Trailblazing Astrona​utics

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

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NTO Leak – 30-Day Test Design/Build in 3 Days

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During pad operations, a crewed launch vehicle developed a nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) leak in its propulsion system. Fixing it required a custom test system, normally a 30-day design/build effort.

I led my team to design, build, and deliver the system in just three days, coordinating engineers, technicians, safety, logistics, clean room and calibration support,and customer involvment around the clock. The accelerated delivery enabled the repair to be validated immediately and saved one month on a crewed launch schedule.

For this achievement, my team and I received a NASA Administrator’s Team Achievement Award.

 

Payload Co-Calibration / Contractor Interface Discipline

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A rare window for payload co-calibration with pre-existing on-orbit assets was at risk due to a contractor’s chronic schedule slips. The situation was critical because the on-orbit instruments were years beyond their three-year design life and beginning to suffer failures.

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I co-authored a communications plan with management and payload stakeholders to underscore schedule urgency, then reinforced it through milestone tracking, targeted discussions during reviews, and daily status checks. My leadership prompted the contractor to rebuild their IMS, minimize further delays, and ultimately protect the mission’s calibration opportunity.

 

Systems Health Managment IPT Compliance Campaign​

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My new system health management (SHM) approach faced resistance from multiple integrated product teams.

I developed a structured change-management plan: educating teams on benefits, rewarding early adopters, reinforcing alignment with positive feedback, and setting clear boundaries for late adopters. This drove full compliance across vehicle and ground systems, earning customer recognition in a $1B contract award.

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Delta IV Systems Health Management Integration​

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System health management for Delta IV was undefined, But the unspoken need of the

USAF and NASA was a unified, integrated system.

I defined the solution for the silent need and led the development of the SHM architecture, coordinated IPT inputs, and integrated telemetry and FMEA data to verify failure isolation capabilities. This program-level integration effort earned praise for “particularly strong integration” and contributed to a $1B award.

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TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS

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ISS 1553 Command and Telemetry Budget Resolution​

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When propulsion telemetry was accused of exceeding ISS 1553 bus capacity by 10X, I led a review that identified an ASCII data implementation error by a subcontractor. I corrected the software requirements specification, restored bandwidth margin, and while doing so resolved a NASA–contractor coordination issue.

 

ISS Propulsion–Avionics Integration​
 

With no clear interface definition for integrating ISS propulsion into a man-rated distributed control system, I identified telemetry and command needs, analyzed all hardware/software layers, and defined a safe, reliable and compatible architecture. NASA SMEs said I “overwhelmed [them] with information” - in a good way.

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ISS Propulsion–C&DH Fault Isolation Logic​

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Minor faults in ISS low-level controllers could trigger propulsion shutdowns. I persuaded the C&DH team to classify faults, allowing soft faults to be handled by the subsystem application software while reserving C&DH dictated shutdowns for hard controller faults. This improved operability and reliability across propulsion and other subsystems.

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