Technical Paper Session I-B - Professional Development Key Success Factors for New Generation Employees in Support of the Moon, Mars and Beyond Mission

Technical Paper Session I-B - Professional Development Key Success Factors for New Generation Employees in Support of the Moon, Mars and Beyond Mission

Cocoa Beach

Future Space Programs will rely on young professionals. Our task is to solve the challenges associated with supporting space exploration while successfully breaking down generational barriers.

In 2004, President Bush put forth a challenge reminiscent of a speech given by President Kennedy in 1961. President Bush declared a goal “to return to the moon by 2020 as the launching point for missions beyond”. It is the human mind that imagines and implements the designs for the machines that will take us to the moon and beyond.

The objectives of Presidents Bush and Kennedy appear identical. The approach is completely different. President Kennedy had more money than time; President Bush specified that budgets and schedules will rule. Budgets and schedules pale in comparison with the human resource issue.

The challenges have not changed, but the people have. This paper compares and contrasts work force demographics of the 1960s, today, and beyond.