of NASA STD 8739.12, Metrology and Calibration took effect November 21, 2024. The standard provides uniform Metrology and Calibration requirements for processes, procedures, practices and methods that are endorsed as standard for NASA applications. This update marks the first revision since the document’s initial release in 2018.

NASA’s Metrology and Calibration (MetCal) group is pleased to announce that all Quality and MetCal professionals now have no-cost access to a wide variety of online training courses through August 1, 2026. The courses are provided by MetCal’s subscription to the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation’s (A2LA) WorkPlace Training (AWPT) program and are available to any civil servant or contractor with a nasa.gov email address.

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is currently updating National Aerospace Standard (NAS) 413, Remote Surveillance, Standard Practice to enable its full adoption into the AS9100 Quality Management System (AQMS) standards environment by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG).

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. 

A reliable feedback channel provides crucial information for any high-functioning, continuously improving system. Process data and customer feedback are commonly used to refine manufacturing processes and quality management systems.