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Executive Summary
Pages 1-10

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From page 1...
... they possessed connectivity with external research communities; and (4) they were recognized by external peers as an authority in the subject matter.
From page 2...
... - CO C~ C.D O cn au au tr ~ au au c~ cn :0^ E E o ° cn au .
From page 3...
... With 80 percent of the program being of good quality, but not world-class, the opportunity exists to maximize contributions from PRT program research by focusing more attention on several issues, including the need for research to be more results-oriented, more pervasive use of systems analysis, further encouragement of external peer review, and increasing collaboration between outside experts and the program. PROGRAMWIDE COMMON THEMES The committee noted six themes recurring across the entire PRT program that, if addressed, would strengthen the program: systems analysis, benchmarking and metrics, external peer review and competition, stability and continuity, research portfolio balance, and technology transition.
From page 4...
... Finding: The PRT program makes little use of external peer review to select and evaluate the internal research program. Recommendation: The PRT program should incorporate external peer review in all aspects of the program, including selection of internal research tasks, ongoing progress reviews and working groups, and final assessment of results.
From page 5...
... Projects should be provided with stable funding and assured stable organization to the extent possible. Research Portfolio Balance The committee observed that the PRT program consisted of tasks apparently assembled from a bottom-up selection and lacking top-down connection to the NASA Strategic Plan (Goldin, 2000; O'Keefe, 2002~.
From page 6...
... Recommendation: Provisions for cost-sharing of transitional research between the PRT program and mission organizations at NASA and in industry should be pursued as an explicit milestone in the TRL maturation process. PANEL ASSESSMENTS OF THE THREE PRT PROGRAMS Computing, Information, and Communications Technology Program The CICT panel found that the great majority of the work within CICT was good, NASA-focused research that should continue.
From page 7...
... in CICT were judged world-class: autonomous robots, planning and scheduling, software validation and verification, and space communications hardware. Recommendation: To manage the technical quality of work more effectively so that research tasks are meaningful and on track, CICT management should ensure that each task has a clearly defined, realistic, yet challenging measure of technical success.
From page 8...
... . Finding: The current ECS program, as formulated and funded, will not by itself develop a comprehensive programmatic risk management program in the foreseeable future, yet this ECS risk management work is important for NASA.
From page 9...
... The facilities used by the ECT program are excellent. NASA should strive to maintain several that are world-class, including the Electron-Beam Lithography Laboratory at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Polymer Rechargeable Battery Laboratory at NASA Glenn 9 Research Center, and the electric propulsion and photovoltaic test facilities at NASA Glenn.
From page 10...
... Program Overview," presentation to the committee and panels on June 11, 2002. Eugene Tu and Bill VanDalsem, NASA Ames Research Center, "CICT Actions in Response to the NRC Review of NASA's Pioneering Revolutionary Technology Program Interim Report, dated January 16, 2003," material provided to the committee on April 21, 2003.


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