Feb 23, 2012

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 allard beutel@nasa gov

Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2087 beth dickey-1@nasa gov

RELEASE: 15-12

NASA PRESENTS SAFETY AWARD TO THREE KENNEDY EMPLOYEES

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- NASA has presented its Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition, or QASAR, award for 2011 to three Kennedy Space Center, Fla , employees; Humberto "Bert" T Garrido, Joseph B Hamilton and Francis "Frank" Merceret

NASA's QASAR award recognizes individual government and contractor employees who have demonstrated exemplary performance in contributing to the quality or safety of products, services, processes, or management programs and activities

"The first of NASA's four core values is safety, and without it, none of the agency's missions of exploration and scientific discovery can successfully happen Bert, Joe and Frank exemplify that core value," said Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana

Garrido was responsible for safety, quality, reliability, software assurance, mission success and independent assessments of space shuttle, International Space Station and expendable launch vehicle activities at Kennedy, as well as institutional activities and developmental efforts at the space center

Garrido led development of the space shuttle independent assessment program and Kennedy's implementation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's safety and mission assurance recommendations He established Kennedy's current safety and mission assurance readiness review process and led the space center to its first Voluntary Protection Program certification from the U S Occupational Safety and Health Administration Through his work to enhance Kennedy's safety culture, Garrido influenced development of agency-level standard safety and quality metrics for human and robotic space flight He developed and implemented agency policies and programs to safeguard payloads and the public

Hamilton is a NASA contractor quality engineer employed by Millennium Engineering and Integration Company of Arlington, Va , received the award for recommending ways to strengthen occupational safety requirements for ground handling of graphite epoxy containers called composite overwrap pressure vessels The vessels, which are used in space to store life support commodities such as oxygen and nitrogen, are regarded as hazardous equipment

Hamilton analyzed the danger of keeping the vessels pressurized for long periods before launching them into space As a result, NASA initiated a study to gather statistical data on the vessels' behavior and asked Hamilton to lend his expertise to design of a recharge system that will be flown on cargo ships sent to resupply the International Space Station in the future

Merceret, a member of the Applied Meteorology Unit at Kennedy, received the award for improving the criteria agency officials use during a countdown to determine whether the potential for a lightning strike presents a safety hazard for launching a rocket

Merceret was the driving force behind an initiative to document the history of the so-called lightning launch commit criteria for U S government ranges and two major research programs, which resulted in major revisions that have helped prevent unnecessary launch delays and cancellations

Garrido, Hamilton and Merceret were recognized along with two other recipients on Feb 23 at the agency's ninth annual Project Management Challenge in Orlando, Fla

For more information about the Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition award program, visit:

www hq nasa gov/office/codeq/qasar

-end-

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