NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Program is celebrating 20 years of providing service to the agency. Established as a direct result of recommendations made by the National Research Council and the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, NASA’s IV&V Program significantly contributes to the safety and mission success of NASA missions, assuring that software on those missions performs correctly.
The first building in the Interstate-79 Technology Park, NASA’s IV&V Program’s building construction began in the summer of 1992 and opened in October 1993 with the skeleton staff needed to establish physical operations. The first NASA mission to receive software assurance from NASA’s IV&V Program was the International Space Station, with the first documented work beginning on January 20, 1994. NASA’s IV&V Program began working on the Space Shuttle Program in 1997 and now supports the Science, Human Exploration and Operations, and Aeronautics Research Mission Directorates. Having performed software assurance activities on projects or missions at 12 of NASA’s 17 other centers and facilities, NASA’s IV&V Program software assurance efforts have a broad range of impacts.
In addition, the program has been sought out to provide reimbursable work on projects for other agencies and municipal governments, to benefit the safety of those organizations and their projects. NASA’s IV&V Program has performed work on approximately 80 missions and projects including: Hubble Space Telescope, MESSENGER, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Mars Science Laboratory, Global Precipitation Measurement, and James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA’s IV&V Program currently employs approximately 350 people, with about 220 of those employees located in West Virginia. The program’s employees consist of engineers, scientists and professionals recognized for excellence in their fields with industry and agency awards. One of the program’s innovations was recognized as an honorable mention among the NASA 2012 Software of the Year entries.
Additionally, NASA’s IV&V Program provides internship opportunities to high school students across the state and college students across the nation. The program has hosted close to 750 student interns over the years, inspiring and engaging those students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields with real life work activities.
The program started an Educator Resource Center (ERC) in 1998, dedicated to bringing STEM educational material to teachers and students throughout the state. The ERC holds various workshops for educators throughout the year and during the summer months, bringing NASA’s broad range of STEM knowledge to West Virginia classrooms. Additionally, the ERC engages kindergarten through 12th grade students in a multitude of activities designed to stimulate and engage young minds. Since October 1, 2013 the ERC has engaged over 1,000 students involved in STEM activities.
In celebration of 20 years of excellence, NASA’s IV&V Program is holding a number of activities this week for their employees. Among other events, these activities include a quiz about program history, peer achievement awards, and culminate in an employee picnic on Friday afternoon.
For more information about NASA’s IV&V Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv
Jennifer Neptune
NASA’s IV&V Program
304-367-8262
jennifer.d.neptune@nasa.gov