scope:

A specific analysis was required to be performed by a contractor in support of design, development, verification, and validation of ARES 1-X hardware. The Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) group of the prime contractor failed to adequately communicate the requirements associated with an analysis, including a requirement to use specific, approved sources for material capability properties with test-verified certainty boundaries (variation dispersions) for use in design analysis to the subcontract engineering group that performed the analysis. The analysis was completed without being verified by the subcontractor or prime contractor that the analysis methodology and assumptions complied with contractually stipulated verification data deliverable requirements. The error was found during a late life-cycle review, and the government engineering team was tasked to complete the proper analysis and documentation under extreme time constraints to ensure proper verification of the design. The additional unplanned work added cost and time delay to the budget and schedule.