NASA Headquarters
June 7 – August 13, 2021
Goals of your project/s:
The goal of my main project is to determine if risk is a leading indicator for a project’s success level. At each phase of a project, risks that can hinder progress or safety are identified along with a mitigation plan. I specifically looked at the effect project top risks may have on schedule and cost. I had a smaller, side project where I compared the actual appropriations NASA received for the previous ten fiscal years to the amount in the president’s budget request to identify noticeable trends.
Describe what you did during the internship:
Throughout my internship, I focused most of my time analyzing the data and collaborating with various team members to gain an understanding of the projects and statistical relationships between the data for my main project. Despite having a virtual internship, I was still able to shadow my mentor and listen in on many of her meetings, learning about her role and how she supports the human exploration and operations mission directorate. Other members of the PIA group were also generous enough to let me shadow them and learn about their specialties within the science and science technology mission directorates. I also attended information sessions hosted by many of the centers, including Headquarters, that covered topics from Perseverance to astronaut medical support. Additionally, I joined PAXC and have met several of the other interns through those events and outside of work.
Did you achieve your goals? What were the results and conclusions?
The results of my main project determined there is an insufficient statistical correlation between a project’s life cycle cost estimate or schedule and the amount and classification of project top risks. Key attributes within the data, such as the noticeably fewer amount of project top risks identified as red compared to yellow or green, warrant further analysis to determine if certain risks are being underrated amongst projects with large delays or cost estimate differentials. An investigation into the specific types of project top risks identified for these projects is needed to determine if there is a correlation to cost or schedule performance.
For the smaller project, I found no clear correlation between the president’s budget request and the actual appropriations NASA receives; however, over the past decade, NASA has received an average of 4% more in appropriations than the previous fiscal year’s appropriations.
Describe positive lessons learned from this experience:
This project and internship have given light to a different perspective about operating a business relative that of an engineer. Working in an entirely virtual environment has provided the ideal situation to strengthen oral and written communication skills and to learn about various roles, projects, and centers across NASA. The opportunities within NASA are seemingly endless, and there is a place for all backgrounds and interests.
Describe negative lessons learned from this experience:
Unfortunately, with COVID-19 and the virtual internship, there were several meetings and experiences I missed out on that previous interns have enjoyed. I was not able to visit headquarters or any other the other centers, but I did my best to learn as much as I could about everything NASA does and offers. I was still able to have a wonderful experience and have those key interactions with the team I worked on that I hoped to have.