Jet OCTOBER Propulsion 2 0 0 6 Laboratory V O L U M E 3 6 N U M B E R 1 5 us over the next decade. In my mind, one of the best legacies we can give to the next generation is to be able to say with scientific confidence that ELACHI'S STATE there are Earth-like planets around neighboring stars, we can eventually OF THE LAB TALK measure their mass and their orbits, and prepare the groundwork for actu- ally imaging them.” ADDRESSES THE The final outcome will have “effectively no negative impact on employ- BUDGET OUTLOOK ment at JPL,” Elachi said, noting NASA Administrator Mike Griffin’s com- mitment to 10 healthy field centers. He said NASA Headquarters has AND THE BUSY indicated that to offset any reductions in the budget, other work would be YEAR COMING UP. assigned to JPL, if necessary, to keep it at a stable level of about 5,000 full-time employees. Further on JPL’s budget, Elachi said the burden rate has been increased by 1/2 percent for FY ’07, a policy that will be revisited by the end of the calendar year, depending on the final budget. On the other hand, he noted, Photos by Dutch Slager/JPL Photolab Slager/JPL Dutch by Photos due to the “very tight management of JPL’s institutional and burden budget funds in FY ’06,” about $15 million will be rebated to flight projects and Looking other areas, which will more than counterbalance the FY ’07 increase. “We want to make sure our investment in our infrastructure and research By Mark Whalen forward and technology development stay at least at the same level as last year,” Elachi said. “Last year we had about $95 million in total investment; in fis- Inspired by the achievements over the past year of JPL’s successful operation cal 2007 we plan for $97 million. of 16 spacecraft, two Mars rovers, seven science instruments and three Earth “All in all, the health of the Lab is in pretty good shape,” Elachi said. orbiters, Lab Director Charles Elachi told employees in an Oct. 9 address of his Public engagement has always been and continues to be a key part of confidence in the Lab’s coming year and foreseeable future. JPL’s work, and Elachi expressed pride in prime coverage of the Lab’s “You should feel tremendously proud of what you have done,” he told the audi- recent successes in major newspapers and magazines, the Internet, televi- ence. “We can truly say that the universe is effectively our backyard, our work- sion broadcasts and other outlets. “The media believes readers are excited place, our playground.” and interested in the kinds of things that are done at JPL and NASA. The The director also noted his hope for a positive fiscal year 2007 budget for public loves and values this kind of stuff.” NASA and JPL. NASA’s proposed budget, normally passed by early October, is Looking forward to upcoming missions, JPL is preparing for the projected still being considered by both houses of Congress. “The House version includes launches of Dawn and Phoenix next summer. Dawn, a NASA Discovery mis- specific language supporting a number of JPL’s missions; the Senate Appropria- sion scheduled to launch June 20, will investigate Ceres and Vesta, two of tions Committee also passed the president’s budget with slight modifications and the largest asteroids in the solar system. Phoenix is the first mission cho- included an amendment to add $1 billion to the NASA budget,” he said. A joint sen for NASA’s Scout program for smaller, lower-cost, competed spacecraft. House/Senate version of the budget bill is expected to be worked out shortly af- It will land on Mars’ icy north pole in 2008. ter the November elections, or the NASA bill may be included in a broader “om- nibus appropriations bill” covering many government programs and agencies. “We want to make sure our investment in our infrastructure and research Elachi added that JPL’s Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) represents the and technology development stay at least at the same level as last year,” only area of uncertainty in the proposed budget. “Part of the reason is that NASA Elachi said. “Last year we had about $95 million in total investment; in decided to fund the airborne observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), which was not in the budget before,” he said. “After re- fiscal 2007 we plan for $97 million.” views and further discussion, NASA decided to support SOFIA, which was rated just above SIM in the National Academy of Sciences’ academy decadal survey.” The director also congratulated the staff of the Deep Space Network for Elachi emphasized that NASA has “full intent of continuing with SIM technol- achieving a data return rate of approximately 99 percent. “It’s amazing,” he ogy development and risk reduction; it is just a question of time and budget to said, “considering that NASA said 95 percent coverage would be considered move into implementation. I think this is one of the most important projects for excellent.” Continued on page 4 2 Human Resources Director Cozette Hart niverse U discusses the upcom- ing 9/80 alternate 9/80 work schedule, which A N E W W A Y O F W or KING is planned to debut By Mark Whalen Oct. 30. How did the 9/80 Alternate Work Schedule come about? The director and the Executive Council are fully committed to imple- Our 2005 employee survey results showed that employees preferred the menting 9/80, and it is our hope that we can change our work practices so 9/80 alternate work schedule option by about four to one over the next top that employees on 9/80 can enjoy the benefit of that alternate Friday off as choice of perquisites that potentially could be offered. That was a resound- often as possible. ing cry for us to explore the possibility of adding more flexibility to the regular work schedules of JPL. Non-exempt employees just completed an election that decided their preference for their work groups to participate in 9/80. How tough was this to get done? Do you feel it’s been tested How did that turn out? and is ready now? This was a major milestone in the process, where two-thirds of the non- Implementing 9/80 has not been as easy as we thought it would be, exempt employees in affected units needed to vote in favor of 9/80 with the multiple systems that are impacted by it. While it seems simple for their work group’s participation. I’m pleased to report that all units did to allow one day off in each two-week pay period, this effort has required pass that threshold. The next step in the process is to collect from tremendous interaction between Finance, Project Accounting, Payroll, NBS/ the directorates each individual employee’s work schedule – those who Oracle, Human Resources and the Office of the General Counsel. It’s been are allowed to work the 9/80 alternate work schedule versus those staying a real team effort in order to make this happen. I want to take this oppor- on 5/40. tunity to specifically commend the NBS team dedicated to this project. Although at this point we don’t know exactly how many people will be We hope to launch on Oct. 30, although there could still be systems taking advantage of 9/80, all indications are that an overwhelming percent- interface issues that surface. Anytime you’re making changes to a large age of the JPL population will do so. We will need to monitor the trend Oracle accounting and financial system it isn’t an easy task to do. If we over time as this represents a real change in how we behave and accom- have to delay it a pay period to make sure the interfaces work correctly, we plish work. will do so. But we are working very hard to make that date. I have heard that some employees have concerns about how the Regular If someone who switches to 9/80 finds it doesn’t work for Day Off (RDO) will work and if we really are serious about allowing em- them, can they change back to 5/40? ployees to have that day off. They think that even though they’re on 9/80 Yes. We are asking that people commit to the switch to 9/80 for at least they’re going to have to come in and work the RDO anyway. It really is our six months. We don’t expect a lot of people to be switching on and off, but desire that only those projects on mission-critical status, those that are in we understand that people do have circumstances that would require them jeopardy of meeting schedule or projects in assembly, test and launch op- to make that change. They will have to submit an Employee Change Infor- erations, have people come in and work on the RDO Friday. We don’t want mation form to Human Resources to be able to change schedules. This can people to have to come in as a regular course of business. be done fairly quickly, to take effect the following pay period. Photos by Carol LaChata /JPL Photolab /JPL LaChata Carol by Photos 3 niverse U Do JPL contractors have the option to participate in 9/80? Many companies have found this to be a great retention tool for them.