Video Library

In this Knowledge Byte, Safety and Mission Success Review (SMSR) Program Manager Eric Raynor discusses the purpose and importance of a SMSR. Learn how NASA performs a SMSR, who is involved in the process and why it's important to the agency.

Steve Shih, associate administrator of NASA’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, speaks to the importance of providing a culture that encourages the sharing of different perspectives, concerns and ideas without fear of retaliation.

While national interest is focused on Moon 2024 and commercial crew testing, our duty of care to protect the public and our employees from terrestrial research hazards has not diminished. In the domain of radiation testing for spaceflight components, our Radiation Safety Officers work hard to provide “yes, if” controls to use radiation sources safely on a regular basis. Presented by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this is a success story of control over Cobalt-60 pellets used to impose a Total Ionizing Dose on Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical parts.

As many of you have heard me say, I believe that taking care of your people is essential to success. I’ve told the story that in the U.S. Marine Corps, all leaders are asked to do two things: accomplish the mission and take care of your people. Usually, this is followed with “If you do No. 2, your people will take care of No. 1.”

An important part of taking care of your people and accomplishing your mission, is ensuring, throughout your organization, people feel comfortable speaking up, without fear of reprisal. We have seen first-hand the effects fear of reprisal can have on a culture, as it was a theme for both the Challenger and Columbia mishaps, and we need to ensure that we’ve learned from our past and cultivate an environment where speaking up is not just accepted, but applauded. We also need to look at the ways we engage and include all members of the NASA family.

I encourage you to review all the data available in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and consider how you can enact positive change at every level in your organization to create an open, safe environment for everyone.

Astronaut Steve Bowen discusses Nondestructive Evaluation and material analysis for space and undersea.

This video provides an orientation to NASA-STD-8739.6, Implementation Requirements for NASA Workmanship Standards, including a recap on applicability, order of precedence and training centers.

In February 2016, the University of Hawaii had an incident where a highly reactive mix of pressurized gases within a high-pressure tank encountered a spark, likely from static electricity. As a result, the tank was blown apart, seriously injuring the researcher and causing significant equipment damage.

While this incident didn’t happen at NASA, we should ask, have we protected our pressure systems from similar risk? In this month’s Safety Message, Steve Lilley, senior safety engineer from the NASA Safety Center, briefs the recent System Failure Case Study on this incident, including how NASA can learn from this major mishap.

If you were having surgery, you would hope your surgeon was coming in well-rested and focused on the job — after all, your life is in her hands. While we may not be performing life-and-death surgeries, that doesn’t mean our employees lives aren’t in our hands. It’s essential that we all check on our employees and make sure they are fully prepared for the job at hand each and every day — whether that’s ensuring reasonable shifts, making sure everyone is up-to-speed coming off a shift change or checking on an employee’s ability to continue working after an incident. It's part of taking care of your people.

In this month’s Safety Message, Safety and Mission Assurance Director for Stennis Space Center Freddie Douglas III will present “Did You Check on Your Team?” with tips on how to assure a safe, productive and efficient work place.

After years of important warnings, we are now all aware of the dangers of traditional smoking. But what about vaping? Is it still risky despite the lack of tobacco? Are there still dangerous chemicals I could inhale second hand?

Vaping is the act of inhaling water vapor through a personal vaporizer or electronic cigarette. While this is a newer trend, there are some interesting statistics about their use, as well as some pros and cons. In this month’s Safety Message, Dr. Vince Michaud, deputy chief health and medical officer, discusses this information, governmental regulations and NASA's policies on vaping, as well as the agency's smoking cessation programs at center clinics.