• Question: What would happen if you did your job wrong?

    Asked by Bob to Simon, Julia, Delma, Andrew, Alex on 8 Dec 2015.
    • Photo: Simon Challis

      Simon Challis answered on 8 Dec 2015:

      Hi 778nch28,

      We have a lot of processes in place to minimise the number of errors that we make in our job. Since making a mistake or an error is a normal human attribute. When a mistake happens it will be addressed either as:

      – A Command Error
      – A Space or Ground Anomaly
      – A Lessons Learned

      Each will be investigated to understand what happened and how it can be avoided in the future. We maintain databases to see if the same mistake keeps happening, this can also help us to try to avoid the problem in the future.

      For very serious issues where the astronauts could be put at risk we or NASA initiates what is called a “Close Call” investigation.

      Since I have been working on the project I am aware of at least two close call incidents.

      In all cases, blame is not put on anyone person but on the system. Its important to do this so that we can get people to discuss openly what happened to ensure it doesnt happen again.

      I hope that answers your question!

    • Photo: Julia Attias

      Julia Attias answered on 9 Dec 2015:

      Hi @Bob,

      It’s very common for us scientists to get things wrong! In fact, some of the world’s most fundamental science findings have been by chance, and were actually found by something going wrong! So, generally in my line of work (research), it doesn’t matter too much if things go wrong, because we may find something we didn’t expect and we will definitely learn from it.

    • Photo: Delma Childers

      Delma Childers answered on 9 Dec 2015:

      As Julia said, in science it’s common to get things wrong. In fact, it’s probably more common that we do things wrong than we do things right! Luckily, usually nothing too important is lost and we use the opportunity to learn. Now, for the BIOROCK experiment, which is incredibly important, we’re doing a lot of preparation on the ground to make sure we get things right when our bacteria are on-board ISS.

    • Photo: Alexander Finch

      Alexander Finch answered on 9 Dec 2015:

      When building satellites, we engineers, much like anyone else, forget things or do things wrong – even if we try hard to get it right. We know this is the case, so we have a system to check and double-check everything before we build! We also test everything as much as is possible – which is a lot – before and after we launch!

    • Photo: Andrew Winnard

      Andrew Winnard answered on 9 Dec 2015:

      The important thing if you make a mistake is pick yourself back up and learn how to avoid doing the same thing again 🙂

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