This presentation provides an overview of the activities National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is doing to encourage innovation across the agency. All information provided is available publicly

Roman, Juan A.

NASA Technical Reports Server

National Aeronautics and
Space Administration Innovation @ NASA 
Dr. Juan A. Román 
NASA/GSFC 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140017636 2019-08-31T15:43:06+00:00Z
About NASA 
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established in 1958 
by President Dwight D. Eisenhower encouraging peaceful applications in space 
science. It’s the United States government agency that is responsible for the civilian 
space program as well as for aeronautics and aerospace research.   
 
Since its inception, NASA has accomplished many great scientific and technological 
feats in air and space. NASA technology also has been adapted for many none-
aerospace uses by the private sector.  
 
NASA remains a leading force in scientific research and in stimulating public interest 
in aerospace exploration, as well as science and technology in general.  
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2012 
NASA Centers 
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Our Mission 
Message from Administrator 
“NASA's missions of the future are going to depend 
on new technologies that will be evolvable and 
applicable across a broad range of missions. We 
are dedicated to extending human presence into 
the solar system and to the surface of Mars, and 
new technologies and advanced capabilities are 
essential to safely taking us from Earth-reliant to 
Earth-independent missions, and the surest path to 
an eventual crewed landing on Mars. Sustained 
investment in these technologies advances the 
agency's exploration capabilities and supports the 
innovation economy.”  June 3, 2014 
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Innovation @ NASA 
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NASA’s Culture 
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Recognizing & Rewarding 
Innovative Performance 
• Lean Forward; Fail Smart Award 
– Dare to Try 
– Perseverance 
– Learning 
– Collaboration 
• Champion of Innovation Award 
– Leadership 
– Visionary 
– Relationship Builder 
– Role Model 
 
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Recognizing and Rewarding 
Innovative Performance 
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Reward and appreciate employees for their innovative 
performance and contributions to their workplace 
62.0
66.0
70.0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Index Trend Line (% Positive Responses) 
Building Model 
Supervisors & Leaders 
• Supervisors and Leaders take an active role 
fostering innovation by: 
– Engaging with employees and getting to know 
their strengths 
– Tailoring employees’ projects to their strengths 
– Building trust with employees and giving them 
autonomy 
– Providing opportunities for collaboration and 
cross-pollination 
– Advocating for and lifting employees whose 
projects aren’t successful 
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Building Model  
Supervisors and Leaders 
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Develop supervisors and leaders who view developing 
employees as an important and productive use of time 
Engaging & Connecting 
the Workforce 
• Workforce Initiatives 
– Creativity and Innovation Initiatives  
– Science Engineering Collaboration Program (SECP) & 
Research Engineering Program 
• Fairs and Symposia 
– Innovation Forum/Innovation Day/Innovation Expo 
– Internal Research & Development Poster/Networking 
• Open Innovation Platforms, Prizes, and Challenges 
– Centennial Challenges 
– Mars Challenge 
• Facilities and Creative Spaces 
– Concurrent Engineering Design Teams & Facilities  
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Dr. Stephanie Getty  
GSFC Innovator of the Year! 
• Stephanie Getty was in SECP-1 group 
• Selected as 2012 Goddard’s Innovator of 
the Year for her trailblazing work in the 
area of advanced mass spectrometer 
instrumentation 
• Won $1.2 million from NASA’s 
Astrobiology Science and Technology 
Instrument Development to advance the 
Organics Analyzer for Sampling Icy 
Surfaces (OASIS) to study the chirality of 
amino acids on the icy moons of the outer 
planets, asteroids, and Kuiper Belt 
Objects 
• Serves as mentor to other SECP 
participants 
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Don Wegel 
Comet Harpoon 
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• Don Wegel (SECP-2) 
featured in NASA Tech 
Briefs on his Sample 
Collecting Comet 
Harpoon work 
• Popular Science 
Magazine Publishes 
Comet Harpoon Story 
• Comet Nucleus Sample 
Return II featured on 
Ripley’s Believe it or Not 
 
Engaging & Connecting 
the Workforce 
• Workforce Initiatives 
– Creativity and Innovation Initiatives  
– Science Engineering Collaboration Program & Research 
Engineering Program 
• Fairs and Symposia 
– Innovation Forum/Innovation Day/Innovation Expo 
– Internal Research & Development Poster/Networking 
• Open Innovation Platforms, Prizes, and Challenges 
– Centennial Challenges 
– Mars Challenge 
• Facilities and Creative Spaces 
– Concurrent Engineering Facilities  
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GSFC FY13 IRAD Investments 
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IRAD Poster & Networking Session 
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Engaging & Connecting 
the Workforce 
• Workforce Initiatives 
– Creativity and Innovation Initiatives  
– Science Engineering Collaboration Program & Research 
Engineering Program 
• Fairs and Symposia 
– Innovation Forum/Innovation Day/Innovation Expo 
– Internal Research & Development Poster/Networking 
• Open Innovation Platforms, Prizes, and Challenges 
– Centennial Challenges 
– Mars Challenge 
• Facilities and Creative Spaces 
– Concurrent Engineering Design Teams & Facilities  
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Centennial Challenge 
 
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Engaging & Connecting 
the Workforce 
• Workforce Initiatives 
– Creativity and Innovation Initiatives  
– Science Engineering Collaboration Program & Research 
Engineering Program 
• Fairs and Symposia 
– Innovation Forum/Innovation Day/Innovation Expo 
– Internal Research & Development Poster/Networking 
• Open Innovation Platforms, Prizes, and Challenges 
– Centennial Challenges 
– Mars Challenge 
• Facilities and Creative Spaces 
– Concurrent Engineering Design Teams & Facilities 
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Concurrent Engineering  
Design Teams  
An environment that facilitates multi-
disciplinary, concurrent, 
collaborative, space system 
engineering design and analysis 
activities,  
to enable innovation and rapid 
development of science 
instrumentation, mission, and 
mission architecture concepts. 
Facilities 
State-of-the-art 
engineering workstations, 
software and information 
technology to ensure 
engineering excellence. 
Instrument Design Lab (IDL) 
Comfortable, well-
equipped workspaces to 
facilitate dynamic 
interaction within team 
Mission Design Lab (MDL) 
 
 
 
Engaging and Connecting 
the Workforce 
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Engage employees in the NASA mission and enable them to 
cooperate, collaborate, and network with one another 
Styles of 
Innovation 
• Innovation through Discovery and Invention 
• Innovation in Assigned Work 
• Program Innovation 
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Curiosity: Seven Minutes of Terror 
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JWST Deployment 
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Space Technology Innovation  
Early Stage Innovation  
Small Business Innovation Research 
& Small Business Technology 
Transfer (SBIR/STTR) 
Centennial Challenges 
Center Innovation Fund NASA Innovative Advanced 
Concepts (NIAC) 
Space Technology 
Research Grants 
Game Changing 
Development 
Technology 
Demonstration 
Missions 
Small Spacecraft Technology 
Flight Opportunities 
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Questions 
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Innovation @ NASA

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