RELEASE: 00-68

NASA Begins Transfer of IV&V Facility to Goddard

NASA has formally begun the process of transferring responsibility of the Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) Facility in Fairmont, W.Va., to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and has launched a nation-wide search for a new director.

"We have kicked off a 90 day effort during which we will take over responsibility for the IV&V Facility and name a new director," said Goddard Center Director A. V. Diaz. "We also will develop an operating plan for the Facility that will describe how we will do business, and examine ways to increase the use of the facility."

Diaz said NASA is committed to using the IV&V Facility to improve mission success. "It is imperative that the IV&V Facility be integrated into the mainstream of the software development lifecycle of NASA programs and projects," said Diaz.

Today's space missions - everything from the massive International Space Station to the small Pathfinder robot lander that traversed the Martian landscape - depend on computers, and corresponding software, to carry out their tasks. The IV&V Facility uses demonstrated expertise, analyses and tools to assure that the software systems created to operate these sophisticated space vehicles is built right (verification), and that the right system is being built (validation).

"Performance of these functions by an independent organization avoids blind spots that developers can have through their intimate familiarity of the software and helps provide a more thorough assessment of software quality," said Diaz. "Having a core of expertise at the IV&V Facility helps apply the best available tools and technology across all NASA missions."

In April, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin announced that organizational responsibility for the IV&V Facility would be transferred from the Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif., to Goddard. Several studies and teams thatreexamined the Agency's approach to the software systems development recommended the transfer to improve the safety, productivity and success of NASA's research missions.

"This is a good fit for us," said Diaz. "We will be able to leverage the strengths resident within our organization in operational software development, large-scale software systems management, and effective partnering to enhance the IV&V Facility's usefulness to the entire NASA community."

Diaz said there is already agreement within NASA that all projects that require independent validation and verification will use the Fairmont Facility.

"We have the commitment within NASA to use the Facility. The next step is to grow the Facility. For the next 90 days, we will be working on a plan to seek new business opportunities outside of NASA."

NASA's IV&V facility has a current annual operating budget of $ 26 million, and employs 226 people (17 civil servants and 209 contractors), with approximately 50% of the staff located in Fairmont, West Virginia.

Located in a 20,000 square foot building the Facility provides a center of expertise in the independent verification and validation of software systems, and has made significant contributions to the Earth Observation System Data Information System, the Space Station, and other programs.