Configuration Control Board Activities during the Development of the Apollo Lunar Module: Insight into the 'Art' of System Engineering

摘要

We use the case of the Apollo Lunar Module, as an interesting exemplar of building a complex artifact with no similar precedent, to study the nature of practice of system engineering. We use collected data from NASA's Johnson Space Center archives related to a Configuration Control Board meeting between NASA and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation (GAEC), builders of the Lunar Module. We illustrate how the design of a complex system is a human activity, not merely a computer aided process. We conclude that design cognition of individuals, as well as teams orchestrating complex systems, needs to be throughly studied to improve the training and practice of system engineers.