When I started working EDL on MSL, the distributed-leadership process had sneaked back into place, with a wider set of leadership distributed around NASA centers. This meant a less clear vision of what our central risks were and what our design should be. We were exploring a wide range of possible EDL design elements, and we were not focused enough on narrowing the job to the minimum-risk solution, then moving forward. We needed a central command to get down to the essence of things—the hard truth—and then to act on it. But to refocus our effort and tighten our mutual understanding of the
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