JSC Earns ISO 9001 Certificate
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
VOL. 37 NO. 10 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas May 22, 1998 In this issue JSC contractors win Low Award for quality JSC aircraft operations contractor highest quality and excellence grams are directly related to its per- critical to the training of our astro- DynCorp and space suit contractor award for contractors and subcon- formance. nauts and the safe, efficient opera- ILC Dover Inc., are two of five tractors and the oldest award for ILC Dover specializes in develop- tion of JSC’s varied aircraft fleet. ILC aerospace companies awarded the organizational quality. ing high-technology engineered soft- Dover’s work at JSC gives space space agency’s highest honor for “These companies exemplify goods, and has a long record of out- walking astronauts the security and excellence and quality this month. excellence and outstanding achieve- standing performance in the flexibility to do construction work in NASA Administrator Daniel S. ments that prove beneficial to NASA development of EVA space suits, space that will become even more Goldin presented the 1998 George and the nation’s industry,” Goldin with a field group at JSC supporting critical as we begin to build the M. Low Award to the companies at said. them. International Space Station. I con- the 13th annual NASA Continual DynCorp supports a wide array of “Johnson Space Center is ex- gratulate both DynCorp and ILC Improvement and Reinvention aircraft equipment and systems at tremely proud to have such hard Dover on this well-deserved honor.” Conference on Quality Manage- Ellington Field, and the success of working and quality-conscious part- DynCorp’s Johnson Support Divi- Model railroad firm on track ment in Alexandria, Va. The award, NASA’s astronaut training program ners,” said JSC Director George sion and Allied Signal Technical established in 1985, is NASA’s and shuttle mission support pro- Abbey. “The work DynCorp does is to produce high-quality Please see NATIONAL, Page 8 spacecraft mock-ups. Page 2 JSC earns ISO 9001 certificate JSC laboratory managers JSC is the first NASA field center to earn ISO 9001 proves you can, too, go certification and one of the largest U.S. research and home again. development organizations so honored. National Quality Assurance USA presented the cer- Page 3 tificate of ISO 9001 registration to JSC Director George Abbey on May 13. The presentation followed a suc- cessful independent audit by NQA of the JSC Quality System in late February. The third-party auditors examined such areas as management commitment, design control, documenta- tion, purchasing, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. NQA found that JSC met or exceed- ed the stringent quality standards in all areas. “This certification is a significant testimonial to the excellence of our quality system at JSC, and also JSC Photo S98-06855 by Steve Candler serves as a starting point for continuing improvement of Neurolab crew meets school Kevin Beard, lead auditor for the National Quality Assurance USA, presents the Certificate our overall technical and management processes,” children that adopted astro- of Registration to JSC Director George Abbey at a May 13 ceremony recognizing JSC as Abbey said. nauts, mission. the first NASA field center to earn ISO 9001 certification. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehen- Pages 4-5 sive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organiza- tion. To date, nearly 20,000 U.S. organizations have Barrios, Johnson Engineering earn kudos received ISO 9001 certification. All NASA centers are required by NASA Adminis- Pair earns Small Business Contractor of Year awards trator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to Barrios Technology, Inc. and Johnson tors has been exemplary,” Abbey said. “They seek the quality certification. Engineering Corp. recently were selected as have proven to be key players in this center’s JSC’s certification applies to all center human space JSC’s 1998 Small Business Contractor of the operation and management of the agency’s flight responsibilities, including program and project Year by JSC Director George Abbey. human space flight programs. Their work has management, spacecraft engineering and design, flight The distinguished awards were presented been instrumental in the Space Shuttle Pro- crew training, space and life sciences research, and Space walk support team by Business Management Director Jim gram and will be crucial to the success of the mission operations in support of NASA’s Human faces off in teamwork build- Shannon to Sandy Johnson, president of International Space Station Program. Con- Exploration and Development of Space enterprise. ing softball challenge. Barrios Technology, and Tom Short, president gratulations to both Barrios and Johnson JSC began with a project program in its Safety, of Johnson Engineering, at the Government Engineering on earning these well-deserved Reliability and Quality Assurance directorate in 1995. In Page 6 Procurement Connection ’98 awards and honors.” 