NASA Technical Risk

Many types of risk are created – risk to the project, to the organization, to the employees involved and to the individuals supporting the change.

Working to understand the risks a project may endure along with the cost associated is critical in every project management plan. Understanding potential risks based on the project type, resources needed, timeline and budget still leaves gaps that creates uncertainty for actually predicating the outcome of the project. There is not a true way to predict when and where a project risk will occur but designing a plan to properly address and manage those risks will increase confidence while eliminating the element of surprise.

risks and determine the likelihood and consequence of that risk occurring during the project. The

Risk; something we do everyday turning onto a street from a blind corner, jaywalking to get somewhere faster, peeking at our phones while driving and signing up for something new. The everyday risks we take can seem meaningless and uneventful, but for others it can mean their lives; for them everything must be in check otherwise it could result in death. Astronauts are trained for months about how to deal with the risks they will be faced with during their missions, along with proper solutions. These solutions are taught to them by the great minds of scientists; whose duty is to also make sure there is the least amount of risk possible for the mission. The scientists communicate to the head of the programs whether they believe the mission is possible or not, if it should be delayed or pushed up. Unfortunately, the communication between the scientists, and high up workers are ignored or misread. This was the case for the Challenger, a mission that lasted 73 seconds before it exploded, because the weather was too cold for the metal on the O-rings around the rocket. 17 Years later a similar miscommunication cause the loss of the Columbia shuttle because it failed to show the seriousness of the loss of foam from the outside of the shuttle.

It determined that the accident was due to a failure of rubber O-rings made by Morton-Thiokol that provided a pressure seal in the aft field joint of the shuttle's right Solid Rocket Booster. The failure of the O-rings was attributed to a design flaw, as their performance could be too easily compromised by factors that included the low temperature on the day of launch. The Commission found that O-ring resiliency is directly related to temperature and due to the low temperature at launch—36 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees lower than the next coldest previous launch—it was probable the O-rings had not provided a proper

Risks management is an important step during the process of a project. Failing to manage a risk may result in unforeseen event happening and a project’s failure. For example, with limited budget, an unforeseen event or an accident occurs in the middle of a project and this matter has not been considered and needs a big sum of expense, then the project may be stopped because of this unexpected event. We should know it is necessary to understand how to identify risks and assumptions based on the information. After identifying risks, it is important for project managers to set contingency plans to prevent and deal with these risks when they occur. Of course, several problems may happen during considering

The failure of the solid rocket booster o-rings was attributed to several factors, including faulty design of the solid rocket boosters, insufficient low temperature testing of the O-ring material and lack of communication between different levels of NASA management.

Unfortunately, the United States' space program suffered a major setback following the tragic failure during testing on January 27, 1967. This failure proved fatal when three astronauts were killed during a fire in a command module on the ground. These first casualties of the space program shocked the American public. The testing failure was blamed on NASA by both Congress and the media. The widely presented cause was “inadequate engineering” and the public believed that NASA was emphasizing being first to the moon over the safety of the program. Nevertheless, the astronauts that were killed were hailed as heroes and honored for their ultimate sacrifice (Engdahl 182). The three astronauts chosen to operate the fatal Apollo-based AS-204 test

risk assessment should be carried out so that any potential risks to health and safety can

There was a failure during the launch of the space shuttle challenger with one of the 0-rings on the solid-propellant boosters. It had become brittle by the cold weather and failed. This catastrophe led to an explosion shortly after liftoff. Engineers who had designed the 0-rings had apprehensions about launching under these extreme cold conditions. The engineers recommended that the launch be postponed, but they were overridden by their management. The management team did not believe that there were enough statistics to support a postponement of the launch. The shuttle was launched, causing the infamous accident.

Describe the nature of each risk and why the risk is significant to project success.

At the moment, astronauts’ next goal in manned missions is to try to figure out the most efficient and safe way in succeeding in a manned mission to Mars. However, in order to achieve such a mission, astronauts must completely understand the additional perils that accompany adventures into space of the length that would be required for such a trip. With experiments that have been completed and are in the process of being done, scientists are able to better understand the many risks that contribute to the danger of such prolonged missions, in hope of finding solutions that will make a mission to Mars possible. Although there are many risks that a human will take when remaining in space for such a long period of time, this paper will

NASA had made a bad decision. The accident investigation report infers that the engineers' doubts and concerns not being effectively communicated to NASA's management. The wrong reporting tool was used to convey technical data.

Unfortunately, there is always risk when it comes to space flight. This makes it difficult to determine what constitutes an “Acceptable” risk. A space agency has many worries such as their reputation with the public and the world, the success of their missions, and most importantly the lives of their staff and astronauts. Engineers are usually technically gifted but lacking in organization. This spawns a need for non-technical managers to oversee the day to day operations of projects and companies. While the engineers worry about the functionality of the project (in this case, a space shuttle), the managers worry about the cost to the company and the infamous pick 2 triangle of good, cheap, fast. This causes a disconnect between the engineers and the management where pressure from anything whether it be the public or CEO, can cause concerns to be overlooked.

Others risks involved in such projects include the external risks. These risks are linked to the project externally. They are, for example; new labor regulations, weather, changes in ownership, and in some cases, foreign policies might affect if the project is being carried out in a foreign place. Catastrophic risks can also be categorized under the external risks. The risks include occurrences such as; terrorism, earthquakes, floods, civil arrests and unavoidable circumstances that are most likely to occur unexpectedly. These are physical risks are normally beyond control.