Building a Better NASA Workforce Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration (2007) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Vital Role of Program/Project Management and Systems Engineering at NASA
4 The Vital Role of Program/Project Management and Systems Engineering at NASA
Pages 33-43
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From page 33... ...
Section 3C of that assessment identified an increased need through fiscal year 2009 in five skill areas: program/project management, systems engineering and integration engineering, mission operations competencies, systems analysis and mission planning, and quality/safety/performance.2 NASA identified a requirement for the following number of full-time employees with the competencies indicated: • 150-200 with program/project management competency; • 100-150 with systems engineering and integration engineering competency; • 200-240 with mission operations competencies; • 25-40 with systems analysis and mission planning competency; and • 50-75 with quality/safety/performance competency. Thus, the agency requires 525 to 705 personnel in these areas, a requirement driven primarily by the establishment of the Constellation program.
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From page 34... ...
Not since the design of the Space Shuttle has there been such a demand or opportunity for the development of major human spaceflight systems. NASA's most recent human spaceflight development project, the International Space Station, engaged a primary contractor as the systems engineering and integration lead and provided only a limited number of systems engineering and program management learning opportunities for NASA's workforce, which concentrated on the operational aspects of ISS such as pre-launch integration testing, on-orbit assembly, and flight operations.
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From page 35... ...
Nevertheless, given the concerns it heard expressed within NASA, academia, and industry about the amount of experience within the program/project management and systems engineering base in the robotic spaceflight program, the committee concluded that these concerns apply to both the human spacecraft and the robotic spaceflight programs at NASA.6 The committee struggled with the question of whether the requirement for 250-350 highly skilled program/ project managers and systems and integration engineers in the short term constituted a shortfall in NASA's workforce. The problem for the committee was that the numbers presented by NASA in its Workforce Strategy did not indicate the amount of experience desired by the agency for each of the positions.
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From page 36... ...
Several challenges face NASA in its recruitment of senior personnel, including competition with industry for the same skills; NASA's inability to pay competitive salaries at the senior levels; uncertainty over continued political and funding support for the Vision for Space Exploration; and conflict-of-interest limitations on flexibility in assignments for senior managers recruited from the aerospace industry. Although NASA's pay scale is competitive with industry's at the entry and middle levels, industry seniorlevel compensation packages, including recruitment bonuses, far exceed federal government pay scales.
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From page 37... ...
NASA's principal in-house training programs for project management and systems engineering are managed by the agency's Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL) in the Office of the Chief Engineer.7,8 APPEL supports curriculum development and classroom training, providing a variety of opportunities that include retreat-style workshops lasting 1 or 2 days, in-house courses that last several weeks, and residential coursework at universities; knowledge sharing through agency publications and workshops utilizing highly skilled NASA practitioners and outside experts; independent assessments and consultations for projects, teams, and individuals; and applied research to develop advanced project management concepts relevant to NASA's needs.
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From page 38... ...
Given that the bulk of the development activities over the past 10 years have been in robotic spacecraft, NASA needs to leverage the robotic spacecraft workforce skill development opportunities to meet some of the human spaceflight program development skill needs. The committee believes 11The four levels cover (1)
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From page 39... ...
These missions are managed by the Explorer Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center and are characterized by their moderate cost and shorter development time relative to the larger space observatories. Since inception of the program in 1958, 79 of 83 Explorer missions have been successful, and many have resulted in significant discoveries.
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From page 40... ...
0 BUILDING A BETTER NASA WORKFORCE FIGURE 4.1 Preparation and launch of the CREAM experiment in Antarctica in December 2004. Such experiments are relatively low cost methods for conducting science and also provide valuable hands-on experience for space scientists and engineers.
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From page 41... ...
Finding 4: There is a longstanding, widely recognized requirement for more highly skilled program/project managers and systems engineers who have acquired substantial experience in space systems development. Although the need exists across all of NASA and the aerospace industry, it seems particularly acute for human spaceflight systems because of the long periods between initiation of new programs (i.e., the Space Shuttle program in the 1970s and the Constellation program 30 years later)
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From page 42... ...
SOURCE: Courtesy of NASA. 4.3 left and right requirements in this experience base, but the current requirement for a strong base of highly skilled program/project management and systems engineering personnel, and limited opportunities for junior specialists to gain handson space project experience, remain impediments to NASA's ability to successfully carry out VSE programs and projects.
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From page 43... ...
THE VITAL ROLE OF PROGRAM/PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AT NASA 200 175 150 Number of Launches 125 100 75 50 25 0 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 Year FIGURE 4.4 NASA's sounding rocket launches by year, from 1959 to 2005. Sounding rocket launches are a good proxy for hands-on flight programs that can provide critical experience to students and entry-level employees.
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