Audit Finds Problems with ISS Management

SuperBanana writes "According to an AP story carried by the Boston Globe, an internal audit released yesterday by NASA found numerous problems with management of the station, in some ways similar to the problems in the shuttle program. This includes missing, inconsistent, or outdated technical drawings; inadequately trained staff, and analysis of failure trends that is 'severely lacking'. Despite the report's length(172 pages) no specifics are cited. The report is not yet available in the press section of NASA's site."

Comments

You know...

[Bobdoer]

For something so complicated as rocket science, they really need to work at double checking their work.
Heck, in the last while we've heard of Challenger breaking apart, a space suit malfunction and a faulty file system on the Mars probe. However, it must be noted that they almost always figure out the problem, afterwards.

Re:You know...

[LinuxGuyFriend]

With pretty much anything that goes wrong (including 9-11), post-incident audits always seem to find a pile of organizational problems. It's interesting to see how often organizations evolve almost exclusively because of such findings. Perhaps a lot of governmental programs would benefit from regular audits that would look not just at things like how much cash is spent and where, but rather at the procedures themselves.

Re:You know...

[El Volio]

The problem is not that process audits aren't done they are. Both private and personal organizations have regular audits performed and reports like this generated. The real problem is that, in many cases, those with the power to make substantive changes (management) simply don't want to do so because it's too expensive, whether in terms of time, money, or other resources, and it requires some disaster to really motivate them.

So what you get are organizations that are always fixing the previous generation of problems. Challenges morph over time, and if you're fixing the problems you should have fixed ten years ago, and as cheaply as possible, then you're probably not fixing the problems you need to fix now, looking ahead to the challenges you'll be facing over the next few years.

NASA To ISS Managment:

[GiveMeLinux]

NASA: There are just so many things you shouldn't be doing.

ISS: What, what am I doing, can you give me specifics?

NASA: If you don't know, then I'm not telling!

Re:NASA To ISS Managment:

[krumms]

Sounds like the SCO/IBM case :P

Duct tape anyone

[dncsky1530]

So its the budget crisis that casued the Mire to be patched with duct tape, will the ISS suffer the same fate?

And this is suprising?

[nighty5]

I was an IT technical auditor for a big 5 a few years back. I also did some (boring) process work to map out IT areas of audit weaknesses / risk.

The job of an auditor is to find weaknesses. Like any profession its their job to satisify their existance and to find issues, no matter how big or how small.

I havent read the article (in true Slashdot style - I'm actually writing up some design docs right now!) but I'd say what they have found is typical of any normal IT / technology company where their process is never updated to the standards of their documentation.

Re:And this is suprising?

[lxs]

Dear sir, a recent audit of your slashdot activities dicovered the following weaknesses:

1 - You didn't state whether you are or are not a lawyer, which is essential for the proper functioning of this organisation.

2- Throughout the slashdot community, it is considered acceptable practice not to RTFA. excuses made include, but are not limited to: "not wanting to add to the slashdot effect", "everybody does it" and "FP! OMFG! ROTFLMAO!" This kind of laxity needs to be remedied if this organisation is to remain competitive in today's hostile economic climate.

Our team suggest, outsourcing the posting of comments to emerging Asian markets.

PS. Your bill for this consultation will arrive ASAP.

This really burns me

[pq]

So we're flying a large, noisy, semi-empty garage in space, and it is so under-staffed (2 people instead of 2.5 required to maintain it) that we can't even use it for scientific experiments. The only reason it got built is that NASA had spread out pork in too many states to kill it, and the space shuttle needed something to do. Meanwhile, the only reason the space shuttle will fly again is to finish the ISS. And to top it off, both are death traps and we don't even have accurate building plans any more...?

On the other hand, we're cancelling the Hubble servicing mission because of safety concerns - which are very real concerns, but unfixable only because of a political decision that we'd rather go to Mars.

I'm all for the ISS, actually - I love the idea that humanity will not have all its eggs in one basket ever again. Even if the other basket is in a very low orbit around the first one for now, it's a start! But it's sad to watch the old pioneering spirit reduced to election campaign sound bites and random mismanagement, while we shortchange the real science.

Re:This really burns me

[jadel]

So we're flying a large, noisy, semi-empty garage in space, and it is so under-staffed (2 people instead of 2.5 required to maintain it) that we can't even use it for scientific experiments. The only reason it got built is that NASA had spread out pork in too many states to kill it, and the space shuttle needed something to do. Meanwhile, the only reason the space shuttle will fly again is to finish the ISS. And to top it off, both are death traps and we don't even have accurate building plans any more...?

Don't forget the bit about being in the wrong orbital inclination making it useless as a staging point on trips to other planets.

On the other hand, we're cancelling the Hubble servicing mission because of safety concerns - which are very real concerns, but unfixable only because of a political decision that we'd rather go to Mars.

