Although Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been around for decades, increasing awareness of the significant benefits of flying 3D printed parts and using 3D printers in space has pushed NASA and the aerospace industry to take a close look at how to evaluate and certify AM parts to assure safety and mission success. 

Goddard Space Flight Center developed Mission Configuration and the Failure Interrogation and Archiving Tool to improve reliability predictions for missions.

NASA programs are exploring risk-based approaches that reduce cost without increasing risk for safety-critical attributes as a replacement for Government Mandatory Inspection Points (GMIPs). Quality Assurance and risk management officers from NASA programs and industry gathered at ATK in Promontory, Utah, on Oct. 22-23 to share their ideas and methods.

A multi-center Safety and Mission Assurance team, led by Ames Research Center, collaborated to provide oversight to the LADEE mission.

The NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program hosted an international Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical Parts workshop focusing on small missions.

NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance has developed a three-year plan to develop Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) methodologies designed to ensure the production of safe and reliable Additive Manufactured (AM) parts for spaceflight applications. AM, or 3-D printing, is a rapidly growing technology that has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing by reducing component lead time, cost, material waste and energy usage. 

For the past three years, NASA’s Metrology and Calibration Program Office has been repurposing measuring and test equipment previously used to support the Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center, resulting in close to $2 million in cost avoidance to date.

Agile development helps support NASA’s next-generation missions, but it also poses new challenges for Software Assurance oversight.

Goddard Space Flight Center has made reliability a key component in the development of SpaceCube.

In 2013, NASA Headquarters and center Explosives Safety Officers retooled the agency's Explosives Safety program, putting emphasis on requirements, qualifications, tools, training and audits to ensure the safe handling, storage and application of explosive materials, including pyrotechnics.