Registration is now open for a hybrid Planetary Protection Organic Inventory and Archiving Workshop, which will take place from Feb. 27-28, 2024, both virtually and in-person at NASA Headquarters.

The agency’s Quality Leadership Forum (QLF) met Sept. 13-15, 2022, at NASA Headquarters to focus on issues of particular interest and significance that are faced by NASA Quality Engineering and Assurance practitioners assigned to aeronautics and space flight program and project teams. The focus was on processes executed internally by NASA. 

NASA joined the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the sixth Trilateral Safety and Mission Assurance Conference (TRISMAC) May 17-20, 2021. The trio met virtually to focus on the theme, “Safety and Mission Assurance in Diversifying Space,” which included technical presentations by experts in their fields from government, academia and industry on innovative tools, technologies and methodologies to assure safety and mission success.

NASA is holding the 11th annual NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Electronics Technology Workshop, June 15-18. This year’s workshop will be 100% virtual.

NASA recently announced a media teleconference that will take place at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, Friday, Oct. 18, to discuss recommendations presented by the Planetary Protection Independent Review Board, established in June 2019 by Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. 

This summer, about 120 people from NASA, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — and their contactor and assurance research communities — gathered at NASA Kennedy Space Center for the fifth Trilateral Safety and Mission Assurance Conference (TRISMAC). 

The NASA Academy of Aerospace Quality (AAQ) was recently chosen to participate in the 2018 STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] for All Video Showcase, funded by the National Science Foundation.

From May 14-21, more than 200 federally-funded projects will share short videos highlighting their work aimed at “Transforming the STEM Educational Landscape.” The videos will focus on broadening participation and access to high-quality STEM experiences, innovative practices that are transforming education, partnerships that advance education, and research that informs STEM learning and teaching.

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. 

Johnson Space Center developed the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Data Integration (EDI) system, which allows seamless search and data correlations, integration and analysis across multiple data sources and assurance systems for the International Space Station (ISS) Program.

The 2016 Quality Leadership Forum, sponsored by NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, took place in March in Cape Canaveral, Florida. One hundred and forty five attendees from NASA and other government agencies, as well as suppliers and distributors, discussed a wide range of topics that provided insight into Quality lessons learned, risks, best practices and updates to industry standards.