Director Elachi's 2020 Vision
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May 4, 2001 Volume 31 Number 10 SPECIAL ISSUE Charles Elachi Jet Propulsion Laboratory takes the helm at JPL N MAY 2, JPL’S NEW DIRECTOR, DR. CHARLES ELACHI, will be responsible for the projects PRESENTED THE VISION THAT WILL TAKE THE LAB and programs as well as for the associated science and technology. O INTO THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACE EXPLORAT I O N. Thomas Gavin has been Elachi’s vision incorporates the comments and ideas voiced during appointed to the new position his three months of meetings with JPL employees, and builds on a of JPL Associate Director for course set by Elachi’s predecessors. Flight Projects and Mission Elachi told a standing-room only crowd in von Kármán Auditorium Success. This position was that where once JPL’s challenge was to explore the planets in our solar cr eated to emphasize the Director system, the challenge today is to explore and understand the planets importance of project in our solar system, and to expand the frontier of space exploration to execution, and Gavin will discover and understand neighboring solar systems as well as our own. oversee JPL’s development of Elachi’s To maintain the Lab’s cutting-edge legacy in space exploration, Elachi flight systems and associated st r essed sharing the knowledge and adventure of space exploration engineering infrastructure. with the most important audience—the American public. Also continuing on the In the next 10 years, JPL plans to launch close to 25 missions, and Executive Council will be Dr. 2020 some 25 payload packages. In order to accomplish these goals, Elachi Harry Detweiler, who heads the Office of Safety and Mission Success, announced a reorganization and a restructuring of the Laboratory. He and Caltech General Counsel Harry Yohalem. Two external relations stated five reasons for the reorganization: to ensure mission success, executives who previously served as ex-officio members of the Executive vision to promote program development and execution, to increase support Council will now become full members—Blaine Baggett, executive man- for technology and science, to achieve administrative excellence, and to ager of the Office of Communications and Education, and Dr. Richard By Angela McGahan build the interplanetary network and information systems of the future. O’Toole, manager of the Office of Legislative and International Affairs. The program directorates will be organized around mission areas of The Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate Earth, Solar System, Astronomy and Physics, and Interplanetary Net- (TMOD) has been renamed the Interplanetary Network and Infor- work. Elachi noted the advantages of this approach. “The missions will mation Systems Directorate, and will continue to be headed by Gael have a permanent home base for support, and this reduces the number Squibb. JPL’s Institutional Computing and Information Systems (ICIS) of hand-offs of projects from one directorate to another,” he said. office will become part of this directorate. “Our mission is to Dr . Firouz Naderi will lead the Solar System Exploration Prog r a m s To streamline administration procedures, a new directorate has Di r ectorate, which will be in charge of developing concepts for JPL’s solar been formed. JPL’s financial management, business operations, explore the Earth, system exploration missions. Naderi will also continue to hold his curren t administrative support and human resources organizations will be con- position leading the Mars Exploration Program Office. The newly crea t e d solidated into a new Business Operations and Human Resources Direc- our solar system, Pl a n e t a r y Flight Projects Directorate, which will design, build and fly torate, headed by Chief Financial Officer Fred McNutt. Susan Henry will pl a n e t a r y spacecraft, will be headed by Chris Jones. Larry Simmons will be McNutt’s deputy and will continue to serve on the di r ect a new Astronomy and Physics Directorate. This organization will Executive Council. and the universe oversee JPL’s spacecraft and instruments that explore the influence of Perhaps the most fundamental change, and one that Elachi the sun within our solar system or that look out beyond the solar system. believes will contribute toward creating future generations of that lies beyond, and A new Earth Science and Technology Directorate will be headed by experienced senior managers for the Lab, is that Executive Council Dr . Diane Evans. In addition to Earth sciences missions, this orga n i z a t i o n members will be appointed for defined terms of three to five years. At will conduct JPL’s work for non-NASA sponsors, including other federal share the adventure the end of the term, each Executive Council member will be agencies such as the Department of Defense. considered for a reassignment or extension. In addition, Elachi has Elachi believes that innovations in technology and science best pros- instituted Management Councils, which