Now this I have to disagree with, the shuttle is a deathtrap because it's an overcomplicated compromise between disparate goals and every attempt to produce a replacement has been deliberately killed off - after all, it's not the McDonnell Douglas people who crashed the DC-X.
The orbital space plane is basically an update of the 1960s era X-20 DynaSoar with a more streamlined look about it. It cant replace the shuttle because it has almost no cargo capacity.
IMNSHO what is required is something like the DC-X, a new fully reusable design which can be turned around in a matter of days instead of months, but with enough capacity to replace the cargo hauling now being done by the shuttle. If it's done well enough hopefully flying to orbit could be as safe and routine as international passenger flights are today.

Re:This really burns me

[jabberjaw]

So we're flying a large, noisy, semi-empty garage in space, and it is so under-staffed (2 people instead of 2.5 required to maintain it) that we can't even use it for scientific experiments.
Actually, in a recent issue of Nature they spoke of planning experiments to search for Lorentz violation aboard the ISS. They include a Michelson-Morley type experiment and some involving atomic clocks (?!). The experiments are being pushed by Stephan Schiller and Peter Wolf (the men who brought you OPTIS) They state they hope for this to begin around 2005. Unfortunatly, a subscription is required to view the article and it was rather light on detail, yet it shows there is indeed hope for the ISS as a science platform.

Sound just like a US goverenment document...

[sparkeyjames]

172 pages yet says nothing.

Re:Sound just like a US goverenment document...

[cybermace5]

Yeah, that's pretty amazing. I was only able to manage about 40 pages in school, and that was in double-spaced 12.1pt font with 1.1 inch margins....

Re:Sound just like a US goverenment document...

[RebelWithoutAClue]

Nobody can say nothing like a real professional.

Outdated drawings?

[October_30th]

Outdated drawings?

Sounds like a prime example of a typical auditor's chickenshit-mentality.

Any project - not to mention a project of this size - is bound to have holes in the documentation, inventory or accounting. Documents get misplaced, tools and materials get stolen/wasted/lost and some spending cannot be accounted for.

Re:Outdated drawings?

[Detritus]

It doesn't help when the people who used to maintain the documentation get outsourced and/or laid off due to budget cuts.

NASA has lost its soul

[mcrbids]

Not all of NASA, mind you. But, if I may criticize, (and I may, it's my right to do so) it seems that NASA has been blowing it for a full generation.

Ever since the shuttle boondoggle, where we were promised all manner of stuff, and instead, ended up with *that* thing... A wasteful, expensive, heavy, obsolete white elephant of a space craft that tried to be everything to everybody and ended up doing nothing well.

Who's gonna get excited by a space program that perpetuates a lie? We've spend billions to keep 30-year-old rust-bucket space technology working that should have been scrapped before it was ever completed.

Now, other countries (China, India, etc) are moving in to fill the vacuum left behind by 30 years of neglect on the part of NASA. The best thing we could do is to disband it, and rebuild a *real* space program, and one that allowed (encouraged?) private enterprise participation.

There's money to be made on space, if our benevolent govt will allow it.

-Ben

Re:NASA has lost its soul

[cavac]

There's nothing wrong with 30-year-old rust-bucket space technology as long as it does its work cheap and reliable.

The old (ancient?) Soyuz launcher is a nice example: Nearly 1700 launches up until now, most of them sucessfull. It is in fact so cost effective, that Arianespace is planing to use Soyuz at Guiana Space Center from 2006 on (as well continuing to use them in Baikonur).

Surprising? No.

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of sectors of NASA are poorly managed, look at how they purchase equipment through purchasing agents.

A store I worked at had NASA employees purchase 10 Creative Nomad Jukeboxes as marked the LPO as 'mobile hard-disk". Many instances like this had taken place. Blatent missuse of budgeted money.

Ever wonder why we haven't had a manned mission to Mars? Partly because their purchasing policies are flawed. Partly because emlpoyees are allowed to spend $4000 on MP3 players, slip it through the system, and listen to Jungle Boogie instead of doing real science.

Opportunity makes a theif...

Re:Surprising? No.

[Anonymous Coward]

I worked there for 25 years and never saw anything like that. All of our office furniture was World War II surplus. If we wanted technical books, we usually had to pay for them out of our own pockets. Most of our PCs were built from scrounged and excess parts. If I needed office supplies, like paper and pens, I usually ended up paying for them out of my own pocket, since they weren't available from our supply office. I couldn't even get postage stamps. Somebody decided they were too prone to pilferage to be given to ordinary employees. Sometimes I used surplus parts from my home computers to repair and upgrade my work computer. Installed with my own personal tools, since simple tools like screwdrivers were difficult to get from the supply system. The way I see it, the government owes me a sizable chunk of money for all of the things that they should have provided, but didn't.

Re:Surprising? No.

[M1FCJ]

And on your way to work and back, you walked uphill both ways, I suppose?

Re:Surprising? No.

