This microfiche was produced according to _ ANSI/ AIIM Standards — and meets the quality specifications ~ contained therein. A - poor blowback image is theresult of the — ~ Characteristics of the Original document. ‘) j (| / NASA SP-6101 (O08) ———e ISSUES IN NASA PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT (NASA~SP-6101(008)) ISSUES IN NASA N95-24565 PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT (NASA) 67D Unclas H1/81 0045747 NASA SP-6101 (08) | | | ISSUES IN NASA PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT edited by Dr. Edward J. Hoffman Program Manager NASA Program / Project Management Initiative ' National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Management Systems and Facilities Scientific and Technical Information Program Washington, DC 1994 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters Washington, DC 20546-0001 Replyt o Attn of FT Dear Readers, In order to satisfy the needs of our current readers and properly expand the distribution of Issues in NASA Program and Project Management, we would like to hear from yee. This publication is printed twice a year and collects current topics and lessons learned in NASA program and project management. If you no longer want to receive Issues, please let us know. If you know of anyone who would like to start receiving /ssues, please fill in the appropriate area on the back of this page. Also indicate if you are interested in writing an article for a future volume of Issues. Please complete the form on the back and fax to Debbie Johnson at (202) 863-1664 as soon as possible. Thank you for helping us update our mailing list. If you have any questions, please call Debbie on £202) 54-1403. Sincerely, Eset) Ip Hef — Edward J. Hoffman PPMI Project Manager Please continue to send updated volumes of Issues in NASA Program and Project - Management to my current address. Name and Address: Number of copies I would also like a back copy of Issues. of Issues, Vol. 8: (Please circle volume number.) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 I am interested in writing an article for publication. Please contact me at: ( ) I do not wish to continue receiving [ssues. ananeeueeonm Please send a copy of Issues, Vol. 8 to: Please fax this form to Debbie Johnson, TADCORPS, 202/863-1664. | Pada es Issues in NASA Program and Project Management A Collection of Papers on Aerospace Management Issues National Aeronautics and Space Administration Winter 1994 PAGE TITLE AUTHOR 1 Power Sources for the Galileo and Ulysses Missions Gary L. Bennett DOE’s Director of Safety and Nuclear Operations and past manager of Advanced Propulsion Systems in the Transportation Division of OACT shows how a check-and-balance approach met mission require- ments for the radioisotope power sources on the Galileo voyage to Jupiter and the Ulysses exploration of the Sun’s polar regions. ll Managing Requirements Ivy F. Hooks After two decades of managing requirements on the Shuttle program, the author, now with Compliance Automation Inc., offers valuable advice on spotting t'.e major problems in requirements management and improving the process through awareness of necessary, verifiable and attainable requirements. 19 Program Control on the Tropical Rainfall Dorothy J. Pennington Measuring Mission & Walt Majerowicz The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), an integral part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, is noted for its comprehensive Project Control System which covers schedules, budgets, change control and risk assessment. 36 The Project Management Method Thomas G. Johns The head of Business Management Consultants (BMC), which specializes in project management devel- opment and training, emphasizes the concepts of customer, ownership, system and teamwork. 41 Career Development for Project Edward J. Hoffman, Dale Crossman, Management Deborah Duarte & Andrea Lewis The Program/Project Management Initiative (PPMI) team examines career paths for existing project management personnel and makes career recommendations. Job requirements are identified, as well as training and developmental experiences. 49 Resources for NASA Managers William M. Lawbaugh A PPMI Listserv has been created to provide an interface with the NASA project management commu- nity, with instructions on how to subscribe to various lists and discussion groups. Plus, book reviews of three new project management handbooks and other selected titles of interest for program and project managers. SP-6101(08) Issues in NASA Program and Project Management is eighth in a series from NASA's Pro- gram and Project Management Initiative. This series is collected and edited by Dr. Edward J. Hoffman and Dr. William M. Lawbaugh with Francis T. Hoban, editor emeritus. Statements and opinions are those of the authors and do not represent official policy of NASA or the U.S. Government. Useful and en- lightening material is welcome, and diversity of ideas is encouraged. Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Edward Hoffman, Program Manager, Office of Training and Development, Code FT, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. 