7. Lesson: Organization
It is important that the roles and responsibilities of the program elements be understood by all participants in the development. For a large program with many dispersed participants, that understanding should be written and recorded.
Background:
As the Skylab Program evolved, the many organizational interfaces led to some areas of overlapping responsibilities. For example, the conduct of subsystem tests at a site other than at the development organization led to confusion as to who developed the test requirements, who formulated the test procedures, who was responsible for the test, who conducted the test, and who evaluated the test results. The Skylab Program used Program Directives to resolve and control such areas of uncertainty. This specific issue was addressed in Directive 26, "Intercenter Responsibilites for Support and Preparation of KSC Test and Checkout Plans and Procedures."
These lessons learned are from SKYLAB LESSONS LEARNED AS APPLICABLE TO A LARGE SPACE STATION, A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The School of Engineering and Architecture Of the Catholic University of America For the Degree Doctor of Engineering by William C. Schneider, Washington, D.C., 1976.
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