Other functions - the aerospace corporation (aerospace) will provide end-to-end independent programmatic and technical monitoring and assessment functions that (1) cover the full developmental…

Other functions - the aerospace corporation (aerospace) will provide end-to-end independent programmatic and technical monitoring and assessment functions that (1) cover the full developmental lifecycle, (2) provide for identification and assessment of technical, cost and schedule risk, (3) provide a capability to predict risk realization, and project cost /schedule growth over time, and (4) provide transparency to the program executive (PE), program analyst (PA),theme director, and science mission directorate (SMD) associate administrator (AA). The purpose of this effort is to provide an additional and an independent source of information intended to complement that provided by the project and sponsoring program office. NASA is requesting a greater level of transparency and insight into the technical and programmatic status of SMD flight project developments. This is expected to include a regular and systematic review and reporting of project technical and programmatic data currently available to the agency. Data provided by projects will be collected and an assessment and integration function will be used to report information in concise and comprehensive view of the project's status. IT is intended that this approach provide insight into aspects of a project that are trending in the wrong direction and can be expeditiously identified and managed, to avoid significant cost and schedule growth. Aerospace provides independent programmatic (cost and schedule) and technical risk assessments starting in pre-phase a and phase a, phase b, at major development milestones, and on a monthly basis, through a mission analysis engineering (MAE) function. This effort spans the SMD portfolio of flight projects, which includes earth and planetary science, heliophysics and astrophysics, and the joint agency satellite directorate (jasd) programmatic themes. The aerospace support to the mission analysis engineering function for SMD projects will include personnel, analysis tools, processes and the required expertise. The aerospace effort is structured to ensure that the needed information and insight is available within one monthly reporting cycle during the reporting lifecycle of the mission. The maes will work communications and report all assessments thru channels as defined by NASA. NASA will also define when and how the results should be conveyed to the program executives (PE), lead program analyst (PA), program office (PO), division director, SMD/AA, or any other party. Depending on the data available from the project, aerospace may develop alternative means, other than EVM-basis analysis, of assessing the project s progress against the baseline plan, including the use of milestone counts and other benchmarking data. Monthly deliveries will include, for example, a monthly updated risk list, cost/schedule volatility report, lien & reserve report, and a monthly project (4-square) report. Aerospace will also monitor for significant changes to the project baseline and will report on the assessed impacts to program risk posture and executability. Travel will be required as requested by NASA to support analysis. Deliverables may be in the form of presentations, written reports, and oral reports.