COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo -- NASA is undergoing fundamental change, attempting to piece diverse moving parts into a single, cogent voice.
The prospect of a "one NASA" is a work in progress, one that is fraught with daunting issues and challenges, said Courtney Stadd, the U.S. space agency's chief of staff.
One of the most visible examples of the One NASA philosophy is single revamped website that replaced a host of websites maintained by each of NASA's major field centers.
Strategic plan
NASA also published a new strategic plan this year that codifies the agency's mission to understand and protect the home planet, to explore the solar system, and to inspire a new generation of explorers.
Jefferson Howell, director of the Johnson Space Center, speaking at the 19th National Space Symposium here, said the importance of the strategic plan to NASA's overall direction should not be underestimated.
"If it ain't in the strategic plan, it ain't," Howell said. "You need to read and heed it if you want to play with us."
Single accounting system
NASA is also in the process of putting every field center on a single accounting system. Currently, each space center does its books its own ways, a practice that has made managing program costs a challenge.
The transition to a single system is a daunting challenge that has been going on for years, with many starts and stops along the way. Last fall, the first pieces of a new Integrated Financial Management System was rolled out at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The rest of the agency is slated to be using the new software by this summer.
So far, it has been less than a smooth transition.
Education: Not an expense, but an investment
Al Diaz, Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, pointed to education and human capital as the real transformation that needs to take place.
NASA no longer looks upon education as an expense, Diaz said. Rather it is seen as an investment - and that is what transformation is all about, he said.
"This is a tremendous change in the way NASA looks at the future," Diaz said.
Diaz said that NASA's strategic plan shows that the agency is engaged in exciting work. "We do the things that only NASA can do," he said.
Giving people the resources, the tools and facilities necessary to make their future a success is one key to maintaining a sustainable workforce, Diaz said. It inspires the next generation of explorers, he concluded.
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