20546-0001. Power Sources for the Galileo and Ulysses Missions by Gary L. Bennett The Galileo mission to Jupiter and the In selecting a power source for Galileo and Ulysses mission to explore the polar re- Ulysses, several daunting challenges had gions of the Sun presented a series of tech- to be overcome: the solar energy flux at Ju- nical challenges to the design, develop- piter is about 25 times less than it is at ment and fabrication of spacecraft power Earth (making solar power impractical); sources. Both spacecraft were designed to the temperatures are quite low (“130 K); fly to Jupiter. Ulysses, which was launch- and the radiation belts are very severe. ed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS- Fortunately, the successful flights of the 41) on October 6, 1990, used the immense Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft and the Voy- Jovian gravity to twist its trajectory out of ager 1 and 2 spacecraft to Jupiter and be- the plane of the ecliptic and into a polar yond had shown that radioisotope thermo- path around the Sun in February 1992. electric generators (RTGs) could easily Launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis overcome these challenges. (An RTG con- (STS-34) on October 18, 1989, Galileo will sists of a radioisotope heat source that arrive in December 1995 to conduct a 20- provides thermal power from the natural month exploration in orbit of the largest radioactive decay of the radioisotope fuel to planet in the solar system. a converter that converts the thermal ~ — A(Ki a? i Aah Pa aay PLASMA-WAVE aa e fh ANTENNA IY HIGH-GFIN ANTENNA SE LAONWT-EGNANIAN (COMMUNICATIONS AND Pees RADIO SCIENCE) KS PCN:a MAGNETOMETER SUN Sy” SENSORS SHIELDS Srp aT) ENERGETIC PARTICLES DETECTOR ecet PLASMA SCIENCE OUST DETECTOR RETROPROPULSION MOOULE ABOVE: SPUN SECTION eee Pee Cee eee eee eee ee eee eee ee) TREE EEEEREEE PERO PPO PPE POPP P PEPE PEE EEE EEE LOW.GAIN | ANTENNA PROBE RELAY \ | SCAN PLATFORM, CONTAINING: ANTENNA —_ JUPITER + PHOTOPOL ARIMETER RADIOMETER Rete ‘ a: ATMOSPHERE + NEAR-INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER THERMOEL PROBE + SOLID-STATE IMAGING CAMERA GENERATORS + ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETER Figure 1. Diagram of the Galileo Orbiter and Probe showing the two general-purpose heat source radio- isotope thermoelectric generators (GPHS-RTG) mounted on the two booms. The length of a GPHS-RTG is 113 centimeters (about 45 inches). Galileo is a NASA spacecraft mission to Jupiter, designed to study the planet’s atmosphere, sate!!ites and surrounding magnetosphere. Fully loaded with rocket fuel, the Orbit- er has a mass of about 2400 kilograms (weight of about 5230 pounds). The Probe, which is designed to en- ter the atmosphere of Jupiter, has a mass of 340 kilograms (weight of about 750 pounds). Power Sources for the Galileo and Ulysses Missions power into electric power by means of a Solar-Polar Mission; budget considerations number of solid-state thermoelectric ele- forced NASA to drop its spacecraft, which ments. ) led to the cancellation of the requirement for one of the GPHS-RTGs. Then the Gali- After some design changes dictated by the leo spacecraft switched from a Voyager- failure of a competing thermoelectric tech- class RTG to the GPHS-RTG, requiring a nology and by modified user requirements, net gain of one GPHS-RTG to be produced both missions settled on a common but plus a common spare that had to be com- then unbuilt power source known as the patible with two spacecraft that operated general-purpose heat source RTG or at different voltages. GPHS-RTG. Performance requirements for the GPHS-RTG were dictated by the space- craft requirements and the launch vehicles (Space Shuttle originally with Centaur up- per stage). The principal requirements were levied on power (at launch, at begin- ning of mission and at end of mission); structure (ability to withstand launch vi- brations and pyrotechnic shock); magnetic field strength (low enough to avoid inter- fering with the science instruments); mass properties (a low mass was desired and the center of mass was tightly controlled be- cause of spacecraft balance concerns— particularly in the case of Ulysses, which has the GPHS-RTG mounted directly on the side); pressurization (ability to hold a cover gas during ground operations); nucle- ar radiation (as low as practical); and great functional attributes. Figure 2. Diagram of the Ulysses spacecraft show- ing the general-purpose heat source radioisotope thermoelectric generator (GPHS-RTG) mounted on In outward appearance, the GPHS-RTG is the side. Ulysses is a European Space Agency (ESA) basically a cylinder of 42.2 centimeters spacecraft mission that was launched by NASA and across the fins and 114 centimeters in has some US. experiments designed to study the length with a mass of about 56 kilograms polar regions of the Sun. that provides about 300 watts of electrical power at the time of assembly. As such it is The biggest impacts were the launch dates the largest, most powerful RTG ever flown. and launch vehicles. Both kept shifting. The Galileo spacecraft has two GPHS- While launch dates obviously drive deliv- RTGs and the Ulysses spacecraft has one ery schedules, the launch vehicle drives the GPHS-RTG [Bennett et al. 1986 and details of the design. All of these changes Schock et al. 1979). and the tight schedules (given the fixed budgets) contributed to a very tense