Case Study: NASA speeds Space Shuttle turnaround and reduces schedule and cost risk with Lumina Decision Systems' SCRAM

Speeding Turnaround of the Space Shuttle

NASA faced long, costly Space Shuttle turnaround times because refurbishing after each mission often took many months and approached the cost of expendable rockets. To analyze and reduce schedule and cost uncertainty, the team turned to Analytica’s visual modeling and Monte Carlo simulation capabilities through vendor Lumina Decision Systems.

Kennedy Space Center worked with Lumina Decision Systems to build the Schedule Cost Risk Assessment Model (SCRAM) in Analytica; SCRAM identifies the major sources of schedule delay and cost overrun and recommends schedules that minimize those risks. NASA found SCRAM to be a significant improvement in schedule and cost risk analysis because it supports realistic probabilistic models of task durations and costs, improving the agency’s ability to manage refurbishment risk.

NASA