MARS CLIMATE ORBITER MISSION PROJECT MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

BY: FRANCISCO CEBALLOS NELSON ROSARIO BILLY GUERRERO RICARDO CABRAL

Outline
Background
- Why the interest in Mars? - Mars missions under Faster, Better, Cheaper (FBC) approach. - Account of the Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) failure.

Project Management Analysis

- Human Resource MCOs personnel characteristics and lessons learned. - Communication MCOs communication deficiencies and lessons learned. - Quality MCOs quality issues and lessons learned. - Risk MCOs risk management errors and lessons learned.

Conclusions Questions

Why Mars?

MISSION STATISTICS

FASTER BETTER CHEAPER (FBC)

Much emphasis on few missions Shrinking budget

Internal and external pressures

Faster Better Cheaper

Utilizing new technology Creating smaller spacecraft and more frequent missions

Accepting prudent risk where warranted by return

Reducing cycle time by eliminating inefficient and redundant processes

Utilizing proven engineering and management practices to maximize success

 Lockheed Martin Astronautic was the main contractor and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the administrator of all these missions. Total cost of the Mars missions under FBC of $921.6 Millions. Under FBC 3 out off 6 Mars missions failed.

MCO Mission Objectives

Study Mars climate Monitor daily weather and atmospheric conditions Record changes on Mars surface

Look for evidence of past climate changes

Relay communications between MPL and Earth Expected to operate for 5 years (1999-2004)

MCO Launch
At Cape Canaveral, FL on December 11th, 1998 Delta II Lite Launch Vehicle Launch sequence lasted 42 minutes Hoffman transfer to Mars Earth-Mars launch window considered every 2 years

MCO Cruise
416 million miles over 9 months 4 Trajectory Correction Maneuvers Anomalies in trajectory caught but dismissed

Small Forces Software

Measures thruster performance Logs thruster firing events on file
Actual trajectory

Planned trajectory

Installed both in ground & spacecraft Wrong unit in log file Trajectory modeling from file Corrections issued based on this modeling Thrusters fired 4.45 times shorter
Critical Altitude

Human Resource Management

Develop Human Resource Plan

Acquire Project Team

Develop Project Team

Manage Project Team

Develop Human Resource Plan

The PM is responsible of making sure the team members have the appropriate training according to the task they will be performing. The PM must clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of the team.

Acquire project team

The PM must evaluate the risk of resources becoming unavailable.

Training
The Incident, Surprise, Anomaly (ISA) procedure. The ground software development process. The Mission Operations Software Interface Specification (SIS). The MCO attitude control system and related subsystem parameters. The Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) -5.

Staffing
The Mars Surveyor Operations Project (MSOP) was running 3 missions simultaneously (MGS, MCO, MPL).
The absence of a mission assurance manager. Absence of mission science personnel in the management process.

Roles and responsibilities

Hesitancy and wavering was perceived on the people attempting to answer these questions: Who is in charge? Who is the Mission Manager?

The lack of an adequate systems engineering function.

Lessons Learned
The team should be provided with proper training and detailed information regarding systems which may have a high impact on the well behavioral of the project. The project manager should identify or provide backup personnel that could be available to serve in some of the critical roles when needed. The human resource department should provide a staff with well defined roles and responsibilities.

Communication Management

Report Performance

Distribute Information

Plan Communications

Identify Stakeholders

Mange Stakeholder Expectations

Communications Management
THE PROBLEM START IN FBC

Communications Management
Interfaces and Relationships

Communications Management
NASA- JPL RELATIONSHIP

Communications Management
NASA- JPL RELATIONSHIP
Absence of a single interface resulted in multiple inputs to the JPL Mars Program
Input 1 Input 3 Input 2 Input 1 Input 2 Input 3

Communications Management
JPL-LMA RELATIONSHIP

RISK

Communications Management
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

Communications Management
LESSONS LEARNED
Senior management must be receptive to communications of problems and risks. A dedicated single interface at NASA Headquarters for the Mars Program is essential.

Contractor responsibilities must include formal notification to the customer of project risk and deviations.
Increase the amount of formal and informal face-to-face communications with all team elements and especially for those elements that have critical interfaces.

Quality Management

Plan Quality

Perform Quality Assurance

Perform Quality Control

Perform Quality Assurance Process

Assess whether correct processes are being followed using measurements from QC Determine if organizational & project processes, policies and procedures are being followed

Perform Quality Control Process

Measure quality of deliverables Validate deliverables

Perform Quality Assurance

Verification & Validation (V&V) procedures not followed

No user testing of the code

Poor Code review process

Non-conformance with SIS Increasingly frequent anomalous events disregarded

Perform Quality Control

Insufficient rigor interface control process Global issue-tracking database not used for anomalies Issues left unresolved
Issue Tracking Summary

Identification

Review

Solve

Need to improve quality not identified

Lessons Learned

Quality Lessons Learned

Perform thorough code review Metrification

Develop comprehensive mission requirements down to subsystem level

Iteratively verify mission requirements conformance

Risk Management

Plan Risk Management

Identify Risk

Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

Plan Risk Response

Monitor And Control Risk

Risk Management Overview

Identify uncertainty, positive and negative.

Its comprised of six sequential processes: Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Perform Qualitative Risks Analysis, Perform Quantitative Risks Analysis, Plan Risk Responses and Monitor and Control Risks.
Starts at initiation and finish with project closure. Its iterative, ones planned, should be reassessed and control. Could impact costs, schedule, scope, quality, customers satisfaction and stakeholders interests. When its integrated in a project prevents unnecessary threats and promote wanted opportunities.

Unmitigated risks has an owner with a clear contingency plan, launch depending on risk triggers.

Risk Management Failures

No a sound Risk Management plan in place. FBC didnt describe clearly what were prudent risks. Each project manager interpreted risks differently under FBC policy. MCO was significantly underfunded compared to other comparable missions. System engineering didnt play its rolling in help in risks identification and management.

 Project managers put more emphasis on lower cost and schedule, and more ambitious scope, while risks increase was not considered.
No proper procedure to implement TCM-5 as an emergency plan.

Lessons Learned
Risks caused by deviation from project management principle shouldnt be allow. All team members should know what is acceptable risks.

All mission should perform the six processes of risk management. In all project meetings and reviews risks mitigation plan should be reported and reassessed.

 Risk management a fourth dimension of project management.

Earn value management could be applied to risk management.

All unmitigated risks should have a risk owner and a clear contingency plan.
Cost

Scope

Success

Time

Risk

CONCLUSIONS
"Faster, better, cheaper" missions place too much emphasis on cost and schedule reduction and too little on management, oversight, leadership and evaluating risk. Key positions in the staff and well trained personnel are critical points that any PM must not sacrifice because of reducing cost strategies. A routine forum should be established for informal communication between all team members at the same time so everyone can hear what is happening. The absence of a sound Risk Management Plan prevented that the mission could overcome any important threat, reducing significantly its chances for success. A comprehensive contingency plan to execute TCM-5 could have increased the probability of success of the mission.

QUESTIONS

THANK YOU !!