NASA State of the Agency (SoA) Methodology
- Paper number
IAC-07-D3.5.-D3.4-E5.5.05
- Author
Dr. G.S. Krishnan, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Headquarters, United States
- Coauthor
Michael P. Blythe, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States
- Coauthor
Robert E. Woods, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Christopher J. Scolese, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
NASA has been a leader in the exploration of space since the 1950’s and has maintained this leadership for decades by accomplishing much more complex missions that delve more deeply into the processes that affect the Earth, near Earth environment, build complex structures in space, and send rovers and eventually humans to explore other planets and moons. Significant specialized resources ranging from personnel, equipment, basic infrastructure, and funds must be applied to accomplish these missions. The fact that most of these missions are new, one of a kind, ventures means that there is a degree of uncertainty present at each stage as new technologies, systems, or processes are invoked. Additionally, NASA must accomplish all of this in a very public environment where its activities are monitored and scrutinized by a variety of people internal and external to NASA. Therefore, the only way NASA can maintain its prominence in space is by optimizing its resources. This can be done if the progress of the programs and projects are continuously assessed and evaluated up to the Agency level. The method by which these assessments were done have not been optimal to say the least as there were many inconsistencies. This paper describes the design of a new methodology known as the State of the Agency, or SoA, that provides a consistent approach for assessing the status of the programs and projects. This paper further describes the implementation of this Methodology on a pilot basis with results of the implementation and the lessons learned from the pilot implementation of this approach. It concludes with recommendations to improve the process, and also further research to capture other aspects of the Agency that were not included in the Methodology described in this paper.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-D3.5.-D3.4-E5.5.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.