focus- The overall mission schedule impacted the ing of the program. Fortunately, there was GPHS-RTG program in a number of ways. an early agreement on the basic require- Originally Ulysses was to be a two-space- ments for the GPHS-RTG which allowed craft mission called the International some stability—at least in that area! Power Sources for the Galileo and Ulysses Missions A number of technical issues were con- had been manufactured by what was then fronted early in the program and success- the RCA Corporation. After the completion fully overcome through focused team ef- of that program, RCA ceased its thermo- forts. The following sections describe some electric activities, so when the GPHS-RTG of these issues, followed by some personal program began, the system contractor, observations on the process ond lessons General Electric Company (GE) [later Mar- learned. tin Marietta Astro Space], had to establish its own thermoelectric production line. Technical Issues Small modules consisting of 18 thermoelec- The following subsections provide a gener- tric elements each were manufactured and al summary of some of the major technical put on test to evaluate the GE product and issues encountered during the GPHS-RTG to determine if GE had been able to dupli- program. cate the RCA product. Differences were un- covered that led to the formation of an in- Restarting Thermoelectric Production. vestigative team of representatives from The thermoelectric elements used in the GE and several Department of Energy GPHS-RTGs were of the same basic design (DOE) support contractors and laborato- as the thermoelectric elements in use on ries. The team reviewed the process and the Voyager power sources. However, dur- product requirements in detail and uncov- ing the production campaign for the Voy- ered some material deficiencies that were ager program, the thermoelectric elements quickly corrected. PRESSURE HEAT SOURCE COOLING TUBES ff GAS MANAGEMENT ALUMINUM OUTER AcS ~ RELIEF SUPPORT / i ASSEMBLY SHELL ASSEMBLY MANIFOLD » DEVICE MOUNTING MULTI-FOIL SiGe UNICOUPLE ‘ MIOSPAN HEAT \ GENERAL PURPOSE FLANGE INSULATION SOURCE SUPPORT MEAT SOURCE Figure 3. Cutaway drawing of the general-purpose heat source radioisotope thermoelectric generator (GPHS-RTG). The GPHS-RTG consists of two major components: the general purpose heat source (GPHS) and the converter which converts the thermal power generated in the GPHS into electrical pow- er by means of 572 thermoelectric elements called “unicouples.” The overall diameter of the GPHS-RTG with fins is 42.2 centimeters (about 16.6 inches). The mass of the GPHS-RTG is about 55.9 kilograms (weight of about 123 pounds). The GPHS-RTG produces over 300 watts of electrical power at the time of assembly. The GPHS-RTG has no moving parts and should »rovide power for over 20 years after launch. Power Sources for the Galileo and Ulysses Missions Perhaps more important was the discovery Production of the radioisotope heat source that actual RCA practices had gone beyond components ran into a common problem: documented specification and process re- every time a component moved from the quirements, which led to the explicit writ- laboratory to production, defects were dis- ten incorporation of these practices along covered. In each case, inter-laboratory with more detailed instructions, tighter teams were established to discover the | limits, control of more parameters and cause of the defects. more detailed descriptions and control of the facility conditions. Facility changes Developing the Assembly and Testing and improved training were completed and Facility. The GPHS-RTG program was a real-time trend analysis system was im- operationally conducted in a new way: a plemented to record and track key param- DOE laboratory instead of the system con- eters, enabling prompt consideration of tractor had responsibility for the assembly process deviations [GE 1991]. and testing of the power sources [Amos and Goebel 1992]. In order to accomplish this Developing a New Radicisotope Heat transition in the shortest possible time and Source. The radioisotope heat source that ensure the safety of the RTGs, a team com- powered the GPHS-RTG was a new design prised of representatives from the system that had improved safety features designed contractor (GE), the heat source laboratory to immobilize the plutonia fuel under all (DOE’s Mound Plant) and other involved credible accident scenarios, including im- contractors and laboratories was employed pact on Earth following a postulated atmos- to work the design, procedures and train- pheric reentry from space [Snow & Zocher ing in real-time. The use of practice hard- 1978, Snow et a/. 1978, and Schock 1980]. ware, detailed procedures, real-time check- SY \ \ HOT SHOE (SiMo) SPACER (A103) PELLET (78% SiGe) SEGMENT (63% SiGe) COLD SHOE (W) PEDESTAL (Cu) \ COMPENSATOR (W) ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR (Cu) ‘ELECTRICAL INSULATOR (AlZ03) COMPENSATOR (Mo) HEAT SHUNT (Cul PRESSURE PAD (SS) Figure 4. An exploded view of the silicon-germanium unicouple (thermoelectric element). 572 of these unicouples are used in each GPHS-RTG. The unicouple length is 3.11 centimeters and the hot shoe mea- sures almost 2.3 centimeters by 2.3 centimeters. The hot shoe operating temperature is about 1305 K.