1996, White Sands Test Facility received its ISO regis- appreciation luncheon at the George R. Brown Barrios was selected for its outstanding effort tration. ISO requirements became JSC’s official quality Convention Center in Houston. in providing Information Systems Analysis and program for the entire center in May 1997. “The work performed by these two contrac- Please see TWO, Page 8 Please see JSC, Page 8 Discovery launch marks start of new space era By John Ira Petty tank weighs about 7,500 pounds less Team that got carbon diox- With a new launch date and a than the original. The tank arrived at ide scrubber back on line new, super-lightweight external Kennedy Space Center’s turning hangs STS-90 plaque. tank, the Space Shuttle basin in early February for Page 7 Discovery moved closer testing and pre-launch to its 24th flight, the ninth TS-9 processing and underwent and final docking with the S 1 a tanking test on Monday. Russian Space Station STS-91 Commander Mir. The mission will Charlie Precourt will be complete Phase 1 of the making his fourth space International Space Station flight. Pilot Dom Gorie will Program. make his first flight; Mis- Shuttle managers were sion Specialist Wendy set to meet Wednesday to Lawrence her fourth review mission prepara- DISCOVERY flight; Mission Specialist JSC Photo STS-90-S-014 by Hector Gongora tions and set an official Franklin Chang-Díaz, his SIGN HERE—STS-90 Payload Specialist Jim Pawelczyk shakes Ballet folklorico helps JSC launch date. The launch target date sixth flight; and Mission Specialist hands with students from Westwood Elementary School. Hundreds of third and fourth graders from the Friendswood celebrate Cinco de Mayo in has been moved to June 2, providing Janet Kavandi her first flight. additional time to accommodate Russian Valery Ryumin will be mak- school who adopted the Neurolab mission in their studies joined cafeteria. orbiter processing and launch prepa- ing his fourth space flight, his first the Neurolab crew’s friends, family members and coworkers in Page 8 rations at Pad 39A. as a mission specialist. welcoming them home on May 4 at Ellington Field’s Hangar 990. The new super lightweight external Please see STS-91, Page 2 Page 2 Space News Roundup May 22, 1998 Thomas close enough to end to begin looking back Andy Thomas is close enough to the States in preparing for Phase 2 of the In the midst of an extended period of Costa Rica’s Arenal volcano. planned end of his stay aboard the Russian International Space Station program, assem- packing up, Thomas had another loading Thomas’ scientific experiments continue space station Mir to begin to look back a lit- bly of the multinational research outpost. and unloading job to help with. The Mir crew as he nears the end of his more than four tle. All in all, he’s pleased with what he sees. “The whole effort has been one finished loading refuse in the months in orbit. They comprise 27 separate “From a personal point of view, yes, I’m of learning how to work in a spirit of Progress M-38 resupply ship linked studies in advanced technology, Earth sci- satisfied with the outcome,” Thomas said. cooperation,” he said. Even during IR-2 to the Mir and prepared for the ences, human life sciences, microgravity “We came up here with a fairly ambitious his training in Russia, one focus M 5 arrival of the Progress M-40 resup- research, and International Space Station science program, which was primarily my was learning how to work together ply ship, launched May 14 from the risk mitigation. responsibility during the mission, and that’s to achieve the training goals. Baikonur Cosmodrome to carry Earlier this month, Thomas completed the been completed.” Aboard Mir, “We’ve learned how to food, water and supplies to Mir. second of three phases of the Renal Stone He said his fellow crew members, work together here on board.” The previous Progress undock- Risk Assessment experiment. The final Commander Talgat Musabayev and Flight Thomas has gained a lot of per- ed May 15 to begin moving toward phase will be completed just prior to Engineer Nikolai Budarin, had some very sonal insights on long-duration its destruction in the Earth’s atmo- Thomas’ return to Earth. ambitious space walk work, to straighten up space flight—“what’s the best way sphere. Thomas has less than three weeks left a bent solar array and replace an engine. to live on board; what’s the best THOMAS Thomas continued to monitor aboard the Mir Space Station. In early June, “They’ve achieved that; they’ve worked very way to package food; what’s the large fires in Honduras and the Discovery will dock with Mir and bring hard on these tasks.