CRITICALLY INDEXING FOR JOB TASK IMPROVEMENT AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

America's Space Exploration program is characterized by cutting edge t echnology in support of NASA's goals and research objectives. One prin cipal component of the Space Shuttle System is the Orbiter Vehicle whi ch undergoes necessary repairs and refurbishment at the Kennedy Space Center following each mission. The Orbiter's Thermal Protection System (TPS) is a mission critical component which protects the orbiter from the heat of re-entry from space. The University of Central Florida (U CF) research team was tasked with evaluating TPS processing requiremen ts to reduce overall cycle times between operational missions. A job/t ask performance analysis was conducted to identify candidate TPS proce sses for evaluation and possible improvements. The research team devel oped a computer generated Improvement Potential Index (IPI) following a systematic data collection process. The IPI was then used to identif y the top twenty processes which TPS engineers, quality assurance pers onnel and technicians identified as tasks which would most likely bene fit from process improvement. The specified tasks were then analyzed f or methods optimization. This paper documents the results of this effo rt to date, with emphasis on the Improvement Potential Index.