Abstract
Planning and scheduling is an important capability for a wide variety of NASA missions, serving either as an enabler without which the mission cannot be done at all, or serving to improve mission operations through making those operations more robust, more predictable, or more efficient.
The objective of this study was to provide input to strategic planning for planning and scheduling research and development within NASA. The rationale for employing an outside agent in this work was precisely to get that outside perspective, with no agenda or axe to grind regarding research priorities. The output of the study is the current report.
This report is intended to serve several purposes:
To provide a taxonomy of planning and scheduling functions relevant to NASA missions.
To provide an analysis of NASA missions currently planned or under study, with regard to the needs of those missions for planning and scheduling, in terms of that taxonomy.
To identify current or planned research and development within NASA or funded by NASA, addressing those identified needs.
To identify remaining unmet needs.