Members of NASA’s human and robotic programs are
cooperating in new ways to support the Vision for Space
Exploration. The Vision calls for a “building block” strategy
of human and robotic missions to reach new exploration goals.
The first step in the Vision is returning the Space Shuttle
safely to flight.
To that end, managers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif., who directed the Mars Exploration
Rover missions, are sharing their experience and insight with
managers from NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. This week, those
JPL managers took part in a practice session by Shuttle
mission managers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in
Houston. It’s part of a continuing exchange of best
practices. Earlier this year, Deputy Space Shuttle Program
Manager Wayne Hale traveled to JPL to observe mission
operations during the critical periods of landing the Mars
Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on Mars.
“I observed the management team for the Mars rovers during
some high activity periods,” said Hale. “There certainly are
some parallels in dealing with real time operations between
human and remote robotic missions. One of those parallels is
both types of programs must take the time to work through
problems by getting input from all available resources before
making decisions.”
Hale chairs the Space Shuttle Mission Management Team that
will oversee operations of the Shuttle during its Return to
Flight mission, designated STS-114.
Following up on Hale’s visit, members of the Mars rover team
have observed the Shuttle management team in action and will
provide feedback to the Shuttle team, as well as take lessons
learned back to the Mars Program at JPL.
“Even though we deal with spacecraft millions of miles
farther away, our management philosophy is similar to that of
human spaceflight,” said Pete Theisinger, former project
manager for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission and current
project manager for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory mission.
“Ultimately we are one team striving for mission success
through detailed analysis,” he said.
The full membership of the Shuttle Mission Management Team
took part in this week’s four-day practice session, their
longest simulation thus far. The practice exercised the
team’s capability to provide timely and appropriate
evaluation and input on issues that arose throughout the
simulation.
“The Shuttle Mission Management Team focused its attention on
a wide range of issues throughout this four-day simulation
that required decisions dealing with hardware problems as
well as programmatic issues,” said Hale. “The team is peaking
in its training at just about the right time as Discovery’s
mission draws closer,” he added.
For more information about NASA’s Return to Flight efforts,
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For more information about the Vision for Space Exploration,
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