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Institutional Memory Preservation at NASA Glenn Research CenterIn this era of downsizing and deficit reduction, the preservation of institutional memory is a widespread concern for U.S. companies and governmental agencies. The National Aeronautical and Space Administration faces the pending retirement of many of the agency's long-term, senior engineers. NASA has a marvelous long-term history of success, but the agency faces a recurring problem caused by the loss of these engineers' unique knowledge and perspectives on NASA's role in aeronautics and space exploration. The current work describes a knowledge elicitation effort aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of preserving the more personal, heuristic knowledge accumulated over the years by NASA engineers, as contrasted with the "textbook" knowledge of launch vehicles. Work on this project was performed at NASA Glenn Research Center and elsewhere, and focused on launch vehicle systems integration. The initial effort was directed toward an historic view of the Centaur upper stage which is powered by two RL-10 engines. Various experts were consulted, employing a variety of knowledge elicitation techniques, regarding the Centaur and RL-10. Their knowledge is represented in searchable Web-based multimedia presentations. This paper discusses the various approaches to knowledge elicitation and knowledge representation employed, and assesses successes and challenges in trying to perform large-scale knowledge preservation of institutional memory. It is anticipated that strategies for knowledge elicitation and representation that have been developed in this grant will be utilized to elicit knowledge in a variety of domains including the complex heuristics that underly use of simulation software packages such as that being explored in the Expert System Architecture for Rocket Engine Numerical Simulators.
Document ID
19990111483
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Coffey, J.
(University of West Florida Pensacola, FL United States)
Moreman, Douglas
(Southern Univ. Baton Rouge, LA United States)
Dyer, J.
(Southern Univ. Baton Rouge, LA United States)
Hemminger, J. A.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1999
Publication Information
Publication: HBCUs/OMUs Research Conference Agenda and Abstracts
Subject Category
Documentation And Information Science
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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