will be comprised of EC mem- of discovery with per when they are tied to missions. His plan calls for a Chief Technolo- bers and selected employees. The Management Councils will gist in addition to the existing position of Chief Scientist to serve in the act as a reviewing authority before forwarding issues to the full the public.” Director’s Office. This newly created position will be held as an addition- EC. To review the new organizational chart, log on to al duty by Dr. Barbara Wilson. Dr. Thomas Prince will join JPL as the www.jpl.nasa.gov/dailyplanet. Laboratory’s Chief Scientist. A professor of astronomy at Caltech, Prince — Dr. Charles Elachi The new organizational structure and new faces in Executive Council is the NASA mission scientist for the Laser Interferometer Space Anten- are poised to take the Lab into the next 20 years, and to find the an- na (LISA) project. He succeeds Dr. Moustafa Chahine, who will remain swers to what Elachi calls “irresistible questions” of how the universe at JPL to conduct research. began, how it evolved, how life began, and, are we alone in the universe? In addition to the director’s staff, each of the program directorates Because, as Elachi states, “JPL exists to envision and to create the will also have a chief technologist and chief scientist. These directorates future, to continue to do what has never been done before, and to go where no one has gone before.” DIRECTOR Charles Elachi DEPUTYDIRECTOR Larry Dumas ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, INSTITUTIONAL Kirk Dawson ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, FLIGHTPROJECTS AND MISSION SUCCESS Thomas Gavin GENERALCOUNSEL ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CHIEF FINANCIALOFFICER Fred McNutt Harry Yohalem CHIEF SCIENTIST Thomas Prince CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST Barbara Wilson (AD) OFFICE OF SAFETY OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION AND MISSION SUCCESS AND EDUCATION Harry Detweiler Blaine Baggett MARS EXPLORATION OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AND PROGRAM OFFICE INTERNATIONALAFFAIRS Firouz Naderi Richard O’Toole BUSINESS OPERATIONS ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION PLANETARY FLIGHT ASTRONOMY EARTH SCIENCE INTERPLANETARY NETWORK AND HUMAN RESOURCES DI- DIRECTORATE PROGRAMS DIRECTORATE PROJECTS DIRECTORATE AND AND TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS RECTORATE William Weber Firouz Naderi Chris Jones PHYSICS DIRECTORATE DIRECTORATE DIRECTORATE Fred McNutt Ron Ploszaj (DD) Fuk Li (DD) Matthew Landano Larry Simmons Diane Evans Gael Squibb Susan Henry (DD) John Beckman (DD) (DD/AD) Charles Yamarone (DD) Richard Coffin (DD) AD: Additional Duty DD: Deputy Director space exploration is a tough business. Space is a harsh and contributors and managers. I assure you that these issues will ood morning. Three months ago I promised you that I unforgiving environment. You don’t get many second chances. be thoughtfully considered and acted upon for the administrative would spend the time between then and today listening to your And we have to succeed in our current missions in order to as well as technical jobs. ideas and your suggestions. I told you then that I would provide realize the future I have just described. each and every employee the opportunity to meet with me. Group Supervisors There’s not much we can do about changing the unforgiving That promise was fulfilled as of two days ago. The dialogues From the technical group supervisors, I heard that you are environment of space. But we do have it in our power to influ- were a terrific experience and I enjoyed them very much. In fact, overburdened by non-technical, unfunded mandates. We’re going ence the environment here at the Laboratory. We have it in our I enjoyed it so much, I’m repeating this commitment for the to change this. When you are requested to do any significant power to create an environment that helps all of us to excel. I’ve Gcoming year. non-technical activity, we intend to provide you with the re- listened to your ideas about what needs to change. And I am in I learned a great deal from our dialogues. You gave me a lot sources needed, funding and/or personnel, to minimize this agreement with many of them. And those we are going to act on. to think about. I especially appreciated your thoughts regarding extra demand on your time. Let me begin by touching on two questions that were frequent- what needs to be done differently to help us excel in our work. In return, I expect you to be engaged and take full responsi- ly asked: “Should we worry about other organizations doing I was reassured—actually I was inspired—to hear that your bility for the quality of the work of each and every member of some of the planetary missions?” and “Are we going to be doing passions and mine are the same. We share the common desire your group. in-house work or do all contract work?” Following that JPL remains the world’s leading organization for robotic My answer is very simple.