LCROSS wins 2009 Aviation Week Program Excellence Award

Stephen L. Carman, Director, Technical Operations, Space & Defense Products, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, accepts the Program Excellence System Level Production and Sustainment Award for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). With him are (from left to right) Glenn P. Brady, Lead Partner, Aerospace & Defense Practice - Operations, Risk and Compliance, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; Thomas F. Fallon, Jr., Sector Vice President, Mission Assurance, Northrop Grumman Technical Services; Daniel R. Andrews, Project Manager, LCROSS, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Carman; Tony Velocci, Editor-in-Chief, AVIATION WEEK; Stephen J. Hixson, Vice President, Advanced Concepts-Space & Directed Energy Systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. [Northrup-Grumman]

LCROSS has been awarded the 2009 Aviation Week Program Excellence Award in the System Level Production/Sustainment category.

The award is presented annually to recognize and promote best practices in program leadership, encompassing the full range of responsibility and commitment necessary to develop and execute the program. LCROSS was evaluated against award criteria that includes risk management, budget and schedule management, and performance and also addresses value creation, best practices in organizational processes, leadership development, complexity and metrics.

"We are gratified to win this award," said Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts - Space and Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "It is a significant acknowledgement of the high caliber of our engineering skills and our close partnership with NASA Ames Research Center. It also validates our ability to build small, inexpensive spacecraft with high science value very quickly, awakening the industry and the nation to the viability of this mission class."