scope:

Description of Driving Event:

Prior to flight 1A/R and 2A the International Space Station Program (ISSP) and the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) was found to have two separate certification requirements that required the hardware providers to furnish a delta certification on operational hardware with flight heritage and a good pedigree of performance. It was found that this was causing additional work, expense, and schedule problems as we got closer to flight time. This problem was identified in an EA presentation to the program on 10/29/98 and a process for resolution was formulated in a letter from Director Safety, Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Assurance (SRM&QA) on 12-8-98 (REF NA-98-085). This letter formed a "Common Hardware Assessment Panel" now known as the "Grandfather Board" to define the process and provide the disposition for each hardware certification.

Root cause: The root cause of the problem was that two independent programs established certification requirements for their vehicles. Since the vehicles serve different purposes and function differently it should have been expected that different certification requirements would be developed. Even with these differences it was found that the differences were minor and could be overcome with proper analysis and compromise.