Al Feinberg<br />Headquarters, Washington August 15, 2003<br />(Phone: 202/358-4504)<br /><br />RELEASE: 03-265<br /><br />NASA AND NAVY SIGN MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT<br /><br /> NASA and the U.S. Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement <br />to exchange valuable vendor and supplier information aimed at <br />improving safety, mission assurance, and performance of the <br />systems procured by both.<br /><br />This agreement is the first in a series under development to <br />identify and use the "best of the best" safety and <br />engineering practices of each organization.<br /><br />NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe recognized many similarities <br />between human space flight programs and submarine operations. <br />Administrator O'Keefe wrote a letter to Navy<br />Secretary Gordon England in July 2002, and in August 2002, <br />the NASA/Navy Benchmarking Exchange Team was formed.<br /><br />"A commitment to safety is built on a foundation of best <br />practices and strong leadership," said Administrator O'Keefe. <br />"This important exchange of ideas, processes, and procedures <br />will play a significant role in a meaningful evolution of our <br />technical and safety assessments as we return to flight," he <br />said.<br /><br />This agreement allows NASA to use the Navy's Product Data <br />Reporting and Evaluation Program and its Red/Yellow/Green <br />Program, both of which are web-accessible to both <br />organizations. NASA will provide the Navy with access to <br />systems used to assess the quality of vendors and suppliers.<br /><br />For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov<br /><br />-end-