[anubi]

Yes.. the aerospace contractor I worked for quite a while operated like this... and you know what? It was very efficient. We knew exactly how our stuff worked. If something broke, we fixed it. Yes, a lot of us brought tools from home to work. It was that kind of place. Most of us were older amateur radio operators and electronic hobbyists having the time of our lives. It was our company, and our efforts made a difference.

Then big company came in and bought us out. Money from venture capitalists flooded our organization. Highly paid management professionals were brought in to optimize our operations. Pride in workmanship flew out the window, to be replaced by whatever got the immediate job at hand done cheapest. We no longer fixed our stuff - we had support contracts. Who cared if we even knew how it worked? But now we had dress codes. Oooh, didn't we look all pretty with our suits and ties! Well, we did get paid better, and dressing the part went with the privilege of being kept on the payroll. But who cared if you spent day and night working on some little quirk you didn't thoroughly understand? Or if you knew how to build something you needed - when you could just throw cash at the problem and gloss it over with some powerpoint presentations? With the mass infusions of cash, technical knowledge seemed to become much less important than management skills. It seemed everybody wanted the latest presentation software, and no-one wanted a thing to do with the old circuit analysis software we had used for years. Having the snazziest system on your desk and office decor seemed to be what everyone wanted. It flat was not fun to work there anymore. It seemed it became dog-eat-dog. They moved us out of the lab and into cubicles. The took our coffee machine away and gave us "secretarial services". Dammit, I was just about born with a soldering iron in my hand...not a Franklin Day Planner!

Everytime I have seen a mass infusion of money into something, it seems to ruin it. The first time I noted this effect, it was in a school system, where when a lot of money was granted into the system, the first thing they did was buy a bunch of unnecessary stuff which then mandated substantial resources to maintain it. Not only that, it completely showed all of us that were volunteering our efforts just how insignificant we were. Just think, who needs to know how to build an oscilloscope from scratch in an electronics class when you could just tweak the knobs on the latest models? I still remember the joys of going into my old EICO and fixing whatever I smoked when I misused the thing ( usually the FET on the frontend differential amp when I got a nasty inductive kickback from a relay coil. )

Answer me this: If a college has an assortment of older oscilloscopes ( some are in need of repair ), and the students not only learn to use the scopes that work, they also learn to fix the broken ones, do you think they got a better education than the ones who only got to use later scopes, but have no idea what's actually in them?

At the college I am attending right now, I am taking some automotive courses. I am doing a "special studies" program... you see, they have an old infrared exhaust analyzer that is no longer functional. I am having a helluva time taking that old thing apart, figuring out how the infrared chopper worked, and will hopefully build an interface so I can send the signals through a A/D converter so I can drop it into a computer. When I get through with that thing, I expect not only to have a helluva good idea of how NonDispersive Infrared analyzers ( CO, CO2, HC ) work, but also how the UV analyzers ( NO, NO2 ), and oxygen sensors work. Not only will I know when a machine is giving me funny readings I can't trust, I will know how to go into the machine, locate the funny and fix it.

Here's the crux of the problem... If I do not know how the machine works and how it arrives at its answers, I probably won't know if the machine is malfunction

Russian Welfare

[Detritus]

The federal government, not NASA, decided that it would be a good idea to keep all of those Russian rocket scientists employed, rather than designing and building ICBMs for our enemies. So the Space Station became, in large part, a make-work project for Russian scientists and engineers.

Re:Russian Welfare

[mvdwege]

Given that these Russian rocket scientists:

1. Are masters at making cheap efficient booster rockets to get stuff into orbit.
2. Have tons of experience on how to support long-term missions in low orbit space stations,

I'd say that this is more a question of NASA and the US government not wanting to waste billions in reinventing the wheel.

Mart

$$$_

[iamacat]

For something as complicated as rocket science, they really need proper funding. Ever worked on a project with unrealistic schedule for an understuffed (say no QA), underpayed group? Was it real high quality when released?

And let people really doing the stuff cut through red tape when approporiate to save money for important things. If a component is not safety-critical and available cheaply off the shelf (say a notebook to check e-mail), let the engineer pick it up in Fry's and expense it rather than going through government bidding, approval and so on. Save that for things like ceramic tiles.

You're forgetting

[lxt]

...that the budget crisis that casued the Mir was the mainly result of the collapse of communism, and Russia realising it actually had no money left.

Soon, we will give up on manned space

[Animats]

Back in the 1960s, the US had a national commitment to undersea exploration. Men went to the deepest part of the ocean and came back. Small undersea bases were built, and larger ones were planned.

All that ended decades ago. No manned submersible in operation today can go to the deepest part of the ocean. All the undersea habitats are defunct except for Aquarius, which the University of North Carolina now owns and struggles to fund. It's over.

Manned operations in the deep ocean never became cheaper or safer. They're possible, but not useful. Deep ocean work belongs to robots today.

Much the same thing has happened to space. All remaining manned space operations are ego trips for governments. All useful work is unmanned.

Someday this may change, but it won't be done using chemically fueled rockets.