Evaluating the residual risks of infusing new technologies intoNASA missions

摘要

NASA's need to infuse new technologies into its missions has beendescribed. Some of the challenges associated with new technologyinfusion, and a way to meet those challenges, have been presented. TheTechnology Infusion Guideline (TIG) process has been described as wellas the Defect Detection and Prevention (DDP) process that is theunderlying evaluation `engine'. An example of this under evaluation onone of NASA's technologies development has been presented. This exampleis used to illustrate the generic process. The results of implementingthe TIG process on the example technology clearly demonstrates that theTIG process can penetrate to underlying technical details to evaluatethe viability of continued technology development resources. Thetechnology evaluated was deemed `on the right track' and critical toNASA's future missions needs. The TIG process results in a technologyinfusion roadmap, or prioritized set of activities which must beperformed to address the identified residual risks. These activitiesinclude alignment with other parallel technology development work,specific characterization and testing, breadboard development andminiaturization and ruggedization. The return on investment forimplementing this process has been measured at over 20:1 withsignificant schedule savings. The risk reduction as a result ofimplementing this process will only be directly measurable after thetechnology matures to a greater extent