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direct access to the president, this will absolutely occur. The oft-touted re-establishment of a so-called "National Space Council" - another staff office - is not a solution, it is an additional problem. 

(d) Insistence on top-level technical and program management talent, as demonstrated by a track record of performance in the space business, as a precondition for holding any significant management position at NASA. Far too often in the past, numerous significant leadership positions at NASA have been fulfilled by people whose primary qualification for the job was their relationship with those in control of the selection process. Far too often in the past, such top-level jobs have been, literally, the very first job these individuals had ever held in the space business. We spent almost 15 years conducting an experiment at NASA, an experiment whose purpose seemed to be to demonstrate that it was possible for people without relevant domain expertise to manage a highly technical agency. It did not work. We should not repeat it. 

(e) Re-establish the freedom to fail, now and then, without requiring that heads roll. Any reasonable understanding of what we do at NASA includes the realization that almost everything we do is done on the frontier. Much of what we do is being done for the very first time by any humans anywhere. If we don't fail occasionally, we're being too conservative. Yes, the cost of failure is high. When we lose hundreds of millions of dollars, or worse yet human lives, it is undeniably tragic. It is even more tragic when we fail to dare greatly because we are more concerned about the subsequent investigatory bloodletting than we are about the failure itself. In my opinion, it would be a good idea if every policymaker had to pass a regular test on the content of President Theodore Roosevelt's famous "Man in the Arena" speech. 

8) Who are the dozen people most essential to retain?

In approximate order of precedence, Bill Gerstenmaier, Chris Scolese, Doug Cooke, Mike Coats, Bob Cabana, Dave King, Steve Cook, John Shannon, Jeff Hanley, Mike Suffredini, Mike Hawes, and Ron Spoehel. If requested to do so, I could easily name another dozen, and they would be just as good and almost as crucial to retain as the first dozen. 

9) How has ASAP helped you, and not helped you?

I have found the ASAP to be helpful in providing an independent view not otherwise available to me, and in relaying commentary, opinions, and "tone" from many sources throughout the agency that do not reach me directly. 

I don't know how to answer a question as to how the ASAP